The opinion
1 |[Namvar A. Mokri (Bar No. 184912)
nmokri@mvjllp.com
2 | (Daniel J. McKenzie (Bar No. 249610)
dmckenzie @mvjllp.com
3 ES LLP
4100 Newport Place Drive, Suite 840
4 ||Newport Beach, CA 92660
Tel: 949.226.7040 | F: 949.226.7150
5
Attomeys for Defendant,
6 [COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
7
8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA — WESTERN DIVISION
10
IT | MARILYN RAMOS CARABALLO, Case No. 2:23-cv-09514-MRA-AJR
219 Plaintiff [Assigned to District Judge Monica Ramire
antl, Almadani and Magistrate Judge A. Joel
N 13 VS. Richlin]
14 ||\COSTCO WHOLESALE fPROROSED} STIPULATED
CORPORATION and DOES 1 to 50, PROTECTIVE ORDER
| | Inclusive,
16 Defendant(s).
17
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 use
26 || extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatme
27 || under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in
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1 || Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file
2 || confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures thé
3 || must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission
4 || from the court to file material under seal.
5 1.2 Good Cause Statement. This action involves a slip and fall within a □□□□□
6 || retail store. Evidence or potential evidence that will be disclosed in discovery is
7 || expected to include confidential and proprietary information and documents regarding
g || business practices pertaining to safety and other matters which are generally unavailab
g || to the public and could be exploited by actors (e.g. criminals) who have no interest in ¢
19 || need for evidence produced in this case for their own unlawful purposes. Likewise,
11 || evidence shall include surveillance footage which is likewise generally unavailable to
8 the public. This footage invokes the same concerns as the other information discussed
13 || above, and potentially implicates third party privacy concerns as well.
14 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
: 15 || resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect
16 || 1nformation the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are
17 || Permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the
1g || conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends
19 || Of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the
29 || intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical
21 || reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been
9 || maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should
93 || not be part of the public record of this case.
2. DEFINITIONS
25 2.1. Action: Marilyn Ramos Caraballo vy. Costco Wholesale Corporation, Cas
26 || No.: 2:23-cv-09514-MRA-AJR.
07 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation o
2g || information or items under this Order.
□□□
1 2.3. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of ho
2 || itis generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection unde:
3 || Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause
4 || Statement.
5 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
6 || support staff).
7 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
g || items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL
9 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of
190 || the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, amon
11 || other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generatec
8 12 || in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
13 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
14 || pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an
: 15 || expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
16 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
17 || House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
1g || counsel.
19 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
29 || other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
21 2.10 Qutside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party t
97 || this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
93 || appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has
24 || appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
25 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
26 || employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
97 || support staffs).
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1 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
2 || Discovery Material in this Action.
3 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
4 || services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
5 || demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and
6 || their employees and subcontractors.
7 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designat
g || as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
9 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
190 || from a Producing Party.
11
R 12 3. SCOPE
13 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected
14 || Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from
: 15 || Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected
16 || Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their
17 || Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
18 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial
19 || Judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
20
21 4. DURATION
22 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced
93 || that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective
94 || order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public
25 || including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings tc
26 || proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v.
97 || City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing
2g || “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling
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1 || Teasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). According
2 || the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
3
4 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Ea
6 || Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order
7 || must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the
g || appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those
g || parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so
19 || that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which
11 || Protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
B12 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations th
13 || are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose □□□
14 || to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary
: 15 || €xXpenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
16 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items tha
17 || it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
1g || promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
19 5.2. Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in thi:
20 || Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated ¢
91 || ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Orde:
2 || must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
3 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
25 || documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
26 || proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
97 || “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that conta1
2g || protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for
5.
1 || protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,
2 || by making appropriate markings in the margins).
3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for
4 || inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has
5 || indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection
6 || and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
7 || deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents □
g || wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or
g || portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the
10 || Specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” tc
11 || each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the materia
8 42 || Ona page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the
13 || protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
14 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
: 15 || the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
16 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and fc
17 || any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
1g || exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
19 || “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
29 || protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
21 || portion(s).
22 5.3. Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failt
93 || to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
94 || Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upot
25 || timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts tc
26 || assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
27
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1 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
2 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
3 || designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling
4 || Order.
5 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
6 || resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly
7 || comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.
8 6.3. Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall
g || be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
10 || Purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties)
11 || may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has
8 42 || waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford
13 || the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producit
14 || Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
15
16 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 7.1. Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
1g || disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Actic
19 || Only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected
29 || Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions
91 || described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must
92 || comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
94 || location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
95 || authorized under this Order.
26 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwis
97 || ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Par
2g || may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
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1 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as we
2 || as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to
3 || disclose the information for this Action;
4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of tl
5 || Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
7 || disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
g || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (d) the Court and its personnel;
10 (e) court reporters and their staff;
1 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
8 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
13 || Signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
: 15 || custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
17 || Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
1g || requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will n
19 || be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
29 || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed
21 || by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed deposition
97 || testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately
93 || bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
24 || under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
25 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
26 || mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
27
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1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
7 || PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
3 If a Party 1s served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation tha
4 || compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
5 || “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
7 || include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to iss
g || in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order
19 || Subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulate
11 || Protective Order; and
B12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by
13 || the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
14 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with th
: 15 || Subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as
16 || “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or
17 || order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
1g || Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
19 || of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
99 || authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directi
21 || from another court.
22
23 9. ANON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
94 || PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
25 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
26 || Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produce
97 || by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief
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1 || provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting
2 || Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
3 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
4 || Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
5 || agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information
6 || then the Party shall:
7 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that som«
g || or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non.
g || Party;
10 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective
11 || Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific
8 12 || description of the information requested; and
13 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if
14 || requested.
: 15 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14 da
16 || of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produ
17 || the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the
1g || Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any
19 || 1nformation in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement
29 || with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court order to the
21 || contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this
92 || Court of its Protected Material.
23
24 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
26 || Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
97 || Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writins
2g || the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve
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|| all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to
2 || whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) reque
3 || such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound’
4 || that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
5
6 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
7 || OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
g || inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, th
19 || obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
11 || Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
8 42 || may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
13 || Privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
14 || Parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or informati
: 15 || covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may
16 || 4mcorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the Court.
17
18 12, MISCELLANEOUS
19 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
20 || person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
21 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
27 || Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
93 || disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
94 || Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
25 || ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
26 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
27 || Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
2g || only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
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1 || Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under seal.
7 || Ifa Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then th:
3 || Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise instruct
4 || by the Court.
5
6 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
7 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
g || the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
g || Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
10 || Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format
11 || teproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected □□□□□□□
8 1s returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the
13 || Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the
14 || 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected
: 15 || Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has nc
16 || retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducin
17 || Or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are
1g || entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and
19 || hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits,
20 || expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if
21 || Such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
27 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
93 || Section 4 (DURATION).
14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
25 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
26 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
97 || Sanctions.
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1 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
2
3 EISENBERG LAW GROUP PC
Dated: May 20, 2024 By: /3/ Vick A. Petrosiaw
5 R. Bret Beattie, Esq.
6 Vick A. Petrosian, Esq.
Attorneys for Plaintiff, MARILYN
7 RAMOS CARABALLO
MOKRI VANIS & JONES, LLP
9
10 Dated: May 20, 2024 By: [sf Daniel J. McK.
Namvar A. Mokri
11 Daniel J. McKenzie
Attorneys for Defendant, COSTCO
WHOLESALE CORPORATION
14
15 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
16
17 ° ,
18 DATED: 5/21/24
HONORAQLE A. JOEL RICHLIN
19 United States Magistrate Judge
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EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, [full name], of [ful
> || address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understan
the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for
7 |) the Central District of California on [date] in the case of Marilyn Ramc
8 |! Caraballo v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, Case No.: 2:23-cv-09514-MRA-AJR. I
? || agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Ord
10 |) and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to
11 |) sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not
12 |) disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated
13 |) Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions
of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court fo:
the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulat
17 || Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this
18 /| action. I hereby appoint (full name] of
19 [full address and telephone numbe)
20 || as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any
21]! proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
22 || Date:
23 || City and State where signed:
24
25 || Printed name:
26
27 || Signature:
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l SIGNATURE ATTESTATION
2 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(1), Costco Wholesale Corporation attests th
3 || all signatories, listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s
4 || content and have authorized the filing.
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