Courtney v. Ikea U.S. East, LLC

Filing 26

CONSENT PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Magistrate Judge David Keesler on 10/27/17. (mga)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT C O URT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE DIVISION
CIVIL ACTION NO.: 3:16-CV-569-DCK

DAVIDA COURTNEY,
Plaintiff,

v.
IKEA U.S. EAST, LLC, IKEA U.S. EAST,
INC., IKEA PROPERTY INC., IKEA
PROPERTIES, INC., IKEA HOLDING U.S.
INC., IKEA U.S. WEST, INC.

CONSENT PROTECTIVE
ORDER

Defendants.
Defendants have requested certain medical and psychiatric documents via
discovery, which constitute confidential medical and protected health information protected
by the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the right of privacy,
the physician-patient privilege, patient-psychologist privilege, nurse-patient privilege, and
42 C.F.R. Part 2, and / or North Carolina common law.
Pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff and
Defendants hereby agree and stipulate, through their respective counsel, to the entry of
this Order for the protection of Plai ntiff s med ical and psychiatric records. The pa rties
wish to ensu re that the information contained therein shall not be disclosed to
u nauthorized persons, and shall not be used for any purpose other tha n this litigation.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, therefore, that this Protective Order shall apply to
all materials produced in response to Defendants' Request(s) for Production of Documents,
or otherwise, and all materials previously provided to Defendants' agents, insurers, or

representatives as they relate to medical, psychiatric, and protected health information.
The Court further ORDERS as follows:
1.

Plaintiff's medical and psychiatric records and medical and psychiatric bills

shall be deemed CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION without the need to mark such
documents.

Such CONFI DENTIAL INFORMATION and information contained therein

shall be disclosed ONLY for use in this action and for no other purpose.
2.

To the extent the medical or psychiatric records may contain information

protected by 42 C.F.R. Part 2, the court determines this Order meets the criteria of 42 C.F.R.
2.63 - 2.64.
3.

The CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall not be otherwise reviewed,

disclosed or released to anyone other than:
(a)

The Court and its officers;

(b)

Counsel of record and employees of counsel of record;

(c)

Experts or consultants retained by the parties or their attorneys to assist
them in the preparation of this case or to serve as expert witnesses at
the trial of this action;

(d)

Court reporters or videographers engaged to record depositions, hearings or
trials in this action;

(e)

Outside companies engaged by counsel for the parties to photocopy such
documents;

(f)

Insurance adjusters, claims managers or other persons employed by any
insurance company which provides coverage for the alleged acts or losses
raised by the parties;

(g)

Parties to this action and their employees.

4.

Disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION pursuant to this Order shall

be handled as follows:
(a)

Any person described in subparagraphs 6(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) of

this Order is bound by the provisions of this Order without the necessity of
executing a separate
confidentiality agreement;
(b)

Prior to making disclosures to any person set forth in subparagraph 6(c) and

(f) of this Order, the party disclosing the CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall
inform any persons to whom the disclosure is made that CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION shall be used for the purpose of the prosecution or defense of this
action only, and that said person shall be bound by the terms of this Order. A record
of all persons to whom disclosures are made shall be kept in the possession, custody
and control of counsel who made the disclosure.

All CONFIDENTIAL

INFORMATION and any documents containing information derived therefrom,
including copies of such documents, shall be returned to counsel by persons given
access to them as soon as practicable at the close of this case.
5.

The production or disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION pursuant

to the terms of this Order by the producing party shall not be construed as prohibiting or
restricting the use of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION during depositions, any hearing,
the trial of this matter, or any appellate proceeding. Similarly, no party shall be deemed to
have waived any objections as to the relevancy, admissibility, discoverability or any other
objection under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the Federal Rules of Evidence in

connection with any proceeding in this action.
6.

No CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall be used for any purpose other

than for relevant and proper conduct of this L itigation.
7.

If any such CONFI DENTIAL INFORMATION is used in connection with a

deposition or other discovery or documents filed with the court, the deposition transcript,
filing or paper shall be submitted to the court with a request that the document be placed
under seal and appropriately marked to indicate that the transcript, filing or paper is subject
to the terms of this Order, or redacted so as to eliminate sensitive personal information.
8.

The inadvertent, unintentional or in camera disclosure of confidential

documents and information shall not, under any circumstances, be deemed a waiver, in
whole or in part, of any party's claims of confidentiality.
9.

Within 60 days after the entry of final judgment or dismissal in this litigation

(including appeals or petitions for review), the party's counsel, their staff, and all experts
and/or consultants for the parties shall return all medical and psychiatric records containing
such CONFIDENTI AL INFORMATION produced (including all Xeroxed copies of same)
to the party producing said documents or shall destroy the same with a written certification
by the party's counsel of record that all such documents and copies of the same have in fact,
been returned or destroyed; provided, counsel shall be permitted to maintain such documents
for their case files, which shall continue to be subject to the terms of this Order.
10.

Each person who receives CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION submits

himself or herself to the personal jurisdiction of this Court, wherever he or she shall be, for
the enforcement of the provisions contained in this Order.

1 1.

Either party may at any time seek modification of this Protective Order by

agreement, or failing agreement, by motion to the court.

SO ORDERED.

Signed: October 27, 2017

CONSE NTED TO:
This the 17th day of October, 2017.

s/W. Michael Workma n
W. Michael Workman NC State Bar No. 23924
Attorney for Plai
ntiff Workma n Law
Firm, PLLC 521
East Blvd.
Charlotte North Ca roli na 28203
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: m ike@work ma n lawfi rm.com
s/Susan L. Hofer
Susan L. Hofer NC State Bar No. 29717
Attorney for Defendants
CRAN FI LL SUMN ER & HARTZOG, LLP
2907 Providence Road, Suite
200 Charlotte North
Carolina 28211 Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, W. Michael Workma n, do hereby certify that on October 17, 2017, I electronically
filed the foregoi ng Consent Protecti ve Order, using the CM M/ECF system which will send
notification of such fil ing to the followi ng: Susan L. Hofer and M ica N. Worthy, Cra nfill, Sum ner
& Ha rtzog, LLP,
2907 Providence Rd., Ste. 200, Cha rl otte, NC 28211, Attorneys for
Defendants IKEA U.S. East LLC, IKEA U.S. Property, Inc., IKEA Holding, U.S., Inc., and IKEA U.S.
West, Inc.
s/W. Michael Workma n
W. Michael Workman NC State Ba r No. 23924
Attorney for Plai
ntiff Workman Law
Firm, PLLC 521 East
Blvd.
Charlotte North Carolina 28203
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: mi ke@workma nlawfi rm.com