Trahan v. Omaha Public Schools

Filing 8

PROTECTIVE ORDER - This matter is before the Court on the parties' Joint Motion for Stipulated Protective Order. (Filing No. 7 .) The motion is granted. Ordered by Magistrate Judge Susan M. Bazis. (KLF)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

NIKISHA TRAHAN,
CASE NO. 8:17-cv-268

Plaintiff,
v.

PROTECTIVE ORDER

OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS, a political
subdivision of the City of Omaha,
Nebraska,
Defendant.

This matter is before the Court on the parties’ Joint Motion for Stipulated
Protective Order. (Filing No. 7.) The motion is granted.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED as follows:
A.

DEFINITIONS. Limitations under this Protective Order on the use or

disclosure of documents, deposition testimony or other discovery designated as
"Confidential" shall apply to (a) all information, copies, extracts and complete or partial
summaries prepared or derived from such documents or testimony; (b) portions of
deposition transcripts, answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions,
responses to requests for production, initial disclosures and exhibits thereto which directly
refer or directly relate to any such information, documents, copies, extracts or summaries;
and (c) portions of briefs, memoranda or any other writing filed with the Court and exhibits
thereto which directly relate to any such information, documents, copies, extracts or
summaries. Such Confidential Information shall include the following:
i.

Documents referring or related to confidential and proprietary human

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resources or business information; financial records of the parties;
compensation of Defendant’s current or former personnel; policies,
procedures and/or training materials of Defendant; and/or Defendant’s
organizational structure;
ii.

Documents from the personnel, medical, FMLA, or workers’ compensation
file of any current or former employee or contractor;

iii.

Documents relating to the Plaintiff's medical and/or health benefits
information or that of any of Defendant's other customers or employees;

iv.

Portions of depositions (audio or video) where Confidential Information is
disclosed or used as exhibits and designated as Confidential.

B.

CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS. Before produced documents are copied or

inspected, the producing party may stamp as "Confidential" any document or deposition
testimony it believes contains confidential or proprietary business information and/or trade
secrets in order to limit disclosure as set forth in this Paragraph B. Documents may also
be designated as "Confidential" by written notice to opposing counsel which identifies the
documents so designated by Bates number.

Documents designated "Confidential,"

deposition testimony so designated, and information derived therefrom will be retained by
producing counsel and will not be used for any purpose other than this litigation and will
not be disclosed except pursuant to Court order entered after notice, to anyone except:
i.

Counsel who have signed this Order approving it as to form and content,
attorneys who are employed or are members of the law firms of counsel who
have signed this Order, retained outside counsel, in-house counsel, law
clerks, secretaries, or paralegals directly involved in this litigation;

ii.

Experts and consultants retained by either of the parties for purposes of
assisting in the preparation or presentation of claims or defenses;

iii.

Any deposition or trial witness, during the course of deposition or trial

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testimony, when necessary to the testimony of such witness, or during
preparation for deposition or trial testimony;
iv.

Any person who was involved in the preparation of the document;

v.

Court, Court personnel, Court reporters, and similar personnel;

vi.

The named parties

to this

case,

excluding their

agents and/or

representatives except those identified at Paragraph B(i) above; provided
such parties review the confidential materials with their attorney or at their
attorney's office.

"Parties" shall mean those officers, directors, and

corporate counsel charged with decision-making authority on this lawsuit
and designated in advance of the disclosure.
vii.

Any other person with the prior written consent of the party producing the
document, pleading or deposition testimony.

Prior to receiving or being shown such documents or deposition testimony, persons
falling in the categories listed above in subparagraphs (ii), (iv), and (vii) shall be shown a
copy of, and shall agree in writing, or on the record during trial or deposition, to be bound
by the terms of this Protective Order.

During a deposition, any party asserting

confidentiality of any of its documents shall ask the deponent on the record to accept the
terms of this Order. If the deponent refuses to assent, disclosure of the documents during
deposition shall not constitute a waiver of confidentiality. Under such circumstances, the
witness shall sign the original deposition transcript in the presence of the court reporter
and no copy of the transcript or exhibits shall be given to the deponent.
Documents marked confidential shall be maintained at the offices of counsel.
Neither party shall not be permitted to keep or possess copies of any documents marked

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confidential, which were produced to them by the other party. Provided that, however,
each party may be shown confidential documents in the presence of their counsel or
documents may be provided to expert witnesses provided the expert witness is not a party
and does not provide the documents to a party.
C.

DOCUMENTS ALREADY PRODUCED. Within ten days of the entry of this

Order, a party may inform the party to whom documents have been produced that certain
documents already produced are subject to this Order as "Confidential".
D.

THIRD PARTY WITNESSES.

A copy of this Protective Order shall be

served with a subpoena or Notice of Deposition on each third-party deponent. A thirdparty witness may designate a document as "Confidential" pursuant to this Order by
stamping it with such notice prior to production or so identifying it on the record during the
deposition of that third party. Either party may also designate documents produced by a
third party as being "Confidential" pursuant to the terms of this Order within ten (10) days
of being made aware of the content of such documents. Any document produced by a
third party shall be treated as "Confidential" pursuant to the terms of this Order for such ten
(10) day period and thereafter if designated as "Confidential" by either party or by the third
party which produces it. The "Confidential" restrictions of this Order shall no longer apply
to any document produced by a third party which has not been designated as
"Confidential" by the third party or by a party within such ten (10) day period.
E.

CHALLENGE TO DESIGNATION.

Any party may challenge the

"Confidential" designation of any document, by moving the Court for an Order to challenge
the confidentiality designation. The parties shall attempt to resolve their disagreement
over a confidentiality designation before filing its motion with the Court. If the challenging

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party files such a motion, the documents originally designated as confidential shall
continue to be treated as "Confidential" pursuant to the terms of this Order until the Court
has made a ruling with respect to the motion. The moving party has the burden to prove
the document is confidential.
F.

RETURN OF DOCUMENTS.

Upon completion of the litigation all

documents and copies of the designated "Confidential" documents shall be destroyed or
returned to counsel for the producing party with signed statement reflecting the disposition.
This Order shall not terminate upon the conclusion of this action but shall continue until the
further order of the Court or until the party claiming confidentiality has waived the same in
writing.
G.

USE OF DOCUMENTS. Documents produced by any party, including, but

not limited to, "Confidential" documents and information from any Confidential documents
acquired in discovery in this litigation shall not be used for any purpose except in
connection with this litigation. Nothing in this Order shall limit any party or person in its
use of its own documents or from disclosing its own documents and information. This
Order or production of any documents shall not affect the admissibility of any such
document or be deemed a waiver of any objection to the admissibility of such documents.
H.

EXCEPTIONS. The restrictions embodied in this Order shall be binding on

the party to whom "Confidential" information is disclosed unless and until there is a
showing that:
i.

Such information was or has become public knowledge absent a
breach of this Protective Order; or

ii.

The party to whom such disclosure was made had already learned

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such information from a third party who himself has not breached any
confidential relationship which may have existed or exists between
such third party and the party making the disclosure.
I.

NON-EXCLUSIVITY. This Order does not affect the right of a party to seek

to compel disclosure or production of a document or to seek an order modifying or limiting
this Order in any aspect.

The obligations and prohibitions under this Order are not

exclusive. No disclosure under this Order shall constitute a waiver of any objection to
admissibility of the document or applicable privilege. All other ethical, legal, and equitable
obligations are unaffected by this agreement.
J.

WAIVER. Any waiver under this Order must be made in writing or, if at a

deposition or in Court, on the record.
K.

ENFORCEMENT.

Any party or person subject to the obligations and

prohibitions of this Order who is determined by the Court to have violated its terms is
subject to sanctions imposed by the Court pursuant to the Supreme Court's Discovery
Rules or other applicable law.
Dated this 13th day of November, 2017.
BY THE COURT:

s/ Susan M. Bazis
United States Magistrate Judge

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