Jaydee Merana v. FCA US LLC, et al

Filing 20

PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Karen L. Stevenson re Stipulation for Protective Order 19 . (see document for details) (hr)

1 Penelope M. Deihl, Esq. (SBN 167040)
[e-mail]
2 Cindy A. Kaoud, Esq. (SBN 322640)
[e-mail]
3 Clark Hill LLP
1055 West 7th Street, 24th Floor
4 Los Angeles, California 90017
Telephone: [phone]
5 Facsimile: [phone]
6 Attorneys for Defendant, FCA US LLC
7

David N. Barry, Esq. (SBN 219230)
8 Elizabeth Quinn, Esq. (SBN 208919)
Carrie Shumake, Esq. (SBN 323883)
9 THE BARRY LAW FIRM
11845 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 1270W
10 Los Angeles, CA 90064
Telephone: [phone]
11 Facsimile: 310.862.4539
12 Attorneys for Plaintiff, JAYDEE MERANA
13
14

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

15

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

16
17
18

JAYDEE MERANA, an individual,
Plaintiff,

19

v.

20

Case No. 2:20-cv-07643 MWF (KSx)
(Los Angeles County Superior Court
Case No. 20STCV26747)

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
FCA US, LLC, A Delaware Limited
21 Liability Company; and DOES 1 through ORDER
20, inclusive,
22
Complaint Filed: July 16, 2020
Defendants.
23
24
25 1.

A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

26

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

27 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
28 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be
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1 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter
2 the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order
3 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and
4 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the
5 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the
6 applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section
7 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file
8 confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures
9 that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks
10 permission from the court to file material under seal.
11

B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

12

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

13 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
14 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
15 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
16 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other
17 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding
18 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or
19 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third
20 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
21 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
22 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of
23 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
24 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
25 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
26 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
27 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
28 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
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1 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
2 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
3 non-public this case. There is good cause why it should not be part of the public
4 record of this case.
5 2. DEFINITIONS
6

2.1

Action: Jaydee Merana v. FCA US LLC et al., Case No. 2:20-

7 cv-07643.
8

2.2

9

of information or items under this Order.

10

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

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

11 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

15 their 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.”
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.
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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 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 which
6 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes 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.
20

3.

SCOPE

21

The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

22 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
23 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
24 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
25 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
26

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

27 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
28 ///
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4. DURATION

2

Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations

3 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
4 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be
5 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with
6 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and
7 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action,
8 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
9 pursuant to applicable law.
10

5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

11

5.1

12

Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

13 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
14 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
15 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
16 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
17 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
18 within the ambit of this Order.
19

Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

20 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
21 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
22 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
23 Party to sanctions.
24

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

25 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
26 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
27

5.2

Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

28 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
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1 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
2 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
3 produced.
4
5

Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic

6 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
7 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
8 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
9 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
10 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
11 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
12

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

13 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
14 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
15 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
16 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
17 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
18 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
19 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
20 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
21 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
22 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
23 markings in the margins).
24

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

25 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
26 deposition all protected testimony.
27

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

28 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
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1 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
2 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
3 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
4 portion(s).
5

5.3

Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

6 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
7 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
8 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
9 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
10 Order.
11 6.

CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

12

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

13 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
14 Scheduling Order.
15

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

16

on resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.

17

6.3

The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be

18 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
19 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
20 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
21 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
22 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
23 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
24 challenge.
25 7.

ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

26

7.1

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

27 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
28 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
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1 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
2 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
3 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
4 DISPOSITION).
5

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

6 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
7 authorized under this Order.
8

7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

9 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
10 Receiving

Party

may

disclose

any

information

or

item

designated

11 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
12

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

13 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
14 to disclose the information for this Action; the officers, directors, and employees
15 (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably
16 necessary for this Action;
17

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

18 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
19

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

20 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
22

(d) the court and its personnel;

23

(e) court reporters and their staff;

24

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

25 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
26 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
27

(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

28 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
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(h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the

2 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
3 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will
4 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
6 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
7 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
8 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
9 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
10

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

11 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
12

(j) Plaintiff, Jaydee Merana

13 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
14 OTHER LITIGATION
15

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

16 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
17 CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
18

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

19 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
20

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

21 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
22 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
23 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
24

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

25

pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be

26

affected.

27

If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with

28 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
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1 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
2 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
3 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
4 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
5 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
6 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
7 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED
8 IN THIS LITIGATION
9

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

10 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
11 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
12 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
13 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
14

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

15 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
16 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
17 confidential information, then the Party shall:
18

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

19

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

20

agreement with a Non-Party;

21

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

22

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

23

reasonably specific description of the information requested; and

24
25
26

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

27 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
28 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
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1 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
2 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
3 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
4 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
5 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
6 10.

UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

7

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

8 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
9 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
10 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
11 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
12 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
13 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
14 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
15 11.

INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

16 PROTECTED MATERIAL
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

17

18 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
19 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
20 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
21 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
22 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
23 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
24 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
25 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
26 to the court.
27 12.

MISCELLANEOUS

28

12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
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1 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
2

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

3 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
4 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
5 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
6 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
7 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected
8 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be
9 filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
10 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal
11 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the
12 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
13 13.

FINAL DISPOSITION

14

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

15 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
16 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
17 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
18 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
19 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
20 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
21 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
22 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
23 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
24 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
25 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
26 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
27 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
28 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
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1 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
2 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
3 Section 4 (DURATION).
4 14.

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

5 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
6 sanctions.
7
8
9 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
10
11 DATED:

February 5, 2021

12
13
14

DATED:

February 12, 2021

______________________/s/__
Attorneys for Plaintiff
___________/s/______________
Attorneys for Defendant

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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 perjury
5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
7 on [date] in the case of Jaydee Merana v. FCA US LLC, Case No. 2:20-cv-07643
8 MWF (KSx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this
9 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so
10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I
11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that
12 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict
13 compliance with the provisions of this Order.
14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
15 Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or
18 type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type
19 full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
20 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
21 Stipulated Protective Order.
22 Date: ______________________________________
23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
24
25 Printed name: _______________________________
26
27 Signature: __________________________________
28
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