Bauer v. Cox Enterprises, Inc. et al

Filing 41

PROTECTIVE ORDER adopting 40 Stipulation for Protective Order. Ordered by Magistrate Judge Thomas D. Thalken. (TRL)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
MICHELLE BAUER,
Case No. 8:14-cv-00324

Plaintiff,
v.

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

AETNA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a
Connecticut corporation; and COX
ENTERPRISES, INC., WELFARE
BENEFITS PLAN,
Defendants.

The Parties to this action, Plaintiff Michelle Bauer ("Bauer"), and Defendants
Aetna Life Insurance Company ("Aetna") and Cox Enterprises, Inc., Welfare Benefits
Plan ("Cox") (collectively referred to hereinafter as "Defendants"), by their respective
counsel, hereby stipulate and request that the Court enter a mutual Protective Order
pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 as follows:
1.

The Protective Order shall be entered pursuant to the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure.
2.

The Protective Order shall govern all materials deemed to be "Confidential

Information." Any party to this action may designate as "Confidential" documents and
information such as:
(a)

Any and all documents referring or relating to confidential and proprietary
business information; financial records of the parties; compensation of
Defendants' current or former personnel; policies, procedures and/or
training materials of Defendants; and/or Defendants' organizational
structures;

(b)

Any and all documents that constitute or contain trade secrets or
otherwise constitutes business proprietary and/or confidential material, or
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other confidential research, development, or commercial information,
whether embodied in physical objects, documents, or other factual
knowledge of persons, and specifically shall include but not necessarily be
limited to, financial data, personal or business information of third parties,
consumer surveys, marketing studies, databases of business contacts,
databases of business document templates, policies, procedures, rules
and regulations, bulletins, memoranda, training materials, and any and all
writings reflecting same;
(c)

Any and all documents related to third party independent medical
reviewers, including but not limited to their compensation, findings, and
background information;

(d)

Any and all documents, including contractual agreements between Aetna
and its clients; and

(e)

Any personal and/or protected health information of Plaintiff.

3.

In the case of documents and the information contained therein,

designation of Confidential Information produced shall be made by placing the following
label or designation on the face of the document and each page so designated
"CONFIDENTIAL" or otherwise expressly identified as confidential. Defendants will use
their best efforts to limit the number of documents designated Confidential.
4.

Confidential Information shall be held in confidence by each qualified

recipient to whom it is disclosed, shall be used only for purposes of this action, shall not
be used for any business purpose, and shall not be disclosed to any person who is not
a qualified recipient. All produced Confidential Information shall be carefully maintained
so as to preclude access by persons who are not qualified recipients.
5.

Qualified recipients shall include only the following:

(a)

In-house counsel and law firms for each party and the secretarial, clerical,
and paralegal staff of each;

(b)

Deposition notaries and staff;

(c)

Persons other than legal counsel who have been retained or specially
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employed by a party as an expert witness for purposes of this lawsuit or to
perform investigative work, fact research, document preparation, trial,
appeal, or settlement of this litigation;
(d)

Deponents, witnesses, or potential witnesses as deemed necessary by
either party's counsel for preparation for their depositions or trial testimony
and as necessary during such proceedings;

(e)

The parties to this litigation, their officers, and professional employees;

(f)

Persons who appear on the face of the Confidential Information as an
author, addressee, or recipient of the Confidential Information;

(g)

The Court and any of its staff and personnel; and

(h)

Court reporters.

6.

Each counsel shall be responsible for providing notice of the Protective

Order and the terms therein to persons to whom they disclose "Confidential Information"
as defined by the terms of the Protective Order.
Persons to whom Confidential Information is shown or provided shall be provided
with a copy of this Order and will sign an acknowledgment form of such receipt and their
agreement to abide by this Order as set forth in Exhibit A, attached.

Deponents,

witnesses, or potential witnesses may be shown or provided with Confidential
Information but must return such Confidential Information to the counsel who provided
it, at the final conclusion of this litigation.
If either party objects to the claims that information should be deemed
Confidential, that party's counsel shall inform opposing counsel in writing within ninety
(90) days that the information should not be so deemed, and the parties shall attempt
first to dispose of such disputes in good faith and on an informal basis. If the parties are
unable to resolve their dispute, they may present a motion to the Court objecting to such
status. The information shall continue to have Confidential status during the pendency
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of any such motion.
7.

No copies of Confidential Information shall be made except by or on

behalf of attorneys of record, in-house counsel, or the parties in this action. Any person
making copies of such information shall maintain all copies within their possession or
the possession of those entitled to access to such information under the Protective
Order.
8.

All information produced in this action, whether deemed Confidential or

not, shall be used only for purposes of this litigation and not for any other purpose.
However, counsel agree that all information produced in this action may be used for the
purpose of defending an action against said counsel or responding to a disciplinary
complaint against said counsel.
9.

Termination of this action shall not relieve the parties and persons

obligated hereunder from their responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of information
designated Confidential pursuant to this Order.
10.

Upon termination of this action by entry of a final judgment or decision of

settlement (whether settlement, summary judgment, trial judgment or decision on
appeal), the parties and their counsel shall (a) destroy Confidential Information (which
was not filed with the Court) or (b) maintain Confidential Information in the possession,
custody, or control of the recipient party's attorneys and withheld from all other persons.
That Confidential Information must be maintained in the regular course of business and
in accordance with the recipient party's attorneys' document retention policies and
practices.
11.

Nothing in this Order shall be construed as an admission as to the

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relevance, authenticity, foundation, or admissibility of any document, material,
transcript, or other information.
12.

Nothing in the Protective Order shall be deemed to preclude any party

from seeking and obtaining, on an appropriate showing, a modification of this Order.
13.

The parties shall follow the requirements of the local rules for filing

documents under seal.
14.

This Court retains discretion to determine the confidentiality status of all

exhibits at trial.
SO ORDERED this 28th

day of October, 2015.
BY THE COURT:

s/ Thomas D. Thalken
United States Magistrate Judge
Submitted by:

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MICHELLE BAUER, Plaintiff.
s/Jennifer L. Turco Meyer
Jennifer L. Turco Meyer, #23760
Dyer Law PC, LLO
10730 Pacific Street
Suite 111
Omaha, NE 68114
Phone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
and

AETNA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a
Connecticut
corporation;
and
COX
ENTERPRISES, INC., WELFARE BENEFITS
PLAN, Defendants.
s/Heidi Guttau-Fox
Heidi A. Guttau-Fox, #21570
Attorney for Defendants
Baird Holm LLP
1700 Farnam St, Ste. 1500
Omaha, NE 68102
Phone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Raymond R. Aranza, #18523
Marks Clare & Richards, LLC
11605 Miracle Hills Drive
Suite 300
Omaha, NE 68154-8005
Phone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
DOCS/1533946.1

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