Cox v. Lockheed Martin Corporation

Filing 23

PROTECTIVE ORDER: by Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland on 11/15/11. (bnbcd, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 11-cv-01479-PAB-BNB
CORTEZ COX,
Plaintiff,
v.
LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION, a/k/a LOCKHEED MARTIN SPACE SYSTEMS
COMPANY, a Maryland corporation,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
PROTECTIVE ORDER
______________________________________________________________________________
This matter comes before the Court on the parties’ Stipulated Motion for Entry of
Protective Order. The Court has reviewed that Motion. The Motion is meritorious and
acceptable. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED:
1.

This Protective Order shall apply to all documents, materials, and information,

including without limitation, documents produced, answers to interrogatories, responses to
requests for admission, deposition testimony, and other information disclosed pursuant to the
disclosure or discovery duties created by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
2.

As used in this Protective Order, “document” is defined as provided in

Fed.R.Civ.P. 34(a). A draft or non-identical copy is a separate document within the meaning of
this term.

3.

Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be information that is

confidential and implicates common law and statutory privacy interests such as: (a) personnel
records of current or former employees of Defendant Lockheed Martin Corporation, a/k/a
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (“Defendant”) and (b) Defendant’s trade secrets or
other confidential research, development or commercial information.
4.

CONFIDENTIAL documents, materials, and/or information (collectively

“CONFIDENTIAL information”) shall be used solely for the purpose of this action, and shall
not, without the consent of the party producing it or further Order of the Court, be used,
transferred, disclosed or communicated in any way, except that such information may be
disclosed to:
(a)

attorneys actively working on this case;

(b)

persons regularly employed or associated with the attorneys actively working on

the case whose assistance is required by said attorneys in the preparation for trial, at trial, or at
other proceedings in this case;
(c)

the parties, including designated representatives for Defendant;

(d)

expert witnesses and consultants retained in connection with this proceeding, to

the extent such disclosure is necessary for preparation, trial or other proceedings in this case;
(e)

the Court and its employees (“Court Personnel”);

(f)

stenographic reporters who are engaged in proceedings necessarily incident to the

conduct of this action;
(g)
(h)
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deponents, witnesses, or potential witnesses; and
other persons by written agreement of the parties.

5.

Prior to disclosing any CONFIDENTIAL information to any person listed above

(other than counsel, persons employed by counsel, Court Personnel and stenographic reporters),
counsel shall provide such person with a copy of this Protective Order and obtain from such
person an executed “Written Assurance” in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A. All such
written assurances shall be retained by counsel and shall be subject to in camera review by the
Court if good cause for review is demonstrated by opposing counsel.
6.

Documents are designated as CONFIDENTIAL by placing or affixing on them

(in a manner that will not interfere with their legibility) the following or other appropriate notice:
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
7.

In the event Electronically Stored Information (“ESI”) is disclosed or discovered

in the course of this litigation, including, but not limited to, ESI provided in a native format on
hard disks or other magnetic data storage disks, removable disks and/or drives, portions thereof,
or digital images of data storage disks or drives, such information may be designated as
CONFIDENTIAL in a written communication or in an electronic mail message to the nonproducing party.
8.

Any party who inadvertently fails to identify documents or information as

CONFIDENTIAL shall, promptly upon discovery of its oversight, provide written notice of the
error and substitute appropriately-designated documents. Any party receiving such improperlydesignated documents shall promptly retrieve such documents from persons not entitled to
receive those documents and, upon receipt of the substitute documents, shall return or destroy
the improperly-designated documents.

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9.

Any party who inadvertently discloses documents that are privileged or otherwise

immune from discovery shall, promptly upon discovery of such inadvertent disclosure, so advise
the receiving party and request that the documents be returned. The receiving party shall return
such inadvertently produced documents, including all copies and copies the receiving party
provided to any other individual or entity, within 14 days of receiving such a written request.
10.

Any request to file materials under seal shall comply with the requirements

of D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2. Any pleadings, exhibits or filings which contain CONFIDENTIAL
information, or testimony designated as CONFIDENTIAL, shall be filed under seal with the
Court in accordance with D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2 and the Court’s “Electronic Case Filing
Procedures for the District of Colorado.” Prior to disclosure at trial or a hearing regarding
CONFIDENTIAL information, the parties may seek further protections against public disclosure
from the Court.
11.

Whenever a deposition involves the disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL information,

the portions thereof that involve the disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL information shall be
designated as CONFIDENTIAL and shall be subject to the provisions of this Protective Order.
Such designation shall be made on the record during the deposition whenever possible, but a
party may designate portions of depositions as CONFIDENTIAL after transcription, provided
written notice of the designation is promptly given to all counsel of record within thirty (30)
days after notice by the court reporter of the completion of the transcript. Transcript pages
containing CONFIDENTIAL information must be separately bound by the court reporter, who
must affix to the top of each such page the legend “CONFIDENTIAL,” as instructed by the party
or non-party offering or sponsoring the witness or presenting the testimony.
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12.

A party may object to the designation of particular CONFIDENTIAL information

by giving written notice to the party designating the disputed information. The written notice
shall identify the information to which the objection is made. If the parties cannot resolve the
objection within ten (10) business days after the time the notice is received, it shall be the
obligation of the party designating the information as CONFIDENTIAL to file an appropriate
motion requesting that the Court determine whether the disputed information should be subject
to the terms of this Protective Order. If such a motion is timely filed, the disputed information
shall be treated as CONFIDENTIAL under the terms of this Protective Order until the Court
rules on the motion. If the designating party fails to file such a motion within the prescribed
time, the disputed information shall lose its designation as CONFIDENTIAL and shall not
thereafter be treated as CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with this Protective Order. In
connection with a motion filed under this provision, the party designating the information as
CONFIDENTIAL shall bear the burden of establishing that good cause exists for the disputed
information to be treated as CONFIDENTIAL.
13.

At the conclusion of this case, unless other arrangements are agreed upon, each

document and all copies thereof which have been designated as CONFIDENTIAL shall be
returned to the party that designated it CONFIDENTIAL, or the parties may elect to destroy
CONFIDENTIAL documents. Where the parties agree to destroy CONFIDENTIAL documents,
the destroying party shall provide all parties with an affidavit confirming the destruction.
14.

This Protective Order may be modified by the Court at any time for good cause

shown following notice to all parties and an opportunity for them to be heard.

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Dated November 15, 2011.
BY THE COURT:
s/ Boyd N. Boland
United States Magistrate Judge

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EXHIBIT A
WRITTEN ASSURANCE
_________________________________________ declares that:
I reside at _______________________________________ in the City of
__________________, County of
, State of
_____________. My telephone number is __________________________________.
I am currently employed by ___________________________________, located at
_____________________________________________________, and my current job title is
____________________________________________________.
I have read and I understand the terms of the Protective Order dated
___________________, filed in Civil Action No. 11-cv-01479-PAB-BNB, Cortez Cox v.
Lockheed Martin Corporation, a/k/a Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, pending in the
United States District Court for the District of Colorado. I agree to comply with and be bound
by the provisions of the Protective Order. I understand that any violation of the Protective Order
may subject me to sanctions by the Court.
I shall not divulge any documents, or copies of documents, designated
“CONFIDENTIAL” obtained pursuant to such Protective Order, or the contents of such
documents, to any person other than those specifically authorized by the Protective Order. I
shall not copy or use such documents except for the purposes of this action and pursuant to the
terms of the Protective Order.
As soon as practical, but no later than 30 days after final termination of this action, I shall
return to the attorney from whom I have received them, any documents in my possession
designated “CONFIDENTIAL,” and all copies, excerpts, summaries, notes, digests, abstracts,
and indices relating to such documents.
I submit myself to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of
Colorado for the purpose of enforcing or otherwise providing relief relating to the Protective
Order.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on ______________________
(Date)

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___________________________
(Signature)