Opinion

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: Jul 13, 2026
Cited by: 0 cases

The opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11 PAMELA MOSSAZADEH, KELLIE Case No. 2:25-cv-04862 MWF(PVCx)

12 CUSICK, ALEXANDER PENA, and

JOEY ZAOKOPNY, individually, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

13 and on behalf of other members of ORDER

14 the general public similarly situated,

15 Plaintiffs,

vs.

18 MONAHAN PRODUCTS, LLC, a

Massachusetts limited liability

19 company,

Defendants.

1. GENERAL

1.1 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 prosecuting

this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and

1 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties

2 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or

3 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and

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

5 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as

6 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle

7 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the

8 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party

9 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.

10 1.2 Good Cause Statement.

11 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and

12 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or

13 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from

14 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such

15 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,

16 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential

17 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial

18 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),

19 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged

20 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case

21 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to

22 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials,

23 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to

24 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in

25 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the

26 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is

27 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be

28 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated

1 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public

2 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this

3 case.

5 2. DEFINITIONS

6 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit with case number 2:25-cv-04862

7 MWF(PVCx), entitled Pamela Mossazadeh, et al. v. Monahan Products, LLC.

8 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation

9 of information or items under this Order.

10 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

11 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection

12 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good

13 Cause Statement.

14 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their

15 support staff).

16 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

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

18 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY.”

19 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

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

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

22 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

23 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

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

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

26 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

27 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

28 counsel.

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 Outside 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” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY.”

18 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

19 from a Producing Party.

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.

1 4. DURATION

2 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced

3 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this

4 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members

5 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific

6 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the

7 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.

8 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in

9 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are

10 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend

11 beyond the commencement of the trial.

13 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

14 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

15 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this

16 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies

17 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection

18 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that

19 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications

20 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of

21 this Order.

22 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

23 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper

24 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose

25 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party

26 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” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY”, to each page that contains

14 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for

15 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)

16 (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” or for “ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY.” After the

22 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the

23 Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for

24 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the

25 Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES

26 ONLY” legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or

27 portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

1 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings

2 in the margins).

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

4 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.

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

6 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on

7 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

8 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY.” If only a portion or portions

9 of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,

10 shall identify the protected portion(s).

11 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to

12 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the

13 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.

14 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable

15 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this

16 Order.

18 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

19 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

20 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s

21 Scheduling Order.

22 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

23 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly

24 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.

25 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding

26 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an

27 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on

28 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating

1 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall

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

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

5 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

6 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

7 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this

8 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such

9 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the

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

11 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

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

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

14 authorized under this Order.

15 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

16 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

17 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

18 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY” only to:

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

20 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably

21 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

22 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of

23 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

24 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

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

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

27 (d) the Court and its personnel;

28 (e) court reporters and their staff;

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 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

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

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” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY,” 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” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY” before a determination by

6 the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the

7 Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and

8 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in

9 these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party

10 in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

12 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

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” or “ATTORNEY’S EYES

16 ONLY.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation

17 is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these

18 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional

19 protections.

20 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce

21 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an

22 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential

23 information, then the Party shall:

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

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

26 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 Non-

5 Party, if requested.

6 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14

7 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may

8 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.

9 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce

10 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality

11 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court

12 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

13 protection in this Court of its Protected Material.

15 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

16 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

17 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

18 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in

19 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts

20 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or

21 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,

22 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and

23 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

25 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

26 PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

28 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,

1 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil

2 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure

3 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior

4 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the

5 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or

6 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the

7 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted

8 to the Court.

10 12. MISCELLANEOUS

11 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

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

13 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

14 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

15 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

16 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any

17 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

18 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

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

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

21 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under

22 seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,

23 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless

24 otherwise instructed by the Court.

26 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

27 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by the

28 Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the

1 || Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected

2 || Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other

3 || format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected

4 || Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written

5 || certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the

6 || Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where

7 || appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms

8 || that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,

9 || summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.

10 || Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all

11 || pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,

12 || correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product,

13 || and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected

14 || Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material

15 || remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).

17 || 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER

18 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate

19 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary

20 || sanctions.

22 || GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS SO

23 || ORDERED.

24 fuk f tb

25 || DATED: July 13, 2026

HON. PEDRO V. CASTILLO

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3 I, ___________________ [print or type full name], of ___________________

4 __________________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of

5 perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order

6 that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of

7 California on ________________ [date] in the case of Pamela Mossazadeh, et al. v.

8 Monahan Products, LLC, Case No.: 2:25-cv-04862-MWF (PVCx). I agree to comply

9 with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I

10 understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions

11 and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose

12 in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective

13 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this

14 Order.

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

16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this

17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after

18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint ___________________ [print or type full

19 name] of ______________________________________________ [print or type full

20 address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in

21 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this

22 Stipulated Protective Order.

24 Date:

25 City and State where sworn and signed:

26 Printed Name:

28 Signature:

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