Leah Campbell et al v. UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company

Filing 39

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick re Stipulation for Protective Order. 38 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. (See document for details) (vmun)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 SEYFARTH SHAW LLP Kathleen Cahill Slaught (SBN 168129) E-mail: kslaught@seyfarth.com 560 Mission Street, 31st Floor San Francisco, California 94105 Telephone: (415) 397-2823 Facsimile: (415) 397-8549 SEYFARTH SHAW LLP Ryan R. Tikker (SBN 312860) E-mail: rtikker@seyfarth.com 2029 Century Park East, Suite 3500 Los Angeles, California 90067-3021 Telephone: (310) 277-7200 Facsimile: (310) 201-5219 LAW OFFICES OF JONATHAN A. STIEGLITZ Jonathan A. Stieglitz (SBN jonathanstieglitz@gmail.com 11845 W. Olympic Blvd., Ste. 800 Los Angeles, CA 90064 Tel: (323) 979-2063 Fax: (323) 488-6478 Attorneys for Plaintiff LEAH CAMPBELL Attorneys for Defendants UNITEDHEALTHCARE INSURANCE COMPANY and INSPERITY HOLDINGS, INC. 12 13 14 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 16 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17 18 LEAH CAMPBELL, 19 Plaintiff, 20 21 v. 22 UNITEDHEALTHCARE INSURANCE CO., INSPERITY HOLDINGS, INC., and DOES 1-10, 23 Defendants. 24 25 26 27 28 Case No. 2:23-cv-08823-RGK-E STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 4 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 5 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 6 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 7 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 8 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 9 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 10 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 11 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 12 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to 13 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 14 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 15 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 16 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 17 This action is likely to involve confidential health information, trade secrets, 18 customer and pricing lists and other valuable research, development, commercial, 19 financial, and/or proprietary information for which special protection from public 20 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is 21 warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, 22 among other things, confidential health information, confidential business or 23 financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other 24 confidential research, development, or commercial information (including 25 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise 26 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise 27 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, 28 or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the 2 1 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to 2 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure 3 that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 4 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 5 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 6 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 7 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 8 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public 9 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this 10 case. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 2. DEFINITIONS 2.1 Action: Leah Campbell v. UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co., et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-08823-RGK-E. 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 18 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 19 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 20 the Good Cause Statement. 21 22 23 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their support staff). 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 24 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 27 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 28 3 1 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 2 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 3 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 4 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 5 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 6 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 7 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 8 counsel. 9 10 11 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 12 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 13 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 14 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 15 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 16 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 17 support staffs). 18 19 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action. 20 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 21 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 22 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 23 and their employees and subcontractors. 24 25 26 27 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. 28 4 1 3. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 6 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the 7 8 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 9 10 4. DURATION Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 11 12 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees 13 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be 14 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with 15 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and 16 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, 17 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time 18 pursuant to applicable law. 19 20 21 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 22 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 23 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 24 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 25 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 26 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 27 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 28 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 5 1 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 2 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 3 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 4 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 5 Party to sanctions. 6 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 7 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 8 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 9 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 10 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 11 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 12 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 13 produced. 14 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 15 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 16 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that 17 the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 18 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 19 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 20 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 21 markings in the margins). 22 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 23 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 24 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the 25 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for 26 inspection will be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 27 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 28 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 6 1 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must 2 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. 3 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 4 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 5 appropriate markings in the margins). (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 6 7 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 8 protected testimony. (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 9 10 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 11 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 13 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 14 portion(s). 5.3 15 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 16 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 17 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 18 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 19 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 20 Order. 21 22 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6.1 23 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 24 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 25 Scheduling Order. 6.2 26 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 27 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 28 et seq. 7 6.3 1 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 2 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 3 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 4 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 5 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will 6 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 7 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 8 challenge. 9 10 11 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 12 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 13 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 14 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 15 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 16 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 17 DISPOSITION). 18 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 19 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 20 authorized under this Order. 21 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 22 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 23 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 24 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 25 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 26 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 27 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 28 8 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 1 2 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 3 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 4 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 6 (d) the Court and its personnel; 7 (e) court reporters and their staff; 8 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 9 10 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 11 12 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 13 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 14 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 15 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 16 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 18 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 19 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 20 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 21 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 22 23 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 24 25 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 26 IN OTHER LITIGATION 27 28 9 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 1 2 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 3 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 4 5 will include a copy of the subpoena or court order; (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 6 7 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 8 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include 9 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 10 11 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 12 13 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this 14 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 15 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 16 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking 17 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 18 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 19 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 20 21 9. 22 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 23 A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 24 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 25 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 26 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 27 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 28 10 1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 2 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 3 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 4 confidential information, then the Party will: (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 5 6 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 7 agreement with a Non-Party; (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 8 9 10 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information requested; and (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 11 12 Non-Party, if requested. 13 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 15 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 16 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will 17 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 18 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 19 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense 20 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 21 22 23 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 24 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 25 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 26 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 27 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 28 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 11 1 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 2 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 3 4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 5 PROTECTED MATERIAL When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 6 7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 8 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 9 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 10 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 11 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 12 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 13 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 14 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 15 protective order submitted to the court. 16 17 18 19 20 12. MISCELLANEOUS 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 21 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 22 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 23 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 24 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 25 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 26 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 27 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 28 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 12 1 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 2 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 3 4 5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 6 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 7 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 8 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 9 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 10 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 11 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 12 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 13 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 14 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 15 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 16 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 17 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 18 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 19 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 20 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 21 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 22 Section 4 (DURATION). 23 24 25 26 27 28 13 1 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 2 contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 3 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 4 5 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 6 7 DATED: June 5, 2024 /s/ Jonathan A. Stieglitz Attorneys for Plaintiff LEAH CAMPBELL DATED: June 5, 2024 /s/ Kathleen Cahill Slaught Attorneys for Defendants UNITEDHEALTHCARE INSURANCE CO. and INSPERITY HOLDINGS, INC. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 17 18 19  DATED:_______________ __________________________________ HON CHARLES F HON. F. EICK United States Magistrate Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 14 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of 8 ___________ [insert case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be 9 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 11 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 12 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 13 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 15 for the 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 __________________________ [full 18 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28 15

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