“The applications may include 23 social security numbers, dates and places of birth, and mother’s maiden names. 24 Public disclosure of this information subjects lay applicants to a heightened risk of 25 fraud if it becomes public.”
How later courts described this case
- “The applications may include 23 social security numbers, dates and places of birth, and mother’s maiden names. 24 Public disclosure of this information subjects lay applicants to a heightened risk of 25 fraud if it becomes public.”
- recognizing that a 22 protective order limiting use of confidential materials obtained in discovery to the 23 instant litigation is “a routine measure”
- “Federal courts have recognized a person’s interest in preserving 8 confidentiality of information contained in his or her personnel files.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11 LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER, 2:24-cv-08156-JLS-AJR
SECRETARY OF LABOR, U.S.
12
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
MEMORANDUM DECISION
13 AND ORDER ISSUING
Plaintiff,
PROTECTIVE ORDER TO
14 v. GOVERN EXCHANGE OF
CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL
15 COWAY USA, INC., INFORMATION
16 Defendant.
17
18 I.
19 INTRODUCTION
20 This is a wage and hour enforcement action brought by the Plaintiff Secretary
21 of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor (“Plaintiff”), under the Fair Labor Standards
22 Act (the “FLSA”) against Defendant Coway USA, Inc. (“Defendant”) to recover
23 allegedly unpaid overtime compensation owed to Defendant’s employees under
24 Section 207 of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 207, as well as liquidated damages. (Dkt. 1.)
25 Plaintiff also seeks relief under Section 17 of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 217, to
26 permanently enjoin Defendant from violating the FLSA. (Id. at 2.) Specifically,
27 Plaintiff alleges that Defendant failed to pay its employees – known as “Codys” and
28
1 falsifying time records, automatically deducting time, and using a depressed and
2
incorrect regular rate figure to compute overtime pay. (Id. at 3-8.)
3
The parties have been engaged in discovery for several months with a current
4
Fact Discovery Cutoff of February 27, 2026.1 (Dkt. 26 at 2.) The Court has
5
conducted six informal discovery conferences to date to assist the parties with
6
various discovery disputes. (Dkts. 37, 38, 40, 47, 57, 67.) Presently before the
7
Court is the issuance of a protective order to govern the exchange of confidential
8
information in this case. On July 18, 2025, the Court issued a Memorandum
9
Decision and Order Denying Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel because Defendant had
10
agreed to provide the responsive documents and information sought by the Motion
11
to Compel subject to Defendant’s ability to designate the personally identifiable
12
information (“PII”), as well as confidential financial and employment information of
13
its employees as confidential pursuant to the terms of a protective order. (Dkt. 46.)
14
15 The Court found good cause for the entry of a protective order to permit Defendant
16 to designate this information as confidential and directed the parties to meet and
17 confer on the terms of a stipulated protective consistent with the opinion. (Id. at 11-
18 12.) The parties struggled to actually meet and confer, so the Court ordered
19 Defendant to provide Plaintiff with a proposed protective order and further directed
20 Defendant to provide a redline in response. (Dkt. 67.) On November 17, 2025, the
21 parties provided their competing redlines to the Court by email.
22 The Court had hoped the parties could agree on the terms of a stipulated
23 protective order, or at least mostly agree and then the Court could resolve the area of
24 disagreement. However, since that did not occur, the Court instead will set forth the
25 terms of a more limited protective order that provides protection for the PII, as well
26
27
1 On December 16, 2025, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Extend Deadlines in the
Scheduling Order seeking an extension of the Fact Discovery Cutoff until October
28 27, 2026. (Dkt. 73.)
1
2
II.
3
THE DISCOVERY AT ISSUE
4
Plaintiff’s Interrogatory Nos. 1 and 2 state as follows:
5
Interrogatory No. 1:
6
Identify all Codys/Codocs who were employed by Coway during the
7
Subject Period by name, title, employee number, last known address,
8
home and cellular telephone numbers, dates of employment, team, and
9
work location. If a Cody/Codoc changed job positions, identify the date
10
of such change and the new position.
11
Interrogatory No. 2:
12
Identify all assistant team leaders, team leaders, Cody branch manager,
13
branch managers, and any other supervisor or manager of the
14
15 Codys/Codocs, who worked for Coway during the Subject Period, by
16 name, title, supervisory level in relation to the Codys/Codocs (i.e., first
17 level supervisor, second level supervisor, etc.), team, and work
18 location. If any persons identified pursuant to this interrogatory
19 changed job positions, identify the date of such change and the new
20 position.
21 (Dkt. 39-2 at 20.) These interrogatories seek information from October 3, 2020 to
22 the present. (Id. at 15.) Defendant has agreed to produce the documents and
23 information sought by Interrogatory Nos. 1 and 2 subject to Defendant’s ability to
24 designate the PII, as well as confidential financial and employment information of
25 its employees as confidential pursuant to the terms of a protective order. (Dkt. 40 at
26 1.)
27 Plaintiff’s Requests for Production Nos. 12, 13, 15-17, 19-25, and 27-29
28 seek a variety of documents regarding time, pay, attendance, meetings, trainings,
1 requests for production seek documents from October 3, 2020 to the present. (Id. at
2
68.) Defendant has similarly agreed to produce responsive documents to these
3
requests for production subject to Defendant’s ability to designate the PII, as well as
4
confidential financial and employment information of its employees as confidential
5
pursuant to the terms of a protective order. (Dkt. 40 at 2.)
6
7
III.
8
LEGAL STANDARD
9
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), a court may, for “good cause,”
10
issue a protective order “to protect a party or person from annoyance,
11
embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c).
12
The protective order may contain conditions, such as forbidding discovery, limiting
13
its scope, or requiring that certain information produced in discovery not be revealed
14
15 publicly or be revealed only in a specified way. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1)(A)-
16 (H). To obtain a protective order, the party resisting discovery or seeking
17 limitations must show “good cause” for its issuance by establishing “that a specific
18 prejudice or harm will result” if the protective order is not granted. In re Roman
19 Catholic Archbishop of Portland in Oregon, 661 F.3d 417, 424 (9th Cir. 2011)
20 (internal quotation marks omitted); accord Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d
21 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002). “[B]road allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by
22 specific examples of articulated reasoning” do not satisfy the Rule 26(c) standard.
23 Phillips, 307 F.3d at 1211. “If a court finds particularized harm will result from
24 disclosure of information to the public, then it balances the public and private
25 interests to decide whether a protective order is necessary.” Id. The U.S. Supreme
26 Court has interpreted Rule 26(c) as conferring “broad discretion on the trial court to
27 decide when a protective order is appropriate and what degree of protection is
28
1 307 F.3d at 1211.
2
3
IV.
4
DISCUSSION
5
The Court previously found good cause for the entry of a protective order,
6
(Dkt. 46), but the Court will repeat the relevant portions of that analysis here. “For
7
good cause to exist, the party seeking protection bears the burden of showing
8
specific prejudice or harm will result if no protective order is granted.” Phillips, 307
9
F.3d at 1210-11. Here, Defendant seeks the ability to designate the PII, as well as
10
confidential financial and employment information of its employees as confidential
11
pursuant to the terms of a protective order. (Dkt. 43 at 6-7.) The Court finds good
12
cause for the entry of a protective order because the interrogatories at issue seek the
13
PII of third-party employees such as their name, employee number, last known
14
15 address, home and cellular telephone numbers, and work location. (Dkt. 39-2 at 20.)
16 There is also good cause for the entry of a protective order because the requests for
17 production at issue seek a variety of employment records that are highly likely to
18 contain: (1) PII such as Social Security numbers; (2) confidential financial
19 information such as pay rates, wages and salaries, deductions and withholdings, and
20 bank account information; and (3) confidential employment information such as
21 performance reviews and disciplinary records. (Dkt. 39-2 at 72-75.)
22 Indeed, courts routinely “protect nonparty personal information, including
23 personally identifiable information and health information, using either particular or
24 blanket protective orders.” Moore v. Battelle Energy All., 2023 WL 1767391, at *4
25 (D. Idaho Feb. 3, 2023). “Protecting the privacy of nonparties is particularly
26 important because disclosure of sensitive and potentially embarrassing information
27 would cause serious injury to the nonparty, whose conduct is not at issue in the
28 case.” Id.; see also Yith v. Nielsen, 2019 WL 2567290, at *7 (E.D. Cal. June 21,
1 numbers, passport numbers, social security numbers, and other information—of
2
individuals who are completely unrelated to this case, would harm those
3
individuals.”). Courts similarly “recognize the interest employers and employees
4
have in preserving the confidentiality of sensitive information contained in an
5
employees’ records.” Kannan v. Apple Inc., 2019 WL 3037591, at *3 (N.D. Cal.
6
July 11, 2019); see also Tumbling v. Merced Irr. Dist., 262 F.R.D. 509, 517 (E.D.
7
Cal. 2009) (“Federal courts have recognized a person’s interest in preserving
8
confidentiality of information contained in his or her personnel files.”).
9
The Court finds that particularized harm will result from public disclosure of
10
the documents and information sought by the discovery requests at issue. For
11
example, the U.S. Department of Labor broadly defines PII as any “information that
12
can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, either alone or when
13
combined with other information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual.”
14
15 See Guidance on the Protection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII),
16 https://www.dol.gov/general/ppii (last accessed Dec. 17, 2025). The U.S.
17 Department of Labor recognizes that “[t]he loss of PII can result in substantial harm
18 to individuals, including identity theft or other fraudulent use of the information.”
19 Id. Because of these concerns, the U.S. Department of Labor reminds all
20 contractors and employees “that safeguarding sensitive information” such as PII “is
21 a critical reasonability that must be taken seriously at all times.” Id.; see also Mehl
22 v. Blanas, 241 F.R.D. 653, 659 (E.D. Cal. 2007) (“The applications may include
23 social security numbers, dates and places of birth, and mother’s maiden names.
24 Public disclosure of this information subjects lay applicants to a heightened risk of
25 fraud if it becomes public.”). These same concerns apply to the public disclosure of
26 confidential financial information which would put Defendant’s third-party
27 employees at risk of theft and fraud. See, e.g., Calderon v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 236
28 F. Supp. 3d 96, 118 (D.D.C. 2017) (recognizing that disclosure of confidential
1 would create a “risk for fraud or theft”). Finally, the Court finds that the public
2
disclosure of confidential employment information such as performance reviews and
3
disciplinary records would cause unnecessary embarrassment and violate the
4
privacy rights of Defendant’s third-party employees. See, e.g., Knoll v. Am. Tel. &
5
Tel. Co., 176 F.3d 359, 365 (6th Cir. 1999) (recognizing the need “to protect
6
nonparties from the harm and embarrassment potentially caused by nonconfidential
7
disclosure of their personnel files”).
8
The Court also finds that particularized harm will result from Plaintiff’s use
9
of the documents and information sought by the discovery requests at issue for
10
purposes other than this litigation. Indeed, “[c]ourts commonly uphold” limitations
11
on the use of confidential materials obtained through discovery such that the
12
materials may only be used for that specific lawsuit. See, e.g., United States ex rel.
13
Brown v. Celgene Corp., 2016 WL 6542729, at *8 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 14, 2016); On
14
15 Command Video Corp. v. LodgeNet Entm’t Corp., 976 F. Supp. 917, 922 (N.D. Cal.
16 1997) (“The purpose of the [Protective] Order is to limit the use of confidential
17 information to this case. By using such information to file a separate lawsuit in
18 another forum, plaintiff violated the plain terms of the Protective Order. As such,
19 plaintiff is barred from using any confidential information subject to the Protective
20 Order except in the instant litigation.”); Pac. Lumber Co. v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins.
21 Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 220 F.R.D. 349, 353 (N.D. Cal. 2003) (recognizing that a
22 protective order limiting use of confidential materials obtained in discovery to the
23 instant litigation is “a routine measure”); Scott v. Monsanto Co., 868 F.2d 786, 792
24 (5th Cir. 1989) (“The plaintiffs were free to use any discovery materials in the
25 development of their case. The protective order merely restricted use of those
26 materials to this litigation. Although plaintiffs claim harm from the inability to share
27 and compare information with other litigants in other cases, no prejudice has been
28 shown sufficient to overcome the district court’s broad discretion in this area. The
1 Plaintiff contends that she must be permitted to share confidential materials
2
obtained through discovery for general “law enforcement . . . outside of this
3
litigation, such as future investigations or prosecutions.” (Dkt. 39-1 at 17.) This
4
includes sharing such materials with other federal agencies, such as the U.S.
5
Department of Justice. (Id.) However, the use of confidential discovery materials
6
for general law enforcement outside of this litigation and the sharing of this
7
information with other federal agencies harms Defendant’s third-party employees
8
because it subjects them to legal jeopardy including potential immigration
9
enforcement and criminal prosecution. Defense counsel has repeatedly proffered
10
during informal discovery conferences that many of Defendant’s employees are
11
foreign nationals (primarily from South Korea) and so sharing their information
12
with federal agencies would have a chilling effect on their willingness to cooperate
13
as witnesses in this litigation.2 See, e.g., United Farm Workers v. Kristi Noem,
14
15 2025 WL 3525914, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 9, 2025) (finding good cause to limit the
16 use of discovery materials to the instant litigation based on “proffer that disclosure
17 of putative class members’ identifying information, including information about
18 their immigration status, may chill them from coming forward for fear of
19 jeopardizing family members or friends” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
20 Indeed, the Ninth Circuit has recognized that “[e]ven documented workers may be
21 chilled” by the sharing of their confidential information through discovery. See
22 Rivera v. NIBCO, Inc., 364 F.3d 1057, 1065 (9th Cir. 2004) (“Documented workers
23
24
2 The Court takes judicial notice of widespread media coverage of recent
25 immigration enforcement in Georgia targeting hundreds of South Korean nationals
working at a Hyundai/LG battery plant. See, e.g., Massive immigration raid at
26
Hyundai megaplant in Georgia leads to 475 arrests. Most are Korean, CNN,
27 Updated Sept. 6, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/us/georgia-plant-ice-raid-
hundreds-arrested-hnk. This media coverage supports the potential chilling effect
28 on Defendant’s third-party employees.
1 reveal the immigration problems of their family or friends; similarly, new legal
2
residents or citizens may feel intimidated by the prospect of having their
3
immigration history examined in a public proceeding.”).
4
This particularized harm is not speculative in light of Plaintiff’s repeated
5
assertion of its obligation to share discovery materials with other federal agencies
6
for general law enforcement purposes both during informal discovery conferences
7
and in the briefing. (See, e.g., Dkt. 39-1 at 17 & n.12 (highlighting the memoranda
8
of understanding between the U.S. Department of Labor and other agencies such as
9
the U.S. Department of Justice where the agencies agree to share information));
10
United Farm Workers, 2025 WL 3525914, at *4 (“[T]he arguments Defendants raise
11
in opposition to Plaintiffs’ request to prohibit disclosure of discovery materials for
12
purposes unrelated to the litigation of this action tend to confirm their desire and
13
intent to use such information for immigration enforcement purposes.”). Therefore,
14
15 a protective order limiting Plaintiff’s use of confidential discovery materials is
16 necessary so that Defendant can provide assurances to its third-party employees that
17 Plaintiff will not be able to use their confidential information for general law
18 enforcement purposes outside of this litigation or share this information with other
19 federal agencies.
20 Because Defendant has met its burden to show particularized harm that will
21 occur in the absence of a protective order, the Court must balance the public and
22 private interests to decide whether and to what extent a protective order is necessary.
23 See Phillips, 307 F.3d at 1211; accord Kannan, 2019 WL 3037591, at *3. Both the
24 Third and Ninth Circuits have identified for consideration the following list of
25 factors, “which are neither mandatory nor exhaustive”: “1) whether disclosure will
26 violate any privacy interests; 2) whether the information is being sought for a
27 legitimate purpose or for an improper purpose; 3) whether disclosure of the
28 information will cause a party embarrassment; 4) whether confidentiality is being
1 sharing of information among litigants will promote fairness and efficiency; 6)
2
whether a party benefitting from the order of confidentiality is a public entity or
3
official; and 7) whether the case involves issues important to the public.” Glenmede
4
Tr. Co. v. Thompson, 56 F.3d 476, 483 (3d Cir. 1995); Phillips, 307 F.3d at 1211
5
(citing to the Glenmede factors). The Ninth Circuit has also explained that even if
6
the balance of public and private interests weighs in favor of a protective order,
7
courts must “also keep in mind the possibility of redacting sensitive material” as an
8
alternative to a protective order. In re Roman Cath. Archbishop of Portland in
9
Oregon, 661 F.3d 417, 425 (9th Cir. 2011).
10
Based on the factors set forth above, the Court first balances the privacy
11
interests of Defendant’s third-party employees and the potential chilling effect on
12
them of sharing their confidential information against Plaintiff’s need to contact
13
witnesses and review employment records to determine whether Defendant has
14
15 complied with the FLSA. See, e.g., Henderson v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, 2012 WL
16 12888828, at *5 (C.D. Cal. July 5, 2012) (“The Court has balanced the privacy
17 objections being asserted by defendant against the relevance and necessity of the
18 information being sought by plaintiffs.”). The Court acknowledges that Plaintiff is
19 seeking the discovery at issue for the legitimate purpose of enforcing the FLSA and
20 that this case therefore involves issues important to the public. However, disclosure
21 of the PII, as well as confidential financial and employment records of Defendant’s
22 third-party employees, will violate their privacy interests and cause them
23 embarrassment.
24 Therefore, the Court concludes that the appropriate balance can be achieved
25 by permitting Defendant to designate the PII, as well as confidential financial and
26 employment information of third-party employees as confidential pursuant to the
27 terms of a protective order. See id. (finding that balance of interests required
28 production of PII and medical information subject to either redactions or a
1 *3 (“The Court concludes that the appropriate balance here requires permitting
2
Apple to produce confidential employee-specific records on an attorneys’ eyes only
3
basis.”); Knoll, 176 F.3d at 365 (approving of protective orders to protect non-
4
parties from “the harm and embarrassment potentially caused by nonconfidential
5
disclosure of their personnel files”).3 This balance allows Plaintiff to receive the
6
information she needs, but limits the harm to Defendant’s third-party employees
7
because Plaintiff will not be permitted to publicly disclose information designated as
8
confidential.4
9
10
11
3 Plaintiff contends that Defendant has waived its privacy objections because it
12 has already produced similar categories of information and documents. (Dkt. 39-1
at 9-10.) However, the Court declines to find that any conduct by Defendant could
13 waive the privacy rights of third-party employees. See Grinzi v. Barnes, 2004 WL
2370639, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 20, 2004) (“The proper mechanism for an employer
14
to use to protect an employee’s privacy interest in his personnel file is to obtain,
15 either by stipulation or motion, a properly crafted protective order under Rule
26(c).”); Stiner v. Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., 2022 WL 1180216, at *3 (N.D.
16 Cal. Mar. 30, 2022) (“Defendants contend, and the Court agrees, that these
documents constitute confidential employment records in which Defendants’
17
employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”).
18 4 Plaintiff contends that designating PII as confidential “would unnecessarily
conceal and prohibit disclosure of the supervisors and managers responsible for
19
Defendant’s wage violations, the names and titles of Defendant’s wage theft victims
20 on whose behalf the Secretary brings this action, and other relevant and non-
sensitive facts about how Defendant underpaid its workers, including the grossly
21 insufficient wage overtime rates used by Defendant to shortchange its employees.”
(Dkt. 50-1 at 5.) However, Defendant’s supervisors and managers are not parties to
22 this action, and therefore, they retain a privacy interest in not being publicly named
and accused of wrongdoing without a fair opportunity to defend themselves.
23
Indeed, this would have a very strong chilling effect on Defendant’s third-party
24 employees. If Plaintiff believes that any of Defendant’s supervisors or managers
have violated the law, then Plaintiff remains free to name them as defendants and
25 the Court agrees that the names and titles of any party should be publicly disclosed.
By contrast, the Court does not believe there is any public interest in publicly
26
disclosing the names of victims. To the extent Plaintiff wants to publicly disclose
27 non-sensitive facts such as the overtime rates paid by Defendant, or the numbers and
titles of alleged victims, Plaintiff can do so as long as she anonymizes the
28 information.
1 employees as to their willingness to participate as witnesses in this lawsuit against
2
Plaintiff’s need to use confidential discovery materials for general law enforcement
3
outside of this lawsuit and to share this information with other federal agencies. The
4
Court acknowledges the important interest of Plaintiff and other federal agencies in
5
general law enforcement outside of this lawsuit. But the confidential discovery
6
materials that “are expected to be exchanged in this case are provided for the sole
7
purpose of assisting in the preparation and trial, or the settlement, of litigated
8
disputes here.” United Farm Workers, 2025 WL 3525914, at *5 (internal quotation
9
marks omitted); see also United States v. Educ. Mgmt. LLC, 2013 WL 1568060, at
10
*9 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 14, 2013) (“Granting other agencies unfettered access to
11
Defendants’ confidential information would essentially eviscerate the effectiveness
12
of the protective order and would do nothing to advance the present litigation.”
13
(internal quotation marks omitted)), report and recommendation adopted, 2013 WL
14
15 1601346 (W.D. Pa. Apr. 12, 2013).
16 Therefore, the Court concludes that the appropriate balance can be achieved
17 by prohibiting Plaintiff’s use of confidential discovery materials for purposes other
18 than this litigation. See United Farm Workers, 2025 WL 3525914, at *5 (“On
19 balance, the Court finds that Defendants’ and the public’s interest in using discovery
20 materials in connection with unrelated immigration enforcement activities is
21 outweighed by Plaintiffs’ and the public’s interest in ensuring that the parties, their
22 families, and witnesses in this action may fully participate without fear of reprisal or
23 retribution.”); Yith, 2019 WL 2567290, at *8 (“Here, the Court finds Defendants
24 have shown good cause to include a provision limiting use of discovery material to
25 this litigation. Including such a provision will ensure that the privacy interests of the
26 many individuals whose information is scattered throughout Defendants’ production
27 are protected.”). This balance addresses the chilling effect on Defendant’s third-
28 party employees while still permitting Plaintiff and other federal agencies to obtain
1 e.g., Aguilar v. ICE, 2009 WL 1789336, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (barring ICE from
2
using discovery materials in connection with third-party prosecutions, but noting
3
that if “ICE learns from other sources of illegal activity by the Plaintiffs or their
4
witnesses, it certainly may proceed with a prosecution on the basis of that
5
independently-obtained information”).
6
This balance also requires that Plaintiff return, destroy, or redact confidential
7
discovery materials at the end of this litigation. Specifically, Plaintiff must either:
8
(1) return all documents and information designated as confidential; (2) destroy all
9
documents and information designated as confidential; or (3) redact all confidential
10
information and return or destroy all non-redacted copies. Plaintiff contends that
11
such a requirement would conflict with Plaintiff’s recordkeeping obligations under
12
the Federal Records Act and interfere with the public’s right to access government
13
records under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). (Dkt. 39-1 at 16-17.)
14
15 However, the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”) regulations
16 promulgated pursuant to the Federal Records Act provides a procedure for the
17 disposal of records when required by court order. See 36 C.F.R. §§ 1226.1,
18 1226.14(e); 44 U.S.C. § 3301. Indeed, NARA regulations state that “[w]hen
19 required by court order (i.e., order for expungement or destruction), an agency may
20 destroy temporary records before their NARA–authorized disposition date.” 36
21 C.F.R. § 1226.14(e); see also Federal Records Management: Digitizing Permanent
22 Records and Reviewing Records Schedules, 88 Fed. Reg. 28410-01 (May 4, 2023)
23 (“Our regulations at 36 CFR 1226.14 have long accounted for the possibility that a
24 court might order that records be expunged, destroyed, or returned. In these
25
26 5 For example, if Plaintiff or another federal agency wants the PII or confidential
financial or employment records of Defendant’s third-party employees for use in
27 general law enforcement outside of this lawsuit, they remain free to serve numerous
other forms of lawful process such as a subpoena, search warrant, etc.
28
1 without fear of being in violation of the Federal Records Act. NARA expects that
2
the court has considered all applicable laws when entering such orders and that they
3
are necessary for the administration of justice.”).
4
Plaintiff contends it is premature to conclude that confidential discovery
5
materials produced in this case will qualify as “temporary records” under 36 C.F.R.
6
§ 1220.18 because no determination has been made at this point as to whether the
7
litigation case file qualifies as permanent or temporary. (Dkt. 50-1 at 25 n.15.)
8
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor’s NARA-
9
approved records schedule effective since 2014, only historically significant
10
litigation case files will be deemed permanent. See SOL RIM: New Schedule
11
(DAA-0174-2013-0006) Implementation, at 5.6 “Only approximately 2-3% of all
12
government records are deemed significant, and these records document changes
13
and major events in the nation’s history.” Id. Litigation case files not meeting the
14
15 definition of historically significant are deemed temporary and set for destruction as
16 early as 1 year after the end of the calendar year which the file is closed, “based on
17 business needs of the practice/program area.” Id. at 7. The Court acknowledges
18 that Plaintiff may not yet know if this case is going to meet the definition of
19 historically significant. Therefore, the Court will permit Plaintiff to seek relief from
20 the requirement to return, destroy, or redact confidential materials at the end of the
21 litigation if Plaintiff ultimately designates this litigation case file as historically
22 significant and thus deems the records to be permanent. With this limited exception,
23 the Court believes that Plaintiff can comply with the obligation to return, destroy, or
24 redact confidential materials at the end of the litigation consistent with the Federal
25 Records Act. See Rhodes v. Pfeiffer, 2017 WL 11048475, at *2 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 12,
26
27
6 Available at https://www.archives.gov/files/records-
mgmt/rcs/schedules/departments/department-of-labor/rg-0174/daa-0174-2013-
28 0006_sf115.pdf.
1 return or destroy protected material in stipulated protective order).
2
Finally, the Court notes that FOIA contains exemptions for both confidential
3
financial information and personnel files, the disclosure of which would constitute
4
an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4), (6). Thus,
5
the Court believes that Plaintiff can comply with the obligation to return, destroy, or
6
redact confidential materials at the end of the litigation consistent with FOIA. See,
7
e.g., Pomares v. Dep’t of Veterans Affs., 113 F.4th 870, 881 (9th Cir. 2024) (“FOIA
8
exempts from disclosure ‘trade secrets and commercial or financial information
9
obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.’”); id. at 883 (“Agencies may
10
withhold ‘personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which
11
would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.’”). By
12
permitting Plaintiff to simply redact all confidential information from the discovery
13
materials produced in this lawsuit, Plaintiff would be able to retain the redacted
14
15 documents and produce the non-exempt portions of documents in response to a
16 FOIA request.
17
18 V.
19 CONCLUSION
20 Consistent with the foregoing, the Court issues the following limited
21 Protective Order:
22 (1) Scope: This Protective Order only applies to the PII, as well as
23 confidential financial and employment information of Defendant’s
24 third-party employees.
25 (2) Definitions: The PII, as well as confidential financial and employment
26 information of Defendant’s third-party employees produced to Plaintiff
27 through discovery in this action and designated as confidential by
28 Defendant shall be defined as “Confidential Discovery Material.”
1 Material shall be defined as “Confidential Documents.” PII shall be
2
defined as any “information that can be used to distinguish or trace an
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individual’s identity, either alone or when combined with other
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information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual.” See
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Guidance on the Protection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII),
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https://www.dol.gov/general/ppii (last accessed Dec. 17, 2025).
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Confidential financial and employment information shall be defined
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according to well-established case law governing exemptions 4 and 6 to
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FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4), (6); see, e.g., Pomares, 113 F.4th at
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881, 883.
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(3) Procedure for Designation: Defendant shall be permitted to designate
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documents and information produced in discovery in this action as
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confidential if they contain the PII, confidential financial information,
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15 or confidential employment information of Defendant’s third-party
16 employees. If Plaintiff disputes any such designation, the parties
17 should meet and confer pursuant to the Local Rules and then seek an
18 informal discovery conference pursuant to the Court’s rules for
19 resolving discovery disputes. See
20 https://apps.cacd.uscourts.gov/Jps/honorable-a-joel-richlin.
21 (4) Permissible Use: Confidential Discovery Material cannot be publicly
22 disclosed, shared beyond the parties to this action, or used by Plaintiff
23 for any purpose other than this litigation. The parties can share
24 Confidential Discovery Material with their attorneys and attorney staff
25 who have a need to review the material for purposes of this litigation
26 based on the understand that the parties and counsel of record will be
27 subject to sanctions for any violation of the terms of this Protective
28 Order. The parties can share Confidential Discovery Material with
1 material so long as they agree in writing to be bound by the terms of
2
this Protective Order. If Plaintiff subsequently names any of
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Defendant’s employees as a defendant in the action, Plaintiff can
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publicly identify that employee by name and title. Plaintiff can
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publicly disclose, share beyond the parties to this action, and use for
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any purpose Confidential Documents so long as all Confidential
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Discovery Material is redacted. Plaintiff can publicly disclose non-
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sensitive facts such as the overtime rates paid by Defendant, or the
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numbers and titles of alleged victims, so long as Plaintiff anonymizes
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the information.
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(5) Procedure at End of Case: Within 90 days of the conclusion of this
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litigation, which shall be defined as entry of final judgment no longer
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subject to appeal, Plaintiff shall either: (a) return all Confidential
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15 Documents; (b) destroy all Confidential Documents; or (c) redact all
16 Confidential Discovery Material from all Confidential Documents. The
17 only exception to this requirement is if Plaintiff designates this
18 litigation case file as historically significant and thus deems the records
19 to be permanent within the meaning of the Federal Records Act.
20 Within 90 days of the conclusion of this litigation, Plaintiff shall certify
21 in writing to Defendant that Plaintiff has complied with this provision
22 and explain how Plaintiff has complied. If Plaintiff has designated this
23 litigation case file as historically significant then Plaintiff shall provide
24 a copy of the designation to Defendant.
25 (6) Disputes and Enforcement: If there is a dispute about the
26 interpretation of this Protective Order, the parties should meet and
27 confer pursuant to the Local Rules and then seek an informal discovery
28 Conference pursuant to the Court’s rules for resolving discovery
1 disputes. See https://apps.cacd.uscourts.gov/Jps/honorable-a-joel-
3 richlin.
3 Now that the Court has issued this limited protective order, the Court directs
4 Defendant to provide supplemental responses and produce all responsive documents
5 and information for Plaintiff's Interrogatory Nos. 1 and 2, as well as Plaintiff's
6 Requests for Production Nos. 12, 13, 15-17, 19-25, and 27-29, consistent with the
7 || Court’s July 18, 2025 Memorandum Decision and Order Denying Plaintiff's Motion
g || to Compel, (Dkt. 46), no later than January 9, 2026.
9 IT IS SO ORDERED.
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11 || DATED: December 22, 2025 \oek RL, en
D HQN. A. JOEL RICHLIN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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