# Opinion

> District Court, C.D. California · March 27, 2026

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11372047

## Case

- **Full name:** Marie Soria-Gomes v. Princess Cruise Lines, LTD.
- **Court:** District Court, C.D. California
- **Decided:** March 27, 2026
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 WESTERN DIVISION
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12 MARIE SORIA-GOMES Case No.
13 Plaintiff, 2:25—cv—10924—MCS—-MBK
14 “ [RROPOSED| STIPULATED
15 || PRINCESS CRUISE LINES, LTD., et ROTECTIVE ORDER

16 Defendant. TRIAL DATE: January 19, 2027
LD OTT TS
18 || 1. GENERAL
19 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
20 || production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
21 || protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting
22 || this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and
23 || petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
24 || acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
25 || responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
26 || use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
27 || treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as
28 || set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle

1 || them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
2 || procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
3 || seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
4 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
5 This action is an employment discrimination case arising from the employment
6 || and termination of Plaintiff Marie Soria-Gomes by Defendant Princess Cruise Lines.
7 || Plaintiffs claims include disability discrimination and harassment, retaliation for
8 || complaining about discrimination and/or harassment, discrimination for requesting or
9 || taking CFRA leave, failure to provide reasonable accommodation, failure to engage
10 || in the interactive process, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and
11 || retaliation, wrongful constructive termination, negligent hiring, retention and
12 || supervision, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of California
13 || Labor Code § 1102.5. The prosecution and defense of these claims will necessarily
14 || involve the production of sensitive and confidential information for which special
15 || protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than the
16 || prosecution of this action is warranted.
17 Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among
18 || other things:
19 - Plaintiff's confidential medical records, psychological and medical
20 evaluations, and treatment history relating to her alleged disability and/or
21 medical condition;
22 Plaintiffs personnel file, including performance reviews, disciplinary records,
23 compensation history, and internal communications regarding her employment
24 and separation;
25 ¢« Records and communications regarding Plaintiff's requests for reasonable
26 accommodation, her requests for and use of CFRA leave, and Defendant’s
27 response to those requests, including any related interactive process
28 communications;

1 ¢ Confidential human resources. policies, procedures, and _ internal
2 communications regarding the accommodation of employees with disabilities,
3 the handling of employee complaints of discrimination and harassment, and the
4 processing of CFRA leave requests;
5 ¢ Confidential records pertaining to other current and former employees of
6 Defendant, including comparator employees, witnesses, and individuals
7 involved in Plaintiff's accommodation requests, leave requests, or complaint
8 process, which implicate the privacy rights of third parties under Article I,
9 Section | of the California Constitution;
10 ¢« Defendant’s confidential business records, including financial information,
11 compensation structures, payroll records, and internal operational documents
12 relevant to Plaintiff's claims; and
13 Any other information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which
14 may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal
15 statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law, including information
16 implicating the privacy rights of third parties.
17 Disclosure of such information outside the confines of this litigation could
18 || cause significant harm to the parties and third parties, including reputational harm to
19 || individuals, disclosure of private medical and leave-related information protected
20 || under applicable state and federal law, violation of the privacy rights of non-party
21 || employees whose personnel information may be at issue, and competitive harm to
22 || Defendant's business operations.
23 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
24 || resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
25 || protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
26 || parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and
27 || in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve
28 || the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter.

1 || Itis the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for
2 || tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it
3 || has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause
4 || why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
5 || 2. DEFINITIONS
6 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
7 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
8 || of information or items under this Order.
9 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
10 || how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
11 || under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
12 || Cause Statement.
13 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
14 || support staff).
15 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
16 || items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
17 || “CONFIDENTIAL.”
18 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
19 || of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
20 || among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
21 || generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
22 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
23 || pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
24 || an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
25 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
26 || House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
27 || counsel.
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1 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
2 || other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
3 2.10 Qutside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
4 |) to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
5 || appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
6 || has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
7 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
8 || employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
9 || support staffs).
10 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
11 || Discovery Material in this Action.
12 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
13 || services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
14 || demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
15 || and their employees and subcontractors.
16 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
17 || designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
18 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
19 || from a Producing Party.
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21 || 3. SCOPE
22 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
23 || Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
24 || from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
25 || Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
26 || or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
27 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
28 || trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

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2 4. DURATION
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Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be
introduced that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to
° this protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all
° members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by
’ specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance
of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81
° (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents
produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related
documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order
do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

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15 || 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
16 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
17 || Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
18 || Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
19 || under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
20 || only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
21 || qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
22 || for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
23 || this Order.
24 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
25 || that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
26 || purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
27 || unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
28 || 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 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
5 || this Order (See, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
6 || stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
7 || under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
8 || produced.
9 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
10 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
11 || documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
12 || proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
13 || “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend’), to each page that
14 || contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
15 || qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
16 || portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
17 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
18 || need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
19 || which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
20 || before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
21 || deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents
22 || it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
23 || or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing
24 || the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
25 || legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions
26 || of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
27 || identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
28 || margins).

1 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
2 || the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
3 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
4 || for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
5 || the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
6 || “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
7 || protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
8 || portion(s).
9 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
10 || failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
11 || Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
12 || Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
13 || efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
14 || Order.
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16 || 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
17 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
18 || designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
19 || Scheduling Order.
20 6.2 Meet _and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
21 || resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq, as modified by Judge Kaufman’s
22 || Procedures. See https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/honorable-michael-b-kaufman. Any
23 || discovery motion must strictly comply with these procedures.
24 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
25 || shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
26 || improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
27 || other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
28 || Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall

1 || continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled
2 || under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
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4 || 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
6 || disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
7 || Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
8 || Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
9 || conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
10 || Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
11 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
12 || location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
13 || authorized under this Order.
14 72 Disclosure _of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
15 || otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
16 || Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
17 || “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
18 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
19 || well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
20 || necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
21 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
22 || the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
23 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
24 || disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
25 || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
26 (d) the Court and its personnel;
27 (e) court reporters and their staff;
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1 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
2 || Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
3 || signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
4 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
5 || a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
6 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
7 || the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
8 || party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
9 || will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
10 || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
11 || agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
12 || deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
13 || separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
14 || permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
15 (1) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
16 || mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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18 || 8. PROTECTED _MATERIAL _ SUBPOENAED _OR__ ORDERED
19 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
21 || that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
22 || “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
23 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
24 || include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
25 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
26 || issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
27 || or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
28 || this Stipulated Protective Order; and

1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
2 || by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
4 || the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
5 || as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
6 || or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
7 || Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
8 || of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
9 || authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
10 || directive from another court.
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12 ||} 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT □□ □□
13 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
14 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
15 || Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
16 || produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
17 || remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
18 || construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
19 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
20 || a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
21 || agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential
22 || information, then the Party shall:
23 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
24 || that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
25 || with a Non-Party;
26 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
27 || Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
28 || specific description of the information requested; and

1 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
2 || Party, if requested.
3 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
4 || days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
5 || produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
6 || Ifthe Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
7 || any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
8 || agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
9 || order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
10 || protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
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12 || 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
14 || Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
15 || Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
16 || writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
17 || to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
18 || persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
19 || and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
20 || Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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22 || 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
23 PROTECTED MATERIAL
24 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
25 || inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
26 || the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
27 || Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
28 || may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior

1 || privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
2 || parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
3 || information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
4 || parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
5 || to the Court.
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7 |} 12. MISCELLANEOUS
8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
9 || person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
11 || Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
12 || disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
13 || Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
14 || ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
16 || Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
17 || only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
18 || Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under
19 || seal. Ifa Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,
20 || then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
21 || otherwise instructed by the Court.
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23 || 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
24 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
25 || the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
26 || Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
27 || Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other
28 || format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected

1 || Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written
2 || certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the
3 || Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
4 || appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
5 || that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
6 || summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
7 || Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
8 || pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
9 || correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product,
10 || and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
11 || Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material
12 || remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
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14 || 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
15 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
16 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
17 || sanctions.
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19 |) IT ISSO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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7 DATED 03/25/2026
23 HEATHER CONNIFF
CORTNEY SHEGERIAN
ISABELLA DESISTO
25 Attorneys for Plaintiff
MARIE SORIA-GOMES
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2 | parep: 3/26/2026 po
; TRACEY A. KENNEDY
4 Attorneys for Defendants
5 PRINCESS CRUISES LTD. and
ERIN MINER
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8 || ITISSO ORDERED.
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10 ; ‘
11 || DATED: 03/27/2026 LALEY;
. Michael B. aufman
United States Magistrate Judge
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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11372047. Public record. Not legal advice.