# Sage Hayashi v. United Rentals North America, Inc.

> District Court, C.D. California · August 11, 2025

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11119353

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, C.D. California
- **Decided:** August 11, 2025
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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10 SAGE HAYASHI,
Case No. CV-24-08808-SPG
11 v. (AGRx)
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
13 UNITED RENTALS NORTH ORDER
AMERICA, INC., et. al.
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17 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
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19 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
20 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
21 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
22 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
23 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
24 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
25 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
26 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
27 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in
file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.

B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

[*The “Good Cause Statement” should be edited to include or exclude specific
information that applies to the particular case, i.e., what harm will result from
the disclosure of the confidential information likely to be produced in this case?
Below is an example]:
This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,
confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential
business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial
information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),
information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged
or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials,
to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to
ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the
litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is
justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be
designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
record of this case.

2. DEFINITIONS
2.1 Action: [this pending federal law suit]. [*Option: consolidated or
related actions.]
2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
designation of information or items under this Order.
2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
Cause Statement.
2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
support staff).
2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of
the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
support staffs).
2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
Discovery Material in this Action.
2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
and their employees and subcontractors.
2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
from a Producing Party.

3. SCOPE
The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
4. DURATION
[ONE POSSIBLE PARAGRAPH] Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the
information that was designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the
trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th
Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
beyond the commencement of the trial.

[ALTERNATIVE POSSIBLE PARAGRAPH] Even after final disposition of
this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in
effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise
directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims
and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein
after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or
reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications
for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.

5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
to sanctions.
If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
produced.
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
“CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before
the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
“CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
markings in the margins).
(b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition
all protected testimony.
(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
“CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
portion(s).
5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
Order.

6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
Scheduling Order.
resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
(e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
authorized under this Order.
7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
“CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well
as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
to disclose the information for this Action;
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
(d) the court and its personnel;
(e) court reporters and their staff;
(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
(h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the
Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will
not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed
by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition
testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately
bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.

8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
IN OTHER LITIGATION
If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
“CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
directive from another court.

9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
confidential information, then the Party shall:
(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
with a Non-Party;
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
specific description of the information requested; and
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
Non-Party, if requested.
(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense
of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
PROTECTED MATERIAL
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
to the court.

12. MISCELLANEOUS
12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal
is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public
record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
13. FINAL DISPOSITION
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this
subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party
must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person
or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by
category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed
and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an
archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
Section 4 (DURATION).
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14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
sanctions.

IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

DATED

Attorneys for Plaintiff

DATED:

Attorneys for Defendant

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: August 11, 2025
Uber h Kreinbing,
ALICIA G. ROSENBERG
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

EXHIBIT A
ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

I, [print or type full name], of
[print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that
I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was
issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on
[date] in the case of [insert formal name of the case and the
number and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be
bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and
acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment
in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person
or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated
Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this
action. I hereby appoint [print
or type full name] of [print or type
full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
Stipulated Protective Order.
Date:
City and State where sworn and signed:

Printed name:

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11119353. Public record. Not legal advice.