The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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Il || OLGA VELAZQUEZ, Case No. 2:25-cv-00246-CSK
12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MODIFIED
13 y STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
(ECF No. 23)
14 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.,
15 Defendant.
16
17 The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order below (ECF No.
18 |} 23), and finds it comports with the relevant authorities and the Court's Local Rule. See
19 || L.R. 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following
20 || clarification.
21 The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain
22 || jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R.
23 || 141.1(f); see Bylin Heating Sys., Inc. v. Thermal Techs., Inc., 2012 WL 13237584, at *2
24 || (E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2012) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain
25 || jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, the
26 || Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed.
27 || Dated: August 13, 2025 4 - oO
28 || 4, velao246.25 ope
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
1 AMIR NASSIHI (SBN 235936)
2 anassihi@shb.com
SHOOK HARDY & BACON L.L.P.
3 555 Mission Street, Suite 2300
San Francisco, CA 94105
4 Tel: (415) 544-1900 | Fax: (415) 391-0281
5
KRISTINE AVENA (SBN 328593)
6 kavena@shb.com
SHOOK HARDY & BACON L.L.P.
7 5 Park Plaza, Suite 1600
Irvine, CA 92614
8
Tel: (949) 475-1500 | Fax: (949) 475-0016
9
Attorneys for Defendant
10 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
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12
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
13
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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15
OLGA VELAZQUEZ, an individual, Case No. 2:25-cv-00246-CSK
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Plaintiff,
17 Assigned to the Hon. Chi Soo Kim
vs.
18 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., a [PROPOSED] STIPULATED
19 Delaware Corporation, and DOES 1 PROTECTIVE ORDER
through 10, inclusive,
20
Defendants.
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1. GENERAL
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1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
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production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
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protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting
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this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and
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1 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
2 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
3 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
4 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
5 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as
6 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle
7 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 141 sets forth the
8 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
9 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
10 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
11 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
12 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
13 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
14 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
15 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,
16 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential
17 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial
18 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),
19 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged
20 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
21 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
22 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials,
23 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to
24 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
25 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the
26 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is
27 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be
28 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated
1 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public
2 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this
3 case.
4 2. DEFINITIONS
5 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, Case no. 2:25-cv-00246-CSK.
6 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
7 of information or items under this Order.
8 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
9 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
10 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
11 Cause Statement.
12 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
13 support staff).
14 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
15 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
16 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
17 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
18 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
19 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
20 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
21 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
22 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
23 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
24 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
25 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
26 counsel.
27 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
28 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
2 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
3 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
4 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
5 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
7 support staffs).
8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
9 Discovery Material in this Action.
10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
11 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
13 and their employees and subcontractors.
14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
17 from a Producing Party.
18 3. SCOPE
19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
20 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
21 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
22 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
23 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
24 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
25 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
26 4. DURATION
27 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced
28 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
1 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
2 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
3 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the
4 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.
5 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
6 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
7 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
8 beyond the commencement of the trial.
9 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
10 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
11 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
12 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
13 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
14 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
15 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
16 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
17 this Order.
18 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
19 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
20 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
21 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
22 to sanctions.
23 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
24 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
25 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
26 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
27 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
28 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
1 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
2 produced.
3 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
4 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
5 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
6 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
7 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
8 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
9 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
10 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
11 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
12 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
13 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
14 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
15 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents
16 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
17 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing
18 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
19 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions
20 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
21 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
22 margins).
23 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
24 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
25 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
26 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
27 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
28 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
1 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
2 portion(s).
3 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
4 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
5 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
6 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
7 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
8 Order.
9 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
10 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
11 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
12 Scheduling Order.
13 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
14 resolution process under Local Rule 251, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly
15 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rule 251.
16 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
17 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
18 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
19 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
20 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
21 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled
22 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
23 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
24 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
25 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
26 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
27 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
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1 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
2 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
4 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
5 authorized under this Order.
6 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
7 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
8 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
9 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
10 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
11 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
12 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
13 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
14 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
15 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
16 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
18 (d) the Court and its personnel;
19 (e) court reporters and their staff;
20 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
21 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
22 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
23 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
24 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
25 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
26 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
27 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
28 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
1 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
2 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
3 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
4 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
5 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
6 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
7 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
8 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
9 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
10 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
11 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
12 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
13 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
14 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
15 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
16 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
17 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
18 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
19 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
20 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
21 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
22 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
23 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
24 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
25 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
26 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
27 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
28 directive from another court.
1 //
2 //
3 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
4 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
5 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
6 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
7 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
8 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
9 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
10 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
11 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
12 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential
13 information, then the Party shall:
14 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
15 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
16 with a Non-Party;
17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
18 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
19 specific description of the information requested; and
20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
21 Party, if requested.
22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
23 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
24 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
25 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
26 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
27 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
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1 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
2 protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
3 //
4 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
6 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
7 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
8 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
9 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
10 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
11 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
12 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
13 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
14 PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
16 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
17 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
18 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
19 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
20 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
21 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
22 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
23 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
24 to the Court.
25 12. MISCELLANEOUS
26 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
27 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
28 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
1 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
2 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
3 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
4 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
5 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
6 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rules. Protected Material may only
7 be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
8 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under
9 seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,
10 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
11 otherwise instructed by the Court.
12 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
13 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
14 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
15 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
16 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other
17 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected
18 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written
19 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the
20 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
21 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
22 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
23 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
24 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
25 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
26 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product,
27 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
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1 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material
2 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
3 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
4 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
5 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
6 sanctions.
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8 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
9
10 DATED: August 6, 2025
11
_/s/Andrew Jung
12 Andrew Jung
Attorney for Plaintiff
13
OLGA VELAZQUEZ
14
DATED: August 5, 2025
15
16 __/s/ Kristine Avena__________
17 Kristine Avena
Attorney for Defendant
18 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
7 District Court for the Eastern District of California on ____________ [date] in the
8 case of Olga Velazquez v. Nissan North America, Inc., Case No. 2:25-cv-00246-
9 CSK. 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 Eastern 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 __________________________ [full
19 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and
20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
22 Order.
23
24 Date: ______________________________________
25 City and State where signed: _________________________________
26 Printed name: _______________________________
27
28 Signature: __________________________________