Arthur Broughton v. FCA US, LLC

1 Matthew C. Wolf (SBN 223051)

mwolf@thwvlaw.com

2 Lauren K. VanDenburg (SBN 299957)

lvandenburg@thwvlaw.com

3 Arya Shriani (SBN 350328)

ashirani@thwvlaw.com

4 TURNER HENNINGSEN WOLF & VANDENBURG, LLP

707 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 3700

5 Los Angeles, California 90017

Tel: 323-653-3900

6 Attorneys for Defendant,

FCA US LLC

7

8 Tionna Carvalho (SBN 299010)

Email: tcarvalho@slpattorney.com

9 emailservices@slpattorney.com

Elizabeth A. LaRocque (SBN 219977)

10 Email: elaroque@slpattorney.com

Strategic Legal Practices, APC

11 1888 Century Park East, Floor 19

Los Angeles, CA 90067

12 Telephone: (310) 929-4900

Facsimile: (310) 943-3838

13 Attorneys for Plaintiff,

ARTHUR H BROUGHTON

14

15

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

16

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

17

ARTHUR H BROUGHTON, Case No. 5:24-cv-02510-JGB-SP

18 District Judge: Hon. Jesus G. Bernal

Plaintiff, Magistrate Judge: Sheri Pym

19

vs.

JOINT STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

20

FCA US LLC; and DOES 1 through 10, ORDER

21 inclusive.

22 Defendants.

23

24

25 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

26 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

27 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public

1 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to

2 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this

3 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to

4 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends

5 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment

6 under the applicable legal principles.

7

8 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

9 Documents and materials covered under the protective order contain

10 proprietary, financial, confidential, copyrighted, and sensitive information not

11 intended to be circulated among the general public. This includes copyrighted

12 vehicle information intended for purchase or to be used under license, sensitive

13 personally identifiable information, confidential business practices, and information

14 otherwise generally unavailable to the public. In many instances, redaction is not

15 possible as necessary information would be redacted, and in some instances more

16 information would be redacted than visible.

17 Special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other

18 than prosecution of this action is warranted.

19 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt

20 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately

21 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the

22 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for

23 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and

24 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this

25 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as

26 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good

27 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and

1 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE

2 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this

3 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information

4 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed

5 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court

6 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right

7 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-

8 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See

9 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006),

10 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-

11 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even

12 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of

13 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal

14 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to

15 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as

16 CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by

17 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as

18 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.

19 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then

20 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the

21 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.

22 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For

23 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to

24 be filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate

25 compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the

26 requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to

27 file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.

1 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in

2 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If

3 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting

4 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document,

5 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their

6 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

7

8 4. DEFINITIONS

9 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.

10 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of

11 information or items under this Order.

12 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how

13 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection

14 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good

15 Cause Statement.

16 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their

17 support staff).

18 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

19 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as

20 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

21 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of

22 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,

23 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or

24 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.

25 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

26 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as

27 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

1 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

2 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

3 counsel.

4 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or

5 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

6 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to

7 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in

8 this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared

9 on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

10 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

11 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their

12 support staffs).

13 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

14 Discovery Material in this Action.

15 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

16 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

17 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)

18 and their employees and subcontractors.

19 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

20 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

21 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

22 from a Producing Party.

23

24 5. SCOPE

25 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

26 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or

27 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or

1 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or

2 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

3 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial

4 judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of

5 Protected Material at trial.

6

7 6. DURATION

8 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

9 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced

10 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all

11 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by

12 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance

13 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”

14 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”

15 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the

16 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

17

18 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

19 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each

20 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this

21 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies

22 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for

23 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written

24 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items

25 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably

26 within the ambit of this Order.

27 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

1 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose

2 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating

3 Party to sanctions.

4 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

5 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

6 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

7 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this

8 Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that

9 qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the

10 material is disclosed or produced.

11 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

12 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,

13 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that

14 the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter

15 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a

16 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

17 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings

18 in the margins).

19 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection

20 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated

21 which documents it would like copied and produced.

22 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made

23 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting

24 Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing

25 Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection

26 under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing

27 Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected

1 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making

2 appropriate markings in the margins).

3 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies the

4 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all

5 protected testimony.

6 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any

7 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the

8 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

9 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants

10 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected

11 portion(s).

12 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure

13 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the

14 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.

15 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable

16 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this

17 Order.

18

19 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

20 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

21 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s

22 Scheduling Order.

23 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution

24 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.

25 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint

26 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.

27 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the

1 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may

2 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived

3 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the

4 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the

5 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

6

7 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

8 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

9 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this

10 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such

11 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the

12 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a

13 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL

14 DISPOSITION).

15 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a

16 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons

17 authorized under this Order.

18 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise

19 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving

20 Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

21 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as

22 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to

23 disclose the information for this Action;

24 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the

25 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

26 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

27 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

1 (d) the court and its personnel;

2 (e) court reporters and their staff;

3 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors

4 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

6 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

7 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

8 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the

9 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party

10 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they

11 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the

12 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise

13 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed

14 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may

15 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except

16 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and (i) any mediators or

17 settlement officers and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of

18 the parties engaged in settlement discussions.

19

20 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN

21 OTHER LITIGATION

22 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation

23 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as

24 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

25 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall

26 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

27 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to

1 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of

2 this Stipulated Protective Order; and

3 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by

4 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating

5 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court

6 order shall not produce any information designated in this action as

7 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena

8 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission.

9 The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in

10 that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be

11 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey

12 a lawful directive from another court.

13

14 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED

15 IN THIS LITIGATION

16 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-

17 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information

18 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the

19 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be

20 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

21 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce

22 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to

23 an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential

24 information, then the Party shall:

25 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that

26 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement

27 with a Non-Party;

1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective

2 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific

3 description of the information requested; and

4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party,

5 if requested.

6 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14

7 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party

8 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery

9 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall

10 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the

11 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.

12 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and

13 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

14

15 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

16 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

17 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

18 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in

19 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts

20 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or

21 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,

22 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an

23 Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.

24

25 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

26 PROTECTED MATERIAL

27 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

1 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil\

2 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure

3 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without

4 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar

5 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or

6 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the

7 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted

8 to the court.

9

10 14. MISCELLANEOUS

11 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

12 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

13 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

14 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

15 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

16 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any

17 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

18 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

19 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may

20 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the

21 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal

22 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the

23 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

24

25 15. FINAL DISPOSITION

26 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60

27 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return

1 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,

2 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

3 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving

4 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same

5 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies

6 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or

7 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,

8 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any

9 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to

10 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing

11 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert

12 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such

13 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or

14 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in

15 Section 6 (DURATION).

16

17 16. VIOLATION

18 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures

19 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

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1 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

2

3 Dated: May 16, 2025 /s/ Elizabeth A. LaRocque

4 Attorneys for Plaintiff

5 ARTHUR H. BROUGHTON

6

7 Dated: May 16, 2025 /s/ Matthew C. Wolf

8 Attorneys for Defendant

9 FCA US, LLC

10

11 Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2), I hereby attest that all signatories listed,

12 and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have

13 authorized the filing.

14

15 Dated: May 16, 2025 /s/ Matthew C. Wolf

16 Attorneys for Defendant

17 FCA US, LLC

18

19 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

20

21 Dated: May 23, 2025 ___________________________________

22 HON. SHERI PYM

23 United States Magistrate Judge

24

25

26

27

1 EXHIBIT A

2 CERTIFICATION RE CONFIDENTIAL DISCOVERY MATERIALS

I hereby acknowledged that I, ______________________________ [NAME],

3

____________________________________________ [POSITION AND EMPLOYER], am

4

about to receive Confidential Materials supplied in connection with the proceeding, Arthur H

5

Broughton v. FCA US, LLC (5:24-cv-02510-JGB-SP). I certify that I understand the Confidential

6 Materials are provided to me subject to the terms and restrictions of the Stipulation and Protective

7 Order filed in this Proceeding. I have been given a copy of this Stipulation and Protective Order; I

8 have read it, and I agree to be bound by its terms.

I understand that Confidential Materials, as defined in the Stipulation and Protective Order,

9

including any notes or other records that may be made regarding any such materials, shall not be

10

Disclosed to anyone except as expressly permitted by the Stipulation and Protective Order. I will

11

not copy or use, except solely for the purposes of this Proceeding, any Confidential Materials

12

obtained pursuant to this Protective Order, except as provided therein or otherwise ordered by the

13 Court in the Proceeding.

14 I further understand that I am to retain all copies of all Confidential Materials provided to

15 me in the Proceeding in a secure manner and that all copies of such Materials are to remain in my

personal custody until termination of my participation in the Proceeding, whereupon the copies of

16

such Materials will be returned to counsel who provided me with such Materials.

17

I declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the State of California, that the

18

foregoing is true and correct. Executed this_____ day of _____, 20_____, at _________________.

19

20 DATED: _________________________ BY: ______________________________

21 Signature

______________________________

22

Title

23

______________________________

24

Address

25 ______________________________

26 City, State, Zip

27 ______________________________

Telephone Number