The opinion
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
8
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
9
10
SHERYL PULVER, an individual,
Case No. 2:25-cv-01226-JAK-PVC
11
12 Plaintiff, S O T R I D P E U R L A TED PROTECTIVE
13 vs.
14 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.,
a Corporation and DOES 1 through
15 10, inclusive,
16
Defendant.
17
18
1. INTRODUCTION
19
1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
20
Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
21
proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure
22
and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.
23
Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the
24
following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does
25
not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that
26
the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
27
1 legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below,
2 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential
3 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be
4 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from
5 the court to file material under seal.
6 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
7 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
8 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
9 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
10 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
11 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,
12 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential
13 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial
14 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),
15 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged
16 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
17 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
18 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials,
19 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to
20 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
21 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the
22 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is
23 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be
24 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated
25 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public
26 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this
27 case.
1 2. DEFINITIONS
2 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, Case no. 2:25-cv-01226-JAK-PVC.
3 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
4 of information or items under this Order.
5 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
6 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
7 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
8 Cause Statement
9 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
10 support staff).
11 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
13 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
14 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of
15 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
16 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
17 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
18 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
19 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
20 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
21 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
22 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
23 counsel.
24 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
25 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
26 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
27 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
1 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
2 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
3 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
5 support staffs).
6 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
7 Discovery Material in this Action.
8 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
9 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
11 and their employees and subcontractors.
12 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
14 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
15 from a Producing Party.
16 3. SCOPE
17 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
18 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
19 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
20 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
21 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
22 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial
23 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
24
25 4. DURATION
26 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
27 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will
1 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
2 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
3 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of
4 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
5 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
6 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
7 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
8 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
9 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
10 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
11 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
12 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
13 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
14 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
15 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
16 this Order.
17 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
18 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
19 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
20 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
21 to sanctions.
22 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
23 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
24 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
25 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
26 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
27 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 documents,
5 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the
6 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter
7 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a
8 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
9 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
10 markings in the margins).
11 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for
12 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has
13 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection
14 and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will 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 of
20 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 the
24 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all
25 protected testimony.
26 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any
27 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior
1 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
2 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
3 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected
4 portion(s).
5 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
6 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
7 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
8 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
9 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
10 Order.
11 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
12 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
13 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
14 Scheduling Order.
15 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
16 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1
17 et seq.
18 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on
19 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
20 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
21 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
22 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will continue to afford the
23 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
24 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
25 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
26 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
27 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
1 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
2 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
3 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
4 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
5 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
6 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
7 authorized under this Order.
8 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
9 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
10 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
11 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
12 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well
13 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
14 to disclose the information for this Action;
15 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
16 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
17 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
18 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
19 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
20 (d) the Court and its personnel;
21 (e) court reporters and their staff;
22 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
23 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
24 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
25 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
26 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
27
1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the
2 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
3 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will
4 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
6 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
7 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
8 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
9 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
10 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
11 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
12 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
13 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
14 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
15 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
16 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will
18 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
20 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
21 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of
22 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
24 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
25 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
26 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this action
27 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
1 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
2 Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
3 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
4 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
5 directive from another court.
6 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
7 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
8 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
9 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
10 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
11 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
12 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
13 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
14 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
15 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
16 confidential information, then the Party will:
17 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
18 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
19 with a Non-Party;
20 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
21 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
22 specific description of the information requested; and
23 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
24 Party, if requested.
25 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
26 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
27 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
1 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will not produce
2 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
3 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court
4 order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking
5 protection in this court of its Protected Material.
6 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
8 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
9 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
10 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
11 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
12 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
13 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
14 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
15
16 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
17 PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
19 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
20 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
21 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
22 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
23 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
24 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
25 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
26 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
27 to the court.
1 12. MISCELLANEOUS
2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
3 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
5 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
10 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
11 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
12 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is
13 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public
14 record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
15 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
16 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
17 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
18 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this
19 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
20 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
21 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party
22 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person
23 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by
24 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed
25 and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
26 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
27 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an
1 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
2 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
3 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
4 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
5 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
6 Section 4 (DURATION).
7 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
8 contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
9 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
10
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS
11
SO ORDERED.
12
13
14
DATED: October 31, 2025 __________________________________
15
HON. PEDRO V. CASTILLO
United States Magistrate Judge
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
4 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
5 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
6 District Court for the Central District of California on _________ [date] in the case
7 of Sheryl Pulver v. Nissan North America, Inc., Case No. 2:25-cv-01226-JAK-
8 PVC. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated
9 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could
10 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly
11 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject
12 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance
13 with the provisions of this Order.
14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full
18 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and
19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
21 Order.
22
23 Date: ______________________________________
24 City and State where signed: _________________________________
25 Printed name: _______________________________
26
27 Signature: __________________________________