Kannan v. Apple Inc.

Filing 262

Discovery Order re 239 Joint Discovery Letter Brief RE: ACCESS TO THE ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY (AEO) DESIGNATED DOCUMENTS TO THE PLAINTIFF PROCEEDING PRO SE. Signed by Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi on 5/27/2020. (vkdlc1S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/27/2020)Any non-CM/ECF Participants have been served by First Class Mail to the addresses of record listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF)

Case 5:17-cv-07305-EJD Document 262 Filed 05/27/20 Page 1 of 3

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SAN JOSE DIVISION

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RAJA KANNAN,
Plaintiff,

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

ORDER RE DEFENDANT’S AEO
DESIGNATIONS

v.

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Case No. 17-cv-07305-EJD (VKD)

Re: Dkt. No. 239

APPLE INC.,
Defendant.

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The parties ask the Court to resolve their dispute concerning plaintiff Raja Kannan’s access

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to documents and information defendant Apple, Inc. has designated “Highly Confidential –

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Attorneys’ Eyes Only” (“AEO”). Dkt. No. 239. At the Court’s direction, the parties conferred

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further and submitted a status report reflecting their efforts to resolve the dispute. Dkt. No. 249.

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In addition, at the Court’s request, Apple submitted further information regarding how information

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concerning employee RSU awards and performance bonuses may be expressed. Dkt. No. 259.

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Having considered the information the parties provided and the arguments made at the

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hearing on May 22, 2020 (Dkt. No. 254), the Court orders as follows:

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1.

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Apple shall produce a written summary of the following information for the eight Apple

Documents containing confidential employee-specific information

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employees who reported to Mr. Kotni during the period of time from January 1, 2011 through

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December 31, 2018 (Dkt. No. 120 at 2):

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•

Anonymized employee name

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•

Job level

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•

Promotions

Case 5:17-cv-07305-EJD Document 262 Filed 05/27/20 Page 2 of 3

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•

Performance ratings (but not self-ratings or peer ratings)

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•

Base salary

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•

Percentage salary increase

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•

RSU award (indicated as none, low, medium, or high1)

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•

Performance bonus (indicated as none, low, medium, or high2)

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This information shall be provided for each year during the relevant time period described above.

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Apple must provide this summary to Mr. Kannan no later than June 3, 2020.
2.

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In view of Apple’s representations in its papers and during the May 22, 2020 hearing, the

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Court will not require Apple to redact AEO material and re-produce additional documents with a

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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“Confidential” or no designation, as Mr. Kannan has not stated a specific need for any particular

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document or information that is not separately addressed by the summary of employee-specific

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information that Apple will provide in anonymized form.

Redaction/Confidential re-designation

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3.

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Because the parties’ expert reports reflect the proposed testimony of their respective

Expert reports

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experts, it is critical that Mr. Kannan have as much access to this information as possible, without

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unduly compromising the privacy of individual employees. The Court directs Apple to review the

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parties’ expert reports, in view of the rulings in this order and the Court’s prior orders, to ensure

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that Apple’s redactions are limited to confidential, employee-specific compensation or personnel

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information. All other information in the expert reports must be made accessible to Mr. Kannan.

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Apple shall confirm to the Court that it has complied with this order and shall re-produce the

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expert reports to Mr. Kannan no later than June 3, 2020.

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///

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///

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“Low” represents 1-33% of the maximum amount possible, “medium” represents 34-66% of the
maximum amount possible, and “high” represents 67-100% of the maximum amount possible.
See Dkt. No. 259 at 2.
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See supra n.1.
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Case 5:17-cv-07305-EJD Document 262 Filed 05/27/20 Page 3 of 3

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: May 27, 2020

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VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI
United States Magistrate Judge

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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