Abraham P. v. Los Angeles Unified School District et al

Filing 28

PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Frederick F. Mumm re Notice of Lodging 27 (see attached) (jm)

Mark K. Kitabayashi, SBN 125822

1 [e-mail]

Matthew R. Hicks, SBN 191772

2 [e-mail]

LOZANO SMITH

3 515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750

Los Angeles, CA 90071
[phone]
Facsimile:
[phone]

4 Telephone:
5

Attorneys for Defendants LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT and ANI

6 OGANESYAN
7

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

8

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

9
10

ABRAHAM P., a minor by and through his Case No. 2:17-CV-03105 GW (FFMx)

11 Guardian Ad Litem, SONIA O,
12

Plaintiff,

13

Assigned to the HONORABLE GEORGE
WU
DISCOVERY MATTER

vs.

14 LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL

DISTRICT; ONI OGANESYAN in her
15 personal capacity, and DOES 1-10,
inclusive,

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

16

Defendants.

17
18
19 1.

GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

20

Plaintiff Abraham P. (“Plaintiff”), formerly a student at Sophia T. Salvin

21 Elementary School (“Salvin”) with Down syndrome, alleges, among other things, that
22 Defendants Los Angeles Unified School District (“District”) and former teacher Ani
23 Oganesyan (“Oganesyan”) (the District and Oganesyan are referred to collectively herein
24 as “Defendants”) have violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation
25 Act, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by, among other things, failing to accommodate him because
26 of his disability, segregating him from general education classroom settings, and
27 physically abusing him.

Defendants deny Plaintiff’s allegations, deny his claims for

28 injunctive relief and damages, and deny they have any liability to Plaintiff.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

The Parties anticipate that, in the course of discovery and in support of their claims

2

and defenses, they each may rely on confidential information, such as academic and/or

3

performance records, nursing and health records, medical information, psychoeducational

4

evaluations, and individualized education or 504 plans. The Parties, as well as third

5

parties whose confidential or private information may be discussed or referred to within

6

these documents, may be harmed if no protective order is entered to shield against the

7

dissemination of such private, confidential information.

8

activity in this action is likely to involve production of such confidential, proprietary, or

9
LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

1

private information, which warrants special protection from public disclosure and use for

10

Disclosure and discovery

any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation.

11

2.

DEFINITIONS

12

2.1

Action: The above-titled lawsuit, Abraham P. v. Los Angeles Unified School

13
14
15
16

District, et al., Central District of California Case No. 2:17-CV-03105-GW (FFMx).
2.2

Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of

information or items under this Order.
2.3

“CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how it

17

is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under

18

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

19

Statement.

20
21
22
23
24

2.4

Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and General Counsel (as well as their

support staff).
2.5

Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or

items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.6

Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of

25

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

26

other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in

27

disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
///

28

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

2

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

1

2.7

Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

2

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

3

expert witness or as a consultant in this Action, or designated as a non-retained expert.

4

2.8

General Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

5

General Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

6

counsel.

7
8

2.9

Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or

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

LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

9

2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party to

10

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

11

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

12

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

13

2.11 Party or Parties: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers,

14

directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record or

15

General Counsel (and their support staffs).

16
17
18

2.12 Producing Party:

A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

Discovery Material in this Action.
2.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support

19

services

20

demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and

21

their employees and subcontractors.

22
23
24
25

(e.g.,

photocopying,

videotaping,

translating,

preparing

exhibits

or

2.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated
as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
from a Producing Party.

26

3.

SCOPE

27

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

28

Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

3

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

1

Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected

2

Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their

3

Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

4

Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of this Court.

5

This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. The parties agree to

6

discuss as part of their pre-trial meet and confer obligations whether any protections are

7

needed for documents or information at trial.
4.

9
LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

8

DURATION

Even after final disposition of this litigation, this Order’s confidentiality shall

10

remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order

11

otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all

12

claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; or (2) final judgment herein

13

after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, re-hearings, remands, trials, or reviews

14

of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for

15

extension of time pursuant to applicable law.

16

5.

DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

17

5.1

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each

18

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

19

must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the

20

appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those

21

parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that

22

other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection

23

is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. Mass,

24

indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.

25

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

26

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

27

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

28

///
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

4

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

1

5.2

Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this

2

Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or

3

ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order

4

must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced, except for

5

documents or records produced prior to the execution of this Order, which may be so

6

designated at a later time.
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

8

(a) for information in documentary form produced after the execution of this

9
LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

7

Order (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or

10

other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the

11

legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that

12

contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page

13

qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected

14

portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). For information in

15

documentary form produced prior to this Order, the Producing Party or the Receiving

16

Party may make such CONFIDENTIAL designation at a later date.

17

A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need

18

not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which

19

documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the

20

designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed

21

CONFIDENTIAL. After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants

22

copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions

23

thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified

24

documents, the Producing Party must affix the CONFIDENTIAL legend to each page

25

that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page

26

qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected

27

portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
///

28

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

5

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

1

A non-Producing Party that wishes to mark as Confidential documents produced

2

by another party may do so within 30 days of service of those documents on the non-

3

Producing Party, by providing to the Producing Party the necessary documents with the

4

Confidential legend, while maintaining any original bates stamping.
(b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies on the

6

record, before the close of the deposition all protected testimony or provides in written

7

form by marking brackets on the transcript of the deposition within thirty days of receipt

8

of such transcript, and serving a copy of the bracketed testimony on the non-Designating

9
LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

5

Party.

10

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

11

other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of

12

the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

13

CONFIDENTIAL. If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection,

14

the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).

15

5.3

Inadvertent Failures to Designate.

An inadvertent failure to designate

16

qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s

17

right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Either party shall be entitled

18

to correct an inadvertent failure to designate as CONFIDENTIAL up to 45 days after

19

disclosure of the qualified information or material (or in the case of material disclose in a

20

deposition transcript or in exhibits thereto, up to 45 days after the receipt of the

21

transcript). Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make

22

reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions

23

of this Order.

24

6.

CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

25

6.1

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

26
27
28

of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
6.2

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

process under Local Rules 7-3 and 37-1 et seq.
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

6

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

6.3

1

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

2

Designating Party.

Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the

3

confidentiality designation, all Parties shall continue to afford the material in question the

4

level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the

5

Court rules on the challenge.

6

7.

ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

7

7.1

Basic Principles. A Designating Party or Receiving Party may use Protected

Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection

9
LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

8

with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, attempting to settle this Action, or in

10

documents necessary to settle or dismiss the Action. Such Protected Material may be

11

disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this

12

Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the

13

provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

14

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

15

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

16

authorized under this Order.
7.2

17

Disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL Information or Items. Unless otherwise

18

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

19

or Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL”

20

only to:

21

(a) the Designating Party or Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this

22

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

23

necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

24

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

25

Designating Party or Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for

26

this Action;
///

27
28

///
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

7

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

1

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

2

reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and

3

Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

4

(d) the court and its personnel;

5

(e) court reporters and their staff;

6

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

7
8

LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

9

whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 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;

10

(h) during Non-Party depositions, Non-Party witnesses, and attorneys for Non-

11

Party witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1)

12

the deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto;

13

and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign

14

Exhibit A, unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court.

15

Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected

16

Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to

17

anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

18
19
20
21

(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually
agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
8.

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 that

23

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

24

CONFIDENTIAL, that Party must:

25
26

(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

27

(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue

28

in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

8

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

1

subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated

2

Protective Order; and
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the

3
4

Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the

6

subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as

7

CONFIDENTIAL before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order

8

issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission.

9
LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

5

Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of

10

its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as

11

authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive

12

from another court.
9.

13

The

A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

14
15

(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party

16

in this Action and designated as CONFIDENTIAL. Such information produced by Non-

17

Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by this Order’s remedies and relief.

18

Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking

19

additional protections.

20

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

21

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 information,

23

then the Party shall:

24

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

25

or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-

26

Party;
///

27
28

///
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

9

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

1

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

2

in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of

3

the information requested; and

4
5

(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if
requested.
(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days

7

of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce

8

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

9
LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

6

Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any

10

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

11

with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the

12

contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this

13

court of its Protected Material.

14

10.

15

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

16

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

17

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

18

the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve

19

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

20

whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request

21

such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”

22

that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

23
24

11.

UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
PROTECTED MATERIAL

25

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

26

produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of

27

the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B).

28

This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an eSTIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

10

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

1

discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to

2

Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the Parties reach an agreement on the

3

effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client

4

privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the

5

stipulated protective order submitted to the Court. An inadvertent disclosure shall not be

6

deemed to be a waiver of any privilege or protection.

7

12.

8

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

LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

9
10

MISCELLANEOUS

person to seek the Court’s modification in the future.
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 disclosing

12

or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated

13

Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in

14

evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order, including without

15

limitation, at deposition, any hearing or proceeding in this Action, or trial.

16

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

17

Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed

18

under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected

19

Material at issue. If the Court denies a Party’s request to file Protected Material under

20

seal, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless the

21

Court instructs otherwise.

22

13.

FINAL DISPOSITION

23

After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days

24

of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all

25

Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this

26

subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,

27

summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material

28

except such abstracts or summaries that are protected attorney work product. Whether
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

11

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)

the Protected 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 that

5

the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or

6

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
LOZANO SMITH
515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 750 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

1

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

10

consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material.

11

Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to

12

this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).

13

14.

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

14

measures including, without limitation, discovery sanctions. However, before any party

15

seeks to prosecute any violation of this Order, said party must engage in a good faith

16

meet and confer effort to resolve the dispute.

17
18

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

19
20

DATED: October 31, 2017

/S/FREDERICK F. MUMM
Hon. Frederick F. Mumm
United States Magistrate Judge

21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

12

Abraham P., et al. v. LAUSD, et al.
Case No.: 17-CV-3105 GW (FFMx)