McGreevy v. ConMed Corporation et al

Filing 20

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER by Judge R. Brooke Jackson on 4/8/14. (jdyne, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No. 1:13-cv-03224-RBJ
TIM McGREEVY,
Plaintiff,
v.
CONMED CORPORATION, a New York corporation, and ASPEN LABORATORIES,
INC., d/b/a CONMED ELECTROSURGERY, a Colorado corporation,
Defendants.

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Under Rule 26(c) FED. R. CIV. P., IT IS ORDERED:
1.

This Stipulated Protective Order shall apply to all documents, materials

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

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

provided in Rule 34(a), FED. R. CIV. P. A draft or non-identical copy is a separate
document within the meaning of this term.
3.

Confidential documents, materials, and information (collectively, the

“Confidential Information”) shall not be disclosed or used for any purpose except the

preparation and trial of this case. The duty to keep confidential information confidential
survives the completion of this case.
4.

Information designated “Confidential” shall be information that concerns

private financial, employment or medical information of Plaintiff Tim McGreevy
(“Plaintiff”); or confidential business information about Defendants ConMed Corporation
and Aspen Laboratories, Inc. d/b/a/ ConMed Electrosurgery (“Defendants”), Defendants’
affiliates or subsidiaries, current or former employees and agents, trade secrets or other
confidential research, or marketing, development or commercial information of
Defendants. As a condition of designating documents for confidential treatment, the
documents must be reviewed by a lawyer and a good faith determination must be made
that the documents are entitled to protection.
5.

A party designating documents as Confidential Information may do so by

marking such material with the legend "Confidential."
6.

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 Stipulated 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 is
promptly given to all counsel of record within thirty (30) days after notice by the court
reporter of the completion of the transcript.
7.

The parties recognize but do not necessarily agree that Confidential
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Information may include, but is not limited to, sensitive and non-public information and
records concerning compensation, employee duties and performance, employee
discipline and promotions, personnel decisions and other documents related to the
Plaintiff’s employment with Defendants, and Defendants’ general business practices,
financial matters, information regarding client/customer relationships, and technical,
strategic or other proprietary business information. All Confidential Information
designated “Confidential” may be reviewed only by the following persons (subject to
Paragraph 10 of this Order):
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 of the case, at trial, or at other
proceedings in this case;

c.

the parties, including Plaintiff, Defendants and Defendants’ Board of
Directors, officers, management, and any advisory witnesses who
are directly assisting said attorneys in the preparation 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, jurors and/or court staff in any proceeding herein;

f.

stenographic reporters who are engaged in proceedings necessarily
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incident to the conduct of this action;
g.
h.
8.

deponents, witnesses or potential witnesses; and
other persons by written agreement of the parties.

Before the parties or their counsel may disclose any Confidential

Information to any persons contemplated by Paragraph 7 of this Stipulated Protective
Order, such person shall be provided with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order
and shall be advised that he or she shall be bound by its provisions. In the event any
counsel of record determines that persons other than those provided for in Paragraph 7
above have a need to review any Confidential Information, written authorization of the
party who produced the Confidential Information must be obtained in advance of such
disclosure. Should the party who produced the Confidential Information refuse such
authorization, counsel may apply to the Court for authorization.
9.

A party may object to the designation of particular Confidential Information

by giving written notice to the party that designated the disputed information and all
other parties to the civil action. 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 Information to file an appropriate motion or
to contact the Judge’s chambers, as may be required by the Judge’s Practice
Standards before filing a motion, within eleven (11) days of the end of the abovedescribed ten-day period requesting that the Court determine whether the disputed
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information should be subject to the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order. If such a
motion is timely filed or contact with the Judge’s chambers is timely made, the disputed
information shall be treated as Confidential Information under the terms of this
Stipulated Protective Order until the Court rules on the motion. If the designating party
fails to file such a motion or contact the Judge’s chambers within the prescribed period,
the disputed information shall lose its designation as Confidential Information and shall
not thereafter be treated as Confidential Information in accordance with this Stipulated
Protective Order. In connection with a motion filed under this provision, the party
designating the information as Confidential Information shall bear the burden of
establishing that good cause exists for the disputed information to be treated as
Confidential Information.
10.

Any party that wishes to file Confidential Information with the Court must

move the Court to file such information under seal pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2.
Information filed with the Court will generally be available to the public. Restriction of
public access is appropriate for such things as Social Security numbers, residential
addresses and true trade secrets and may be appropriate for other categories such as
criminal histories and medical information, but the parties shall consider and confer
about the possibility of redacting documents containing Confidential Information before
filing such documents with the Court. If it is critical that the Court see the information,
then the party that wishes to file Confidential Information with the Court may request a
narrow order restricting public access and show good cause to support such a request.
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11.

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

upon, each document and all copies thereof which have been designated as
Confidential Information shall be destroyed or preserved by counsel in a manner which
is fully consistent with the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order. At the end of the
litigation (including any appeals), counsel will not be required to return the material.
12.

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.
DATED this 8th day of April, 2014.
BY THE COURT:

___________________________________
R. Brooke Jackson
United States District Judge

APPROVED:
s/ Joan M. Bechtold
Joan M. Bechtold
Charlotte N. Sweeney
Sweeney & Bechtold LLC
650 S. Cherry St., Ste 650
Denver, Colorado 80246
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]

s/ Jonathan B. Fellows
Jonathan B. Fellows
Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC
One Lincoln Center
Syracuse, New York 13202
[e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]

Attorneys for Plaintiff

Attorneys for Defendant
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