Benedict v. Hewlett-Packard Company

Filing 52

ORDER re: Protective Order. Signed by Judge Lucy H. Koh on May 14, 2013. (lhklc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/14/2013)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 United States District Court For the Northern District of California 8 SAN JOSE DIVISION 11 12 ERIC BENEDICT, on behalf of himself and classes of those similarly situated, 13 14 15 16 17 Plaintiff, v. HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: 13-CV-0119-LHK ORDER RE: PROTECTIVE ORDER On May 8, 2013, pursuant to this Court’s Order, the parties submitted a Joint Letter Brief 18 addressing whether Opt-In Plaintiffs in the instant case should be given access to Defendant’s 19 discovery designated “CONFIDENTIAL.” ECF No. 39. 20 The extent to which FLSA opt-in plaintiffs are subject to individualized discovery remains 21 unsettled. See Hoffman v. Constr. Protective Servs., Inc., 541 F.3d 1175, 1179 (9th Cir. 2008) 22 (noting that the district court in that action had recognized this area of the law as unsettled); 23 Coldiron v. Pizza Hut, Inc., CV03-05865TJHMCX, 2004 WL 2601180 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 25, 2004) 24 (recognizing two lines of cases regarding individualized discovery in opt-in class actions). In the 25 parties’ Joint Letter Brief, neither party cites to precedent governing opt-in plaintiffs’ access to 26 materials designated as confidential, or the implications of such access for individualized 27 discovery. Furthermore, each of the cases Defendant cites as authority for opt-in discovery refers 28 to discovery following conditional certification of an opt-in class. See Hill v. R&L Carriers Shared 1 Case No.: 13-CV-0119-LHK ORDER RE: PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 Services, LLC, CV 09-1907 CW MEJ, 2010 WL 3769247, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 22, 2010); 2 Coldiron, 2004 WL 2601180, at *2; Abubakar v. City of Solano, CIVS-06-2268LKKEFB, 2008 3 WL 508911, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 22, 2008). In the instant case, Plaintiff’s Motion for Conditional 4 FLSA Certification will be heard on September 19, 2013. 5 The Court finds that at this stage of the litigation, prior to conditional certification, Opt-In 6 Plaintiffs may access Defendant’s discovery designated “CONFIDENTIAL,” under the conditions 7 Plaintiff proposes in the Joint Letter Brief. However, any Opt-In Plaintiff who chooses to access 8 such material shall also be subject to reciprocal, reasonable, and appropriate discovery. 9 IT IS SO ORDERD. United States District Court For the Northern District of California 10 May 14, 2013 11 _________________________________ LUCY H. KOH United States District Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 Case No.: 13-CV-0119-LHK ORDER RE: PROTECTIVE ORDER

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