# Jessica Robertson v. Clean Control Corporation

> District Court, C.D. California · June 5, 2025

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11066266

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, C.D. California
- **Decided:** June 5, 2025
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

CROSNER LEGAL, P.C.
1
Michael T. Houchin (SBN 305541)
2 mhouchin@crosnerlegal.com
3 Craig W. Straub (SBN 249032)
craig@crosnerlegal.com
4
Zachary M. Crosner (SBN 272295)
5 zach@crosnerlegal.com
9440 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 301
6
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
7 Tel: (866) 276-7637
8 Fax: (310) 510-6429

9 Attorneys for Plaintiff and the Proposed
Class
10

11
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
12 FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

13
14 JESSICA ROBERTSON, individually Case No. 5:24-cv-1478-SSS (DBTx)
and on behalf of all others similarly
15
situated, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
16 ORDER
Plaintiff,
17
DISCOVERY MATTER
18 v.
19
CLEAN CONTROL CORPORATION,
20

21 Defendant.
22
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25
26
27
28
1 1.
2 A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
4 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
5 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
6 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
7 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
8 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
9 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
10 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
11 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
12 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
13 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
14 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
15 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
16 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
17 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
18 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
19 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
20 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
21 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other
22 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding
23 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or
24 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third
25 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
26 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
27 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of
28 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
1 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
2 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
3 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
4 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
5 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
6 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
7 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
8 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
9 record of this case.
10 2. DEFINITIONS
11 2.1 Action: This pending federal law suit.
12 2.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the
13 designation of information or items under this Order.
14 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of
15 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
16 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
17 the Good Cause Statement.
18 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
19 their support staff).
20 2.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or
21 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
22 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
23 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless
24 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
25 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced
26 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
27
28
1 2.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
3 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
4 2.8 House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
5 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
6 counsel.
7 2.9 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,
8 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
9 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party
10 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
11 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
12 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
13 2.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
14 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
15 support staffs).
16 2.12 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
17 Discovery Material in this Action.
18 2.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support
19 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
20 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
21 and their employees and subcontractors.
22 2.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
23 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
24 2.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
25 Material from a Producing Party.
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1 3. SCOPE
2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
6 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
8 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
9 4. DURATION
10 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
11 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will
12 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
13 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
14 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of
15 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
16 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
17 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
18 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
19 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
20 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
21 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
22 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
23 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
24 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
25 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
26 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
27 within the ambit of this Order.
28
1 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
2 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
3 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
4 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
5 Party to sanctions.
6 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
7 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
8 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
9 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
10 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
11 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
12 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
13 produced.
14 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
15 a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
16 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
17 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
18 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
19 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
20 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
21 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
22 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
23 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
24 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
25 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
26 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
27 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
28 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
1 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
2 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
3 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
4 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
5 markings in the margins).
6 b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
7 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition
8 all protected testimony.
9 c) for information produced in some form other than documentary andfor
10 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
11 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
13 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
14 portion(s).
15 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
16 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
17 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
18 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
19 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
20 Order.
21 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
22 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
23 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
24 Scheduling Order.
25 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
26 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
27 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
28 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
1 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
2 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party
3 has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to
4 afford the 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. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
8 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
9 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
10 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
11 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
12 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
13 DISPOSITION).
14 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
15 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
16 authorized under this Order.
17 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
18 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
19 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
20 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
21 a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
22 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
23 necessary to 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
28 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
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
4 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
5 signed the “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
17 i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
18 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
19 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
20 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
21 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
22 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
23 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
24 a) Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
25 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
26 b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
27 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
28
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
4 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
5 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
6 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
7 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
8 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
9 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
10 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
11 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
12 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
13 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
14 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
15 a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
16 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
17 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
18 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
19 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
20 b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
21 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
22 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
23 confidential information, then the Party shall:
24 1) Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that
25 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
26 with a Non-Party;
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1 2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
2 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
3 specific description of the information requested; and
4 3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
5 Party, if requested.
6 c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
7 14 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 expense
13 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
14 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
16 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
18 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
19 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person
20 or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this
21 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
22 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
23 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
24 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
26 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
27 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
28 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
1 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
2 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
3 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
4 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
5 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
6 to the court.
7 12. MISCELLANEOUS
8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
11 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
16 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
17 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
18 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material
19 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
20 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
21 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
22 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
23 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
24 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
25 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
26 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
27 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
28 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
1 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
2 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
3 destroyed and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
4 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
5 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
6 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
7 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
8 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
9 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
10 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
11 Section 4 (DURATION).
12 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
13 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
14 sanctions.
15 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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Dated: June 4, 2025 CROSNER LEGAL, P.C.
19

20 By: /s/ Michael T. Houchin
21 MICHAEL T. HOUCHIN

22

23

24 Dated: June 4, 2025 NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP

25
By: /s/ Joshua D. Lee
26
JOSHUA D. LEE
27

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1 |} FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO
9 ORDERED.
4 DATED: June 5, 2025

7 | Hon. David T. Bristow
8 || United States Magistrate Judge
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-]3-
Robertson v. Clean Control Corporation, Case No. 5:24-cv-1478-SSS (DBTx)
STIPUT. ATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, ____________________________________________ [print or type full name],
4 of ________________________________________________________________
5 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its
6 entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United
7 States District Court for the Central District of California in the case of Robertson v.
8 Clean Control Corporation, Case No. 5:24-cv-1478-SSS (DBTx).
9 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated
10 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could
11 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly
12 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject
13 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance
14 with the provisions of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint ________________________________
19 [print or type full name] of
20 __________________________________________________________________
21 full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
22 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
23 Stipulated Protective Order.
24 Date: __________________________
25 City and state where signed:________________________________
26 Printed name: ___________________________________________
27
28 Signature:_______________________________________________

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11066266. Public record. Not legal advice.