Tracy v. Lancaster School District 0001
Filing
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PROTECTIVE ORDER Ordered by Magistrate Judge Cheryl R. Zwart. (BHC)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
CONNIE TRACY,
Plaintiff,
v.
LANCASTER SCHOOL DISTRICT 0001,
a/k/a LINCOLN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Defendant.
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Case No. 4:12-CV-03254
PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING
PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS
NOW, this 22nd day of May, 2013, it is hereby agreed by and between the undersigned
parties that they will abide by the terms of this protective order in connection with all discovery
conducted in this action. Subject to the approval of the Court, the terms of this protective order
are as follows:
1.
The parties enter into this Agreed Order Regarding Production of Documents
("Agreed Order") controlling the use and disposition of any and all confidential documents
produced by any party and deposition testimony regarding such confidential documents in the
above-captioned case. This Agreed Order shall, in particular, govern all documents which
contain personal, private, medical, financial, and other documents marked as confidential and
produced, identified, or testified to during discovery, including depositions, that relate in any
manner to allegations in Plaintiff's Complaint, including any motion by Plaintiff to certify a class
action in this case. In particular, the parties acknowledge that any information or documents
relating to worker's compensation injuries and/or claims of Defendant's employees other than
Plaintiff, including but not limited to medical information and information contained in
personnel files, shall be deemed confidential and covered by this Agreed Order regardless of
whether such information or documents are marked or later designated as confidential.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, any documents which are generally available to the public, such
as documents filed with the Workers' Compensation Court that are accessible to the public, shall
not be deemed confidential and shall not be covered by this Agreed Order.
2.
All such Confidential Information produced and/or testified to by any party
during discovery, deposition, or trial may be considered as confidential and containing sensitive
information of a non-public nature and shall be designated as Confidential Information by the
producing party. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, Confidential Information shall be held in
confidence by all parties or persons receiving such information and shall not be used for any
purpose other than the prosecution of this lawsuit. Confidential Information shall be disclosed
only to the parties, their attorneys of record (including counsels' employees), and their consultants
and/or designated experts, and may be utilized during the discovery and trial of this action. In
addition, Plaintiff's counsel shall be permitted to use Confidential Information in order to
communicate with the individuals about whom the Confidential Information relates (or the
counsel of such individuals) for purposes of determining if Plaintiff's counsel wishes to move the
Court to certify a class action and/or prosecuting the class action matter. However, Plaintiff's
counsel shall not divulge Confidential Information of an individual to other individuals without
the permission of the individual(s).
3.
In no event shall any of the parties or their designated experts or non-testifying
consultants be allowed to retain any Confidential Information whatsoever produced after the
termination of this litigation, unless otherwise provided herein.
In particular, all parties'
designated experts and/or non-testifying consultants agree and acknowledge that they will not
allow any Confidential Information produced by any party to be disseminated, inspected,
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reviewed, or in any way disclosed to any person or entity whatsoever without the producing
party's prior written approval.
4.
All parties, their respective consultants, experts, and their counsel shall be deemed
to have acknowledged that they are personally bound by this Agreed Order by virtue of their
appearance in this litigation.
Any and all other individuals to whom the disclosure of
Confidential Information is to be made shall, prior to such disclosure, be: (a) informed of the
existence of this Agreed Order; (b) provided with a copy of this Agreed Order; (c) instructed that
all Confidential Information is to be used exclusively in the preparation for and the trial of this
litigation and all copies and originals of any documents that contain the Confidential Information
must be returned to counsel of the party producing records as provided herein; (d) that such
Confidential Information and documents that may be contained therein are to be disclosed only
to such counsel and other persons as are designated or contemplated by paragraph two of this
Agreed Order; and (e) that all persons to whom this Confidential Information is disclosed shall
sign an Affidavit acknowledging receipt of this Agreed Order and their obligations under this
Agreed Order. All Affidavits of expert witnesses shall be returned to counsel for the producing
party contemporaneously with the disclosure of said expert witnesses. Should any consultant to
whom Confidential Information is disclosed subsequently be determined by counsel that they will
become a designated expert, then, and in that event, the Affidavit shall promptly be forwarded to
counsel for the producing party.
Further, counsel for any receiving party shall obtain all
Confidential Information from all non-testifying consultants for further handling pursuant to this
Agreed Order and shall also maintain the original Affidavit from the non-testifying consultant in
his/her file until the case is finally terminated.
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5.
Nothing in this Agreed Order shall be deemed a waiver of any party's rights to
(a) oppose discovery on grounds other than that the requested information and documents
constitute or contain Confidential Information, (b) object on other grounds to the admission of
any Confidential Information or documents into evidence at any trial or hearing conducted in this
litigation, or (c) object to the designation of information as "Confidential Information."
6.
The provisions of this Agreed Order shall not be construed to prevent any party
from using any Confidential Information in connection with the trial, any hearing, motions after
hearing, or other public proceeding in this case, provided that before any party so uses any
Confidential Information, all reasonable steps shall be taken by the parties to maintain the
confidentiality of the Confidential Information until it is offered into evidence, including, but not
limited to, filing any documents containing any Confidential Information under seal of this
Court. Not later than thirty (30) days after the termination of this litigation, all confidential and
protected documents produced in this action (and all copies, excerpts, digests, summaries, and
indices of these documents), with the exception of those maintained in the file of each party's
counsel as provided in paragraph 8 below, shall be returned to counsel for the parties who
produced the documents or shall be destroyed at the conclusion of this lawsuit. Not later than
thirty (30) days after the termination of this litigation, all documents, transcripts, answers to
interrogatories, exhibits, or portions thereof that have been designated as confidential and
protected, that have been obtained as a result of discovery in this action, and that are in the
possession of a party, expert, or consultant shall be returned to the party who produced the
documents or destroyed upon request. Not later than thirty (30) days after the termination of this
litigation, all parties' designated expert(s) and/or non-testifying consultant(s) shall destroy all
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notes, memorandum, or other transcriptions made from any Confidential Information and
documents.
7.
Despite termination of this litigation, this Order shall continue to apply to all
Confidential Information provided by a producing party.
8.
Counsel for each party shall be permitted to maintain a copy of all pleadings,
discovery, depositions, and other documents that contain Confidential Information in the
maintenance of counsel's file, but Confidential Information in such files shall not be disclosed or
disseminated to anyone outside of such counsel's office.
9.
All counsel and all other individuals to whom the disclosure or circulation of
Confidential Information is made, covenant and warrant that if compelled by judicial process to
appear in any proceeding, to provide sworn testimony, and/or to otherwise produce Confidential
Information produced in this litigation, said person or entity shall give counsel for the producing
party sufficient notice in advance of the time that said person or entity must comply with said
judicial process, such that counsel for the producing party will have an opportunity to contest
such process.
10.
This Agreed Order shall survive the conclusion of this litigation, including any
appeals herein, and the restrictions on communication and disclosure of Confidential Information
set forth herein shall continue to be binding upon the parties to this action and all other persons
to whom Confidential Information has been communicated or disclosed. This Court shall also
retain exclusive jurisdiction for enforcement of this Agreed Order, whether the matter is
concluded and/or appealed.
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DATED this 22nd day of May, 2013.
s/ Cheryl R. Zwart
United States Magistrate Judge
Prepared by:
Gregory H. Perry, #17775
Jeanette Stull, #21257
PERRY, GUTHERY, HAASE &
GESSFORD, P.C., L.L.O.
233 South 13th Street, Suite 1400
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
(402) 476-9200
Approved by:
/s/ Kathleen Neary
Kathleen Neary
Vincent M. Powers & Associates
411 South 13th Street, Suite 300
P.O. Box 84936
Lincoln, NE 68501-4936
kathleen@vpowerslaw.com
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