Cuellar v. Dolgencorp, LLC et al
Filing
34
ORDER by Magistrate Judge Damian L. Martinez granting 32 Motion for Protective Order (al)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
AMANDA CUELLAR,
Plaintiff,
v.
No. 1:24-cv-0764 MLG/DLM
DOLGENCORP, LLC,
doing business as Dollar General,
DANNY MADRIGAL,
individually,
Defendants.
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the parties’ joint motion for entry of a stipulated
protective order. (Doc. 32.) Having considered the motion and noting it is a joint motion, the
Court finds it should be GRANTED.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED:
A.
Good Cause Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)
1.
Discovery in this action will involve the disclosure of confidential, proprietary,
commercial information, or private information for which special protection from public
disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting or defending against this
litigation is warranted.
2.
The material that may be produced in this action includes but is not limited to: (a)
personnel records of current or former employees of Dolgencorp, LLC dba Dollar General.
(“Dolgencorp”); (b) Dolgencorp’s trade secrets or other confidential and proprietary sales,
financial, or commercial information, including business records, standard operating procedures,
internally created reports and communications that contain confidential and proprietary business
information; (c) personal and confidential information of Defendant Madrigal; (d) personal and
confidential information of Plaintiff Amanda Cuellar; and (e) other information implicating a
common law or statutory privacy interest such as personal identifying information, including
social security information, medical records, tax returns, or any other information that is
otherwise entitled to protection under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c).
B.
Scope of the Protective Order
3.
This Protective Order shall apply to the following categories of confidential and
proprietary information:
(a) Personnel records of current or former employees of Dolgencorp;
(b) Dolgencorp’s trade secrets or other confidential and proprietary sales, financial, or
commercial information, including business records, standard operating procedures,
internally created reports and communications that contain confidential and proprietary
business information;
(c) Personal and confidential identifying, social security, medical, tax, and other sensitive
information belonging to Defendant Madrigal;
(d) Personal and confidential identifying, social security, medical, tax, and other sensitive
information belonging to Plaintiff Amanda Cuellar;
(e) Any other information that is otherwise entitled to protection under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c).
4.
This Protective Order shall only apply to documents, materials, and information,
including without limitation, documents produced, answers to interrogatories, responses to
requests for admission, deposition testimony, and other information disclosed pursuant to the
disclosure or discovery duties created by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and designated as
“CONFIDENTIAL” pursuant to the terms of this Protective Order. If a party wishes to designate
the document as CONFIDENTIAL because it contains confidential information, the party must
follow the provisions below.
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5.
This Protective Order shall not apply to information or documents that are
available to the public or that have not previously been kept in a confidential manner.
6.
As used in this Protective Order, the term “document” shall include, without
limitation, any electronic or hard copy emails, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs,
phone records, and other data compilations from which information can be obtained. See Rule 1034(A), NMRA. A draft or non-identical copy is a separate document within the meaning of this
term.
7.
Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be information that is entitled
to protection under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) including but not limited to: (a) personnel records of
current or former employees of Dolgencorp, LLC dba Dollar General. (“Dolgencorp”); (b)
Dolgencorp’s trade secrets or other confidential and proprietary sales, financial, or commercial
information, including business records, standard operating procedures, internally created
reports, and communications that contain confidential and proprietary business information; (c)
personal and confidential information of Defendant Madrigal; (d) personal and confidential
information of Plaintiff; and (e) other information implicating a common law or statutory privacy
interest such as personally identifiable information (PII), including social security information,
medical records, tax returns, or any other information that is otherwise entitled to protection
under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). CONFIDENTIAL information shall not be disclosed or used for any
purpose except in the preparation of and trial (including any appeal) of this case.
8.
CONFIDENTIAL documents, materials, and/or information shall not, without the
consent of the party producing it and the consent of the party claiming confidentiality (if that
party is different from the producing party) or further Order of the Court, be disclosed or made
available in any way to any person other than:
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(a) attorneys actively working on this case;
(b) persons regularly employed or associated with the attorneys actively working on the case,
such as paralegals or assistants, whose assistance is required by said attorneys in the
preparation for trial, at trial, or at other proceedings in this case;
(c) the Parties, including representatives for Dolgencorp;
(d) expert witnesses and consultants retained in connection with this proceeding, to the
extent such disclosure is necessary for depositions, preparation, trial or other proceedings
in this case;
(e) the Court and its employees (“Court Personnel”);
(f) stenographic reporters who are engaged in proceedings necessarily incident to the
conduct of this action;
(g) deponents, witnesses, or potential witnesses in the course of deposition or trial testimony
where counsel has a reasonable and good faith belief that examination with respect to the
document is necessary in legitimate discovery or trial purposes in this case, and any
person who is being prepared to testify where counsel has a reasonable and good faith
belief that such person will be a witness in this action and that his/her examination with
respect to the document is necessary in connection with such testimony; and
(h) other persons by written agreement of all the Parties.
9.
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 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 of the designation is promptly
given to all counsel of record within thirty (30) calendar days after notice by the court reporter of
the completion of the transcript.
C.
Provisions for Filing Documents Containing Confidential Information Under Seal
10.
The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not entitle them to seal confidential
information filed with the Court.
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11.
In the event a party seeks to file any CONFIDENTIAL document containing
confidential information subject to protection under this Protective Order with the Court, that
party must take appropriate action to ensure that the document receives proper protection from
public disclosure by utilizing the CM/ECF Filing Procedures to set appropriate access
restriction1, including:
(a)
filing a redacted document with the consent of the party who designated
the document as confidential;
(b)
where appropriate (e.g., in relation to discovery and evidentiary motions),
submitting the document solely for in camera review; or,
(c)
when the preceding measures are inadequate, seeking leave to file the
document or portions thereof under seal by filing a written motion for leave to
file under seal.
12.
The submitting party may file a document designated as CONFIDENTIAL under
this Protective Order as a separate sealed exhibit before a sealing order is obtained.
Contemporaneously with that filing, however, the party must file a motion for leave to file the
document under seal, identifying the party that has designated the material as confidential (“the
designating party”). If the party filing the document containing confidential information is the
designating party, the motion for leave to file under seal should include a declaration identifying
the confidential information contained in the document and explaining why the document is
sealable. If the party filing the document is not the designating party, the designating party must
file a declaration identifying the confidential information contained in the document and stating
whether the designated material is sealable, and if so, why, within 14 days of the filing of the
motion to file under seal. If the designating party does not file a responsive declaration within the
14-day time period, the submitting party may file the document in the public record no earlier
than four days, and no later than ten days, after the motion is denied.
1
https://www.nmd.uscourts.gov/sites/nmd/files/Admin%20Procedures%20Manual%20%20Revised%2006-10-24.pdf
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D.
Introduction of Documents Containing Confidential Information into Evidence
13.
The terms of this Protective Order do not preclude, limit, restrict, or otherwise
apply to the use of documents at court proceedings.
14.
Subject to the Federal Rules of Evidence, a confidential document may be offered
into evidence at trial or any court hearing, provided that the proponent of the evidence gives
advance notice to opposing counsel of the intended use of the confidential document as may be
required by a scheduling or other order.
15.
Any party may move the Court for an order that the confidential document be
received in camera or under other conditions to prevent unnecessary disclosure. The Court will
then determine whether the proffered evidence should continue to be treated as a confidential
document and, if so, what protection(s) may be afforded to such information at the trial or
hearing.
E.
Application to Non-Parties
16.
This Protective Order is not binding on non-parties. If a non-party to this litigation
through deposition, testimony at trial, or any other means comes in contact or possession of such
CONFIDENTIAL documents they will be asked to sign the attached non-party agreement
(Exhibit A) to be bound by the terms of the Protective Order.
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F.
Jurisdiction
17.
The Parties agree to be bound by the terms of the Protective Order upon final
disposition of this case. Further, the Parties agree that if necessary, a party may seek leave to
reopen this case to enforce the provisions of this Order.
_______________________________________
DAMIAN L. MARTINEZ
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
AMANDA CUELLAR,
Plaintiff,
v.
No. 1:24-cv-0764 MLG/DLM
DOLGENCORP, LLC,
doing business as Dollar General,
DANNY MADRIGAL,
individually,
Defendants.
EXHIBIT A TO PROTECTIVE ORDER – NON-PARTY AGREEMENT
______________________________________________________________________________
I, _________________________________________ the undersigned, hereby declare
that:
I reside at _______________________________________ in the City of _________,
County of ___________________, State of ___________________. My telephone number is
________________.
I acknowledge that I have been informed that a Protective Order issued by the Court in
the above captioned civil action requires confidentiality with respect to information designated as
“CONFIDENTIAL” and therefore I agree to keep all such information and materials strictly and
absolutely confidential, and in all other respects be bound by the provisions of the Protective
Order.
As soon as practical, but no later than 30 days after final termination of this action, I shall
return to the attorney from whom I have received them, any documents in my possession
designated “CONFIDENTIAL,” and all copies, excerpts, summaries, notes, digests, abstracts,
and indices relating to such documents.
Executed on _________________
(Date)
______________________________
(Signature)
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