Goode v. GCA Services Group of North Carolina, Inc.

Filing 10

CONSENT PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Magistrate Judge Dennis Howell on 12/5/2017. (thh)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:17-cv-00124
LESLIE ANN GOODE,
Plaintiff,
v.
GCA SERVICES GROUP OF
NORTH CAROLINA, INC.
Defendant.

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CONSENT PROTECTIVE ORDER

Purpose and Scope
The purpose of this Consent Protective Order is to govern the parties’ handling and
disclosure of personal and proprietary information during discovery and mediation. This Order
does not govern testimony at any trial or hearing; nor does this Order govern any tangible thing
that may be offered into evidence at any trial or hearing. Nothing in this Order should be read as
authority to restrict public access to judicial records, court testimony, matters in evidence, or to
any information relied upon by a court in making its decisions. Nothing in this Order should be
read as authority to file any document under seal without prior authorization from this Court or the
Circuit Court.
Need for a Protective Order
In the course of discovery, the parties will request and exchange information and
documents that are or may be of a personal and/or of a proprietary nature, including but not limited
to personnel records, tax returns and financial information, medical records and materials related
to employee benefits, as well as confidential personal or financial information regarding third
parties. The parties seek to limit the use of the information and documents during discovery and
mediation in order to protect themselves from annoyance and potential embarrassment.

Accordingly, they have agreed to the entry of this Consent Protective Order (“Order”) in order to
facilitate the production of the information requested and any information that has been or will be
produced during discovery and mediation in this case.
Definition of Confidential Information
1.

"Confidential information" as used herein means any type or classification of

information which is designated as "confidential" in the manner specified below, in the good faith
belief that such information falls within the scope of Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure and is subject to this Order. For purposes of this Order, "confidential information"
means proprietary, business, commercial, financial and/or personal information, including but not
limited to employee personnel files, pay information, medical records, drug testing documents,
workers’ compensation files, corporate policies and procedures, trade secrets and other
competitively sensitive materials, financial records, actuarial records and reports and information
about disabilities, tax returns, retirement benefits, customer information, and other personal or
financial information relating to third parties. "Confidential information" may include documents,
information contained in documents, depositions, interrogatory answers, and all other discovery
pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and other information furnished by or on behalf
of any party in connection with this litigation that falls within the scope of this Order.
Designation of Information as Confidential
2.

The party producing any documents or information subject to this Order shall have

the right to use its discretion in designating materials to be confidential information as defined
herein. However, the party shall be obligated to designate only documents or information that it
believes in good faith to be information within the scope of Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of

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Civil Procedure. Moreover, the party shall be obligated to make specific designations to the extent
reasonably possible and to avoid overbroad designations.
3.

Any party producing documents may designate such documents and copies thereof

as confidential by marking any confidential page as follows: CONFIDENTIAL. In lieu of placing
said legend on the originals of documents, the producing party may legend the copies that are
produced. When producing a multi-page document, all of which it contends is confidential, a party
may designate the entire document as confidential by marking the cover page as follows:
CONFIDENTIAL.
4.

Information disclosed at the deposition of any party or at the deposition of one of

the Defendant’s present or former officers, directors, employees or agents, or of independent
experts retained by any party for purposes of this litigation may be designated by such party as
confidential by indicating on the record at the deposition that the testimony is confidential and
subject to the provisions of this Order. Alternatively, such party may designate information
disclosed at such deposition as confidential by notifying all parties in writing, within ten (10) days
of receipt of the transcript, of the specific pages and lines of the transcript which are confidential.
Each party shall attach a copy of such written statement to the face of the transcript and each copy
thereof in its possession, custody or control. All depositions shall be treated as confidential for a
period of at least ten (10) days after a full and complete transcript of said deposition is available.
Use of Confidential Information
5.

Confidential information shall be used only for the purpose of these proceedings

and shall not be disclosed to any person except the following:

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(a)

Counsel for any party, the legal associates, and clerical or other support staff

of such counsel assisting in the preparation of this action, and any party, to the extent necessary to
prepare this case for this litigation;
(b)

Agents, representatives and employees of any party, as is necessary to

prepare this case for litigation;
(c)

Subject to the provisions of Paragraph 6 below, independent experts (who

shall not be a party or an employee of a party) employed by counsel for the purpose of assisting in
this action;
(d)

A witness who is either the producing party or an employee of the producing

party or a former or current employee of the producing party, as is necessary to prepare this case
for litigation, and, the court reporter and courtroom personnel at any deposition, pretrial hearing,
trial or other proceedings held in connection with this action;
(e)

Subject to the provisions of Paragraphs 7 and 8 below, any court, including

this Court, or appellate body (including their respective personnel) which has cause to consider
any of the issues raised in this action;
(f)

Jurors and prospective jurors;

(g)

Or any other person or entity to whom this Court orders or allows disclosure

after notice and opportunity for hearing.
Non-Disclosure of Confidential Information
6.

No person to whom confidential information is disclosed shall disclose such

confidential information to any person to whom disclosure is not authorized by the terms of this
Order, or make any other disclosure of such confidential information for any purpose whatsoever,
commercial or otherwise. In addition to the other restrictions on disclosure contained herein, the

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parties agree that no confidential information may be disclosed to any person (including any
consultant, expert or employee of any party) until such person has read and signed Exhibit A to
this Order, thereby indicating his or her willingness to be bound by its provisions. The disclosing
party shall have the obligation to maintain records identifying all such persons to whom
information has been disclosed.
Sealed Filings
7.

Documents, things and/or information, including portions of any transcript, shall

not be filed under seal without a specific court order to do so. Any party seeking such an order
shall comply with the Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedure Manual.
8.

Pursuant to Stone v. University of Maryland Medical System Corp., 855 F.2d 178,

180-181 (4th Cir. 1988), each time a party seeks permission to make a sealed filing, it shall
accompany the motion to seal with a supporting memorandum of law specifying (a) the exact
documents, things, and/or information, or portions thereof, for which filing under seal is requested;
(b) where it is necessary for the court to determine the source of the public’s right to access before
a request to seal may be evaluated, whether any such request to seal seeks to overcome the common
law or the First Amendment presumption to access; (c) the specific qualities of the material at issue
which justify sealing such material, taking into account the balance of competing interests in
access; (d) the reasons why alternatives to sealing are inadequate; and, (e) whether there is consent
to the motion. Finally, in addition to the motion and supporting memorandum, said party must set
out such findings in a proposed order to seal.
General Provisions
9.

In the event that a party disputes the propriety of the designation of any material or

information as confidential, that party may file a motion with the Court requesting a ruling

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regarding whether the material or information should be treated as confidential for purposes of this
Order. Before filing such a motion, however, the parties must meet and confer in a good faith
attempt to resolve the dispute concerning the designation(s) of confidential information or material
at issue. No party shall be obligated to challenge the propriety of any designation of information
as confidential and a failure to do so shall not preclude a subsequent attack on the propriety of such
designation.
10.

The entry of this Consent Protective Order does not alter, waive, modify, or abridge

any right, privilege, or protection otherwise available to any party or third party with respect to
discovery matters, including, but not limited to, any party’s or third party’s right to assert the
attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or other privileges with respect to discovery
materials or any party’s or third party’s right to contest such assertion. Any inadvertent disclosure
of discovery materials protected by the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine will
not be deemed a waiver of such privilege. Upon request from the producing party, a non-producing
party shall return all copies of any inadvertently disclosed privileged materials. The return of any
inadvertently disclosed privileged materials shall not prejudice the rights of any party or third party
to contest an assertion of the attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or other privileges
with the Court.
11.

At the conclusion of this litigation, the parties will contact the Court to obtain any

confidential information in the Court’s files so the parties may make appropriate disposition of all
confidential information furnished pursuant to the terms of this Order. At the conclusion of the
litigation, the parties agree to return any confidential information to the party providing the
confidential information or destroy any confidential information produced by the other party,
except transcriptions of depositions taken in the course of this proceeding. Counsel for the parties

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may retain one copy of documents in their file in order to comply with the requirements of the
North Carolina State Bar record retention rules.
12.

The ultimate disposition of protected materials shall be subject to final order of the

13.

This Order shall not abrogate or diminish any contractual, statutory or other legal

Court.

obligation or right of any party or person with respect to the confidential information. Specifically,
this Order shall not require any party to notify or to obtain permission from other parties before
introducing materials designated confidential at trial or examining witnesses about materials
designated confidential during depositions or at trial, beyond the notice required by the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure, local court rules or order of Court.
14.

Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Order shall be deemed to preclude any

party from seeking and obtaining, on an appropriate showing, such additional protection with
respect to confidential information as that party may consider appropriate, including but not
limited to moving that certain materials be filed under seal; nor shall any party be precluded from
claiming that any matter designated hereunder is not entitled to protection, or is entitled to a more
limited form of protection than designated.

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APPROVED and ORDERED
Signed: December 5, 2017

Consented to this, the 1st day of December, 2017.

For the Plaintiff:

For the Defendant:

/s/ Geraldine Sumter
N.C. State Bar No. 11107
[e-mail]
Ferguson Chambers & Sumter, P.A.
309 East Morehead Street, Suite 110
Charlotte, NC 28202
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]

/s/ Jerry H. Walters, Jr.
Jerry H. Walters, Jr.
Steven Andrew Nigh
LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C.
Bank of America Corporate Center
100 North Tryon Street
Suite 4150
Charlotte, North Carolina 28202
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile:
704.333.4005
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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EXHIBIT A
I have been informed by counsel that certain documents or information to be disclosed to
me in connection with the matter entitled Leslie Ann Goode v. GCA Services Group of North
Carolina, Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-00124 (Western District of North Carolina), have been
designated as confidential. I have been informed that any such document or information labeled
as “Confidential” are confidential by order of the Court.
Under penalty of contempt of Court, I hereby agree that I will not disclose any
information contained in such documents to any other person, and I further agree not to use any
such information for any purpose other than this litigation.

DATED: ____________________________

____________________________________
Signature
Signed in the presence of:

____________________________________
(Attorney)

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