Kaechele v. Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc. et al

Filing 32

PROTECTIVE ORDER granting 31 Stipulated Motion for Protective Order. Ordered by Magistrate Judge Thomas D. Thalken. (TRL)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
JEAN M. KAECHELE,
Plaintiff,
vs.
CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING,
INC. a Nevada Corporation CAPSTAR
RADIO OPERATING COMPANY, a
Delaware Corporation, and CHARLES
TAYLOR WALET III, commonly known as
TAYLOR WALET,
Defendants.

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Case No. 8:11-CV-00315

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

Plaintiff Jean M. Kaechele and Defendants Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc. (“Clear
Channel”), Capstar Radio Operating Company (“Capstar”) and Charles Taylor Walet III, by their
respective attorneys, hereby stipulate to the following Protective Order relating to financial, medical,
social security, as well as competitively sensitive, business and general proprietary information that
the Parties seek to keep confidential.
1.

PURPOSE

Plaintiff and Defendants in the above-captioned action (this “Action”) recognize the
preparation and trial of this Action will require the discovery of certain financial, medical, social
security, as well as competitively sensitive, business, and general proprietary information related to
Plaintiff and Defendants, including Defendant Clear Channel’s and Defendant Capstar’s current and
former employees (hereinafter simply “Confidential Information”). Plaintiff and Defendants desire to
litigate this Action without jeopardizing the confidentiality of Confidential Information produced by
the parties and non-parties, and therefore enter into this Stipulated Protective Order (“Order”).
2.

MATERIALS COVERED

The protection of this Order may be invoked with respect to any information or documents
produced in discovery in this Action by Plaintiff, Defendants, and/or non-parties which contain
Confidential Information. This Order also pertains to any depositions or discovery requests or
responses containing or referring to Confidential Information, which may be protected by designation
as “Confidential,” as described respectively in Paragraph 4 below. If documents produced in

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discovery contain Confidential Information and have been designated “Confidential,” the Parties will
be bound by the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order.
3.

DISCLOSURE PROHIBITIONS

Any party or non-party furnishing Confidential Information pursuant to formal or informal
discovery (the “Producing Party”) to any other Party (the “Inspecting Party”) may designate all or any
portion of such materials, documents, or deposition testimony as “Confidential,” which material will
be subject to the provisions set forth below. Any material, information, documents, or testimony so
designated by this designation shall remain confidential and shall not be revealed, disclosed, or made
available for inspection or copying to any person or entity whatsoever except as provided below.
Each person to whom Confidential Information is disclosed, except those individuals identified in
subparagraphs 4(a)(i), (ii), (iv), and (vi), shall execute an undertaking in the form annexed hereto as
Exhibit A, and shall agree to be bound by this Order. Counsel for each party shall be responsible for
maintaining copies of acknowledgments signed by these people to whom they make available such
Confidential Information.
After the Confidential Information is produced for review, but before copies of documents
containing the Confidential Information are sent to the Inspecting Party, the Producing Party may
designate the copies as “Confidential.”
4.

“CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL
(a)

Materials, information, documents, or testimony designated as “Confidential”

by any party or non-party, pursuant to the terms of this Order, may be disclosed by counsel for
any party only for the purpose of this litigation and not for any business or other purpose.
Such disclosure may be made only to:
(i)

The Court, its secretaries, clerks, and law clerks;

(ii)

Attorneys in a law firm appearing of record for a party in this Action,

in-house attorneys employed by any Party to this Action and working on this litigation,
attorneys consulted by counsel of record, and their employed secretaries, paralegals,
and legal assistants (this category hereinafter referred to as “Attorneys”);
(iii)

Any expert who is retained by counsel of record for any of the Parties

in this Action to assist counsel in this litigation or potential expert who is contacted by
counsel of record, and any employee of such an expert assisting in this Action (this
category hereinafter referred to as “Experts”);

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(iv)

The Parties to this Action;

(v)

Any person who may testify as a witness at either a deposition or Court

proceeding in this Action for the purpose of assisting in the preparation or examination
of the witness; and
(vi)
5.

As required to be disclosed by any law or Court Order.

INVOCATION OF THIS ORDER

The protection of this Order with regard to Confidential Information may be invoked by the
party or non-party producing or disclosing such material in the following manner: With respect to
documents, the copy of the document when produced shall bear the clear and legible designation
“Confidential,” or if a series or category of documents are “Confidential,” the box, envelope, or
container may contain such designation for all such documents therein. With respect to answers to
interrogatories or requests for admission, pages of these responses containing Confidential
Information shall be so marked. With respect to any deposition, such treatment may be invoked by:
(a)

Declaring the same on the record at the deposition; or

(b)

Designating specific portions as “Confidential” and serving such designations

within 30 days of receipt of the transcript of the deposition in which the designations are
made.
All deposition transcripts shall be treated as “Confidential” (with the exception that deponent
may have access to her/his deposition) for the 10 day period following the receipt of the transcript.
Each Party shall cause a copy of any written request for a deposition to be “Confidential” to be
attached to the face of the transcript and each copy thereof in his possession, custody, or control.
Where only a portion of a document need be restricted, counsel for the Producing Party will, on
request, cooperate in excising the “Confidential” part of the document and releasing the remainder of
the documents for the restrictions contained herein.
6.

CHALLENGE TO DESIGNATION

Should any party to this Action object to the designation of documents or testimony or other
discovery material as “Confidential,” then the party or non-party designating such documents,
depositions, or other material shall provide reasons for such designation in writing; thereafter, if the
parties do not reach agreement on a designation, the disclosing party may apply to the Court for an
appropriate protective order within 20 days; provided, however, that any document the designation of
which is subject to dispute shall be treated as “Confidential” subject to this Protective Order pending

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further order of the Court following the timely filing of a motion for a protective order. Any motion
made pursuant to this paragraph is subject to the provisions of Rule 37(a)(4) of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure.
7.

HANDLING AND DISPOSITION OF MATERIAL:

HANDLING AT

CONCLUSION OF CASE

All documents or materials containing Confidential Information shall be maintained in the
custody of the party’s counsel of record or the individuals set forth at paragraph 4(a) above. Within
60 days after the entry of final judgment, the entry of a dismissal order (or orders) implementing a
settlement by all parties completely resolving this matter or the entry of a final judgment and one or
more dismissal orders effectuating settlements, which, in combination, resolve all claims made by any
party against other party in this Action, including appeals or petitions for review, then the original and
all copies of each “Confidential” document or materials (on request of the Producing Party) shall be
returned to the Producing Party or destroyed and all summaries, digests, and synopses of such
information shall be destroyed; provided, however, that counsel of record may retain “Confidential”
information in their confidential client case files for no longer than a period of two (2) years following
settlement or the entry of a final judgment.
8.

CONTINUATION OF THIS ORDER

Insofar as the provisions of this Order restrict the use or communication of any document or
information produced hereunder, such Order shall continue to be binding after the conclusion of this
Action, except that a party may seek the written permission of all parties or a further order of the
Court with respect to dissolution or modification of this Order.
9.

FURTHER APPLICATION

Nothing in this Order shall preclude any party or non-party from applying to the Court for
additional, different or less restrictive protective provisions in respect to specific material if the need
shall arise during this litigation.
10.

INFORMATION FROM OTHER SOURCES

This Order shall apply only to material obtained from parties in this Action, or material
obtained from non-parties pursuant to subpoena, and shall not apply to information in the public
domain or obtained from other sources not in violation of this Order or any other agreement regardless

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of whether or not such information is also contained in discovery materials designated as
“Confidential” in this case unless ordered otherwise by the Court.
11.

USE IN COURT PROCEEDINGS

Nothing contained in this Order shall be construed to prejudice any party’s right to use
Confidential Information at a hearing, trial, in support of or in opposition to any motion or in any
other manner that allows the public to access it. However, parties shall have 60 days following the
production of any document to designate a document as only being subject to disclosure under
Restricted Access. Prior to the expiration of that 60-day period, before submitting any material
designated as “Confidential” to the Court at a hearing, trial, in support of or in opposition to any
motion or in any other manner that allows the public to access it, the submitting party shall give the
other party reasonable notice of its intent to do so. The party receiving such notice may, in a
reasonable timeframe that does not interfere with the submitting party’s deadlines, designate some or
all of the “Confidential” material listed in the notice to be submitted under “Restricted Access”
pursuant to Nebraska Civil Rule 5.0.3.1 The parties will, upon disagreements over designations for
Restricted Access, work together in good-faith to resolve such disagreements by, for example,
redacting the information giving rise to the designation for Restricted Access or otherwise agreeing to
a format for the Confidential Information that does not require it be filed under Restricted Access. In
the event agreement cannot be reached over a designation for Restricted Access, then the parties shall
follow the procedure set forth above in paragraph 6.
By designating any material “Confidential,” the parties do not acknowledge that any such
material is relevant or discoverable in this action. Furthermore, all parties reserve the right to seek
discovery of, or alternatively to resist discovery of, such material in this action. Designations of
“Confidential” shall not be made known to the jury in any manner. Further, by conducting the
preparation for final trial of this Action under the terms of this Order, the parties do not waive, and
expressly retain the right to assert in this proceeding and elsewhere, the application of any common
law or statutory privileges or any theory of immunity to prevent the disclosure of the privileged or
Confidential Information in whole or in part or in any form.
It is hereby stipulated and agreed to by and between the parties to this Action through their
undersigned attorneys. The parties respectfully request this Court to enter this Stipulated Protective

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This provision shall not apply to Confidential Information intended solely for impeachment purposes.

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Order. Pursuant to Local Rule 11.1(a)(3), the undersigned counsel for Defendants represents that
Plaintiff has consented to the filing of this Stipulated Protective Order.
CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING, INC.,
CAPSTAR RADIO OPERATING COMPANY,
and CHARLES TAYLOR WALET III,
Defendants
By: /s/ Erin L. Ebeler
Todd W. Weidemann, No. 20505
Pamela J. Bourne, No. 21916
Erin L. Ebeler, No. 23923
WOODS & AITKEN, LLP
301 South 13th Street, Suite 500
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: 402-437-8558
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

JEAN M. KAECHELE, Plaintiff
By:

/s/ Michael J. Merrick
Michael J. Merrick, No. 19855
MERRICK LAW FIRM LLC
3801 Harney Street, Suite 100
Omaha, Nebraska 68131
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: 312-269-0800
[e-mail]

ORDER
PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED.
Date this 24th day of February, 2012.
BY THE COURT:
s/ Thomas D. Thalken
United States Magistrate Judge

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EXHIBIT A
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
JEAN M. KAECHELE,
Plaintiff,
vs.
CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING,
INC. a Nevada Corporation CAPSTAR
RADIO OPERATING COMPANY, a
Delaware Corporation, and CHARLES
TAYLOR WALET III, commonly known as
TAYLOR WALET,
Defendants.

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Case No. 8:11-CV-00315

AGREEMENT CONCERNING
DOCUMENTS COVERED BY
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

who

maintains

his/her

address

at

_______________________________, and is employed by ___________________________ hereby
acknowledges that:
1.

He/She has read the Stipulated Protective Order dated _______________ in the above-

captioned action, understands the terms thereof, and agrees to be bound by such terms;
2.

He/She agrees and hereby submits himself/herself to the personal jurisdiction of the

United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, for the purpose of enforcement of the
Protective Order.
3.

(a)

He/She will make only such copies or notes as are essential to enable him/her to

render the assistance required in connection with this litigation, and such notes and copies shall be
preserved in a separate file marked for disposal or destruction upon completion of this litigation;
(b)

He/She will not reveal the contents of “Confidential” material to any

unauthorized person; and
(c)

He/She will not use “Confidential” material for business or competitive

purposes, or for any other purpose other than the prosecution or the defense of this action.
___________________________________
Signature
___________________________________
Date
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