The opinion
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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AMANDA LOPEZ FRAUSTO, Case No. 1:24-cv-01453-JLT-SAB
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Plaintiff, ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
12 ORDER REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL
v. INFORMATION
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COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION, (ECF No. 10)
14 et al.,
15 Defendants.
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17 Defendants COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION and KELLEE SALCEDO and
18 Plaintiff AMANDA LOPEZ FRAUSTO (“parties”) hereby stipulate and agree to the entry of a
19 protective order in this matter as follows:
20 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
21 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of
22 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
23 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.
24 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following
25 Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket
26 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from
27 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to
confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as
1 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file
2 confidential information under seal; and they must follow the court’s procedures and seek
3 permission from the court to file material under seal.
4 2. DEFINITIONS
5 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
6 information or items under this Order.
7 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how
8 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal
9 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c).
10 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House
11 Counsel (as well as their support staff).
12 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
13 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
14 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of
15 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other
16 things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures
17 or responses to discovery in this matter.
18 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
19 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert
20 witness or as a consultant in this action.
21 2.7 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action.
22 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
23 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
24 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
25 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to
26 this action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this
27 action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of
1 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors,
2 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support
3 staffs).
4 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
5 Discovery Material in this action.
6 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
7 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and
8 organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and
9 subcontractors.
10 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
11 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
12 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
13 from a Producing Party.
14 3. SCOPE
15 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material
16 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2)
17 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony,
18 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
19 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following
20 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a
21 Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as
22 a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the
23 public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party
24 prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who
25 obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating
26 Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order.
27 4. DURATION
1 this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court
2 order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all
3 claims and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after
4 the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this
5 action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
6 pursuant to applicable law.
7 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
9 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order
10 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the
11 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of
12 material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify – so that other
13 portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not
14 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
15 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that
16 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to
17 unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary
18 expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
19 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
20 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly
21 notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.
22 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this
23 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered,
24 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so
25 designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
27 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but
1 Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only
2 a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also
3 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
4 margins).
5 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection
6 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which
7 material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all
8 of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the
9 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party
10 must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order.
11 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
12 “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or
13 portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
14 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
15 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that
16 the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other
17 proceeding, all protected testimony.
18 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any
19 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the
20 container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend
21 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection,
22 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
23 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
24 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
25 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely
26 correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the
27 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
1 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
2 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
3 designation of confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s
4 confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary
5 economic burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its
6 right to challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly
7 after the original designation is disclosed.
8 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
9 resolution process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and
10 describing the basis for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been
11 made, the written notice must recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in
12 accordance with this specific paragraph of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to
13 resolve each challenge in good faith and must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice
14 to voice dialogue; other forms of communication are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of
15 service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that
16 the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an
17 opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change
18 in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party
19 may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and
20 confer process first or establishes that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the
21 meet and confer process in a timely manner.
22 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without
23 court intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality
24 within 21 days of the initial notice of challenge or within 14 days of the parties agreeing that the
25 meet and confer process will not resolve their dispute, whichever is earlier. Each such motion
26 must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with
27 the meet and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by the
1 14 days, if applicable) shall automatically waive the confidentiality designation for each
2 challenged designation. In addition, the Challenging Party may file a motion challenging a
3 confidentiality designation at any time if there is good cause for doing so, including a challenge
4 to the designation of a deposition transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion brought
5 pursuant to this provision must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the
6 movant has complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed by the preceding
7 paragraph.
8 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating
9 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose
10 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to
11 sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing to
12 file a motion to retain confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the
13 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s
14 designation until the court rules on the challenge.
15 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
16 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
17 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for
18 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be
19 disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order.
20 When the litigation has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of
21 section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and
23 in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
24 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise
25 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may
26 disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
27 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as
1 information for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
2 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A;
3 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
4 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have
5 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is
7 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and
8 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (d) the court and its personnel;
10 (e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock
11 jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation
12 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
13 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is
14 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
15 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of
16 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be
17 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
18 under this Stipulated Protective Order.
19 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
20 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.
21 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
22 OTHER LITIGATION
23 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels
24 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that
25 Party must:
26 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
27 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
1 in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject
2 to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective
3 Order; and
4 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by
5 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
6 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
7 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as
8 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order
9 issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party
10 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material –
11 and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving
12 Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
13 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED
14 IN THIS LITIGATION
15 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party
16 in this action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties
17 in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order.
18 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking
19 additional protections.
20 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a
21 Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement
22 with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
23 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some
24 or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
25 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order
26 in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the
27 information requested; and
1 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court
2 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
3 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the
4 Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information
5 in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party
6 before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall
7 bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
8 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
9 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected
10 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective
11 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the
12 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the
13 Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were
14 made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
16 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
17 PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently
19 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the
20 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This
21 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery
22 order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of
23 Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
24 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product
25 protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order
26 submitted to the court.
27 12. MISCELLANEOUS
1 person to seek its modification by the court in the future.
2 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
3 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or
4 producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective
5 Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of
6 the material covered by this Protective Order.
7 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the
8 Designating Party or a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a
9 Party may not file in the public record in this action any Protected Material. Protected Material
10 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
11 Protected Material at issue.
12 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
13 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, each
14 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such
15 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
16 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
17 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must
18 submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the
19 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all
20 the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has
21 not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
22 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
23 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts,
24 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work
25 product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
26 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to
27 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________
4 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
5 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for
6 the Eastern District of California in the case of Amanda Lopez Frausto v. Costco Wholesale
7 Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-01453-JLT-SAB. I agree to comply with and to be bound
8 by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure
9 to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly
10 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this
11 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the
12 provisions of this Order.
13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
14 Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective
15 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
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17 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of
18 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone
19 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any
20 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
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22 Date: ______________________________________
23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
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25 Printed name: _______________________________
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27 Signature: __________________________________
1 COURT ORDER ENTERING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
2 Pursuant to the stipulation of the parties and good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY
3 | ORDERED that:
4 1. The above stipulated protective order is ENTERED;
5 2. The provisions of the parties’ stipulation and this protective order shall remain in
6 | effect until further order of the Court;
7 3. The parties are advised that pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States
8 | District Court, Eastern District of California, any documents which are to be filed under seal will
9 | require a written request which complies with Local Rule 141;
10 4. The party making a request to file documents under seal shall be required to show
11 | either good cause or compelling reasons to seal the documents, depending on the type of filing,
12 | Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-78 (9th Cir. 2009); Ctr. for Auto Safety v.
13 | Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir. 2016); and
14 5. If a party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,
15 | then the previously filed material shall be immediately accepted by the court and become
16 | information in the public record and the information will be deemed filed as of the date that the
17 | request to file the Protected Information under seal was made.
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19 IT IS SO ORDERED. DAM Le
20 | Dated: _ January 7, 2025 _ oO ES
STANLEY A. BOONE
21 United States Magistrate Judge
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