Cohen v. Public Service Company of Colorado d/b/a Xcel Energy
Filing
22
PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland on 5/29/13. (bnbcd, )
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 13-CV-578-WYD-BNB
STACEY COHEN,
Plaintiff,
v.
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF
COLORADO, d/b/a XCEL ENERGY,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
PROTECTIVE ORDER
______________________________________________________________________________
Upon a showing of good cause in support of the entry of a protective order to protect the
discovery and dissemination of confidential information or information which will improperly
annoy, embarrass, or oppress any party, witness, or person providing discovery in this case, 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 of (a) the Plaintiff, and
(b) other current or former employees of Defendant. CONFIDENTIAL information shall not be
disclosed or used for any purpose except the preparation and trial of this case.
4.
CONFIDENTIAL documents, materials, and/or information (collectively
"CONFIDENTIAL information") shall not, without the consent of the party producing it or
further Order of the Court, be disclosed 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;
-2-
(c)
the parties, including member of the plaintiff's immediate family and
designated representatives for the defendant who are actively working on the defense of this
case;
(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)
5.
deponents, witnesses, or potential witnesses; and
other persons by written agreement of the parties.
Prior to disclosing any CONFIDENTIAL information to any person listed above
(other than counsel, persons employed by counsel, the plaintiff, designated representatives for
the defendant who are actively working on the defense of this case, Court Personnel and
stenographic reporters), counsel shall provide such person with a copy of this Protective Order
and obtain from such person a written acknowledgment stating that he or she has read this
Protective Order and agrees to be bound by its provisions. All such acknowledgments 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 as set forth in Paragraph 6 above.
-3-
8.
Whenever a deposition involves the disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL information,
the deposition or portions thereof 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.
9.
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.
10.
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.
11.
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.
-4Dated May 29, 2013.
BY THE COURT:
s/ Boyd N. Boland
United States Magistrate Judge
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