Opinion

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: Feb 19, 2026
Cited by: 0 cases
Authority: More cited than 41.3%

The opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 SCOTT JOHNSON, an individual, Case No. 2:25-cv-02066-MEMF-JDEx

Plaintiff,

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

13 v. ORDER

DELUX PUBLIC CHARTER, LLC

15 d/b/a JSX AIR, a Delaware limited

16 liability company and BRITTNEY

IRIZARRY, an individual; and DOES

1 through 20, inclusive,

Defendants.

Based on the Parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 14) and for good cause shown, the

Court finds and orders as follows.

1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

proprietary or private information for which special protection from public

disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be

warranted. This Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or

responses to discovery and the protection it affords from public disclosure and use

1 extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential

2 treatment under the applicable legal principles.

3 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

4 This action is likely to involve sensitive personal information of the parties

5 and non-parties, corporate policies and procedures, and 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/or proprietary materials and information consist

of, among other things: private information of third parties, the parties, their

representatives or employees, current or former, including but not limited to their

Social Security number, date of birth, medical records and information, home

address(es), telephone numbers, e-mail address(es), tax records, and other financial

or sensitive personal information; information regarding internal corporate

policies, practices, procedures, and training; and 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

22 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and

23 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this

24 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as

25 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good

26 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and

27 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.

1 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE

2 As set forth in Section 14.3, below, this Stipulated Protective Order does not

3 entitle the Parties to file confidential information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5

4 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be

5 applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.

There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial

proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions,

good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City

and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen.

Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony

Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective

orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or

compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be

made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The

parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as

CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by

declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as

confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.

Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial,

then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and

22 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be

23 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir.

24 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed

25 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling

26 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing

27 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents

28 under seal must be provided by declaration.

1 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable

2 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be

3 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing,

4 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the

5 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in

their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

4. DEFINITIONS

4.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit bearing case number 2:25-cv-

02066-MEMF-JDEx.

4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the

designation of information or items under this Order.

4.3 “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.

4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

their support staff).

4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as

“CONFIDENTIAL.”

22 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

23 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,

24 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced

25 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.

26 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

27 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve

28 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

1 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys employed by a party to this Action. House

2 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.

3 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or

4 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

5 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a

party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have

appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that

has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

4.11 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).

4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

Discovery Material in this Action.

4.13 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.

4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery

22 Material from a Producing Party.

23 5. SCOPE

24 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

25 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or

26 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or

27 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or

28 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

1 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the

2 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of

3 Protected Material at trial.

4 6. DURATION

5 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or

introduced as an exhibit at trial 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, 447 F.3d at 1180-81

(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.

7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material.

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

22 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material,

23 documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not

24 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate or

25 routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly

26 unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily

27 encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and

28 burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.

1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

2 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

3 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

4 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

5 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of 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 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 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the

22 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine

23 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order.

24 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix

25 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If

26 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing

27 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making

28 appropriate markings in the margins).

1 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party

2 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of

3 the deposition all protected testimony.

4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary

5 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).

7.3 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.

8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

8.1. 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.

8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

22 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.

23 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a

24 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.

25 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge shall be on the

26 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose

27 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may

28 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has

1 waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to

2 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under

3 the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

9.1 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

10 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a

11 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL

12 DISPOSITION).

13 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a

14 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons

15 authorized under this Order.

16 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

17 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

18 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

19 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

20 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as

21 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;

disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

1 (d) the court and its personnel;

2 (e) court reporters and their staff;

3 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

4 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have

5 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

(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 A 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 mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,

mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.

10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

22 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation

23 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as

24 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

25 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification

26 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

27 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or

28 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the

1 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall

2 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

3 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be

4 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the

5 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.

11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO

14 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 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s

confidential information, then the Party shall:

26 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

27 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality

28 agreement with a Non-Party;

1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated

2 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably

3 specific description of the information requested; and

4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the

5 Non-Party, if requested.

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.

12. 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 an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.

13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR

OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

26 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

27 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other

28 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal

1 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify

2 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for

3 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence

4 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure

5 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.

14. MISCELLANEOUS

14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

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 Order.

Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of

any of the material covered by this Order.

14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material

may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the

specific Protected Material. 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

22 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

23 15. FINAL DISPOSITION

24 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within

25 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must

26 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As

27 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,

28 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the

1 || Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the

2 || Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if

3 || not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that

4 (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

6 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or

capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel

8 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,

deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition

10 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 6 (DURATION).

Is 16. MIOLATION

6 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures

7 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

18 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

19 : je de

20 || Dated: February 19, 2026 Lttr

J D. EARLY

nited States Magistrate Judge

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

4 I, [full name], of

5 [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

8 United States District Court for the Central District of California on ______[date]

in the case of Scott Johnson v. Delux Public Charter, LLC d/b/a JSX Air and

Brittney Irizarry, C.D. Cal. Case No. 2:25-cv-02066-MEMF-JDEx. I agree to

12 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

15 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

19 provisions of this Order.

I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District

22 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms

23 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur

after termination of this action. I hereby appoint [full

26 name] of [full address and telephone number]

1 as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any

proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.

4 Date:

5 City and State where sworn and signed:

Printed Name:

8 Signature:

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