Underdue v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Filing
55
PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr on 4/6/2020. (Pro se litigant served by US Mail.)(brl)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE DIVISION
3:16-cv-00653-RJC
FELICIA A. UNDERDUE,
Plaintiff,
v.
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.,
Defendant.
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PROTECTIVE ORDER
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Defendant’s Motion for Protective
Order. (Doc. No. 52.) For good cause shown, the motion is GRANTED and the Court
hereby ORDERS as follows:
1.
“Confidential Information” as used herein means: personnel information
of Plaintiff and other current or former employees of Defendant; Plaintiff’s personal
information, including medical, financial and tax records; and all proprietary,
business,
financial
or
other
commercially
sensitive
information,
whether
documentary or otherwise, designated as “confidential” and delivered, produced or
disclosed by any party in this action, or by a third party, voluntarily or in response to
an interrogatory, a request for production of documents, a deposition question,
subpoena or otherwise. The designation of documents or information as “Confidential
Information” shall not be conclusive for purposes of any substantive issues in this
case.
2.
All documents produced or information provided or disclosed by any
party in discovery in this action or by a third party as identified in paragraph 1 shall
be treated as confidential and the use or disclosure of such documents or information
shall be governed by the terms of this Order, provided that the party or third party
producing or otherwise disclosing such documents or information designates such
documents or information as “confidential” at the time of production or disclosure or
as otherwise provided herein.
3.
Confidential Information, including copies or summaries thereof, shall
be used only for the prosecution or defense of this action (including, but not limited
to, any mediation, arbitration, or other settlement process, as well as appeals of this
action) and shall not be used or employed for any other purpose whatsoever.
Confidential Information shall not be disclosed or made available to anyone except:
a.
the Court;
b.
the parties to this action and officers, directors or employees of
the parties who are actively participating in the prosecution or
defense of this action;
c.
counsel for the parties to this action and employees or
independent contractors of said counsel;
d.
experts or consultants specifically 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;
e.
third-party witnesses or potential witnesses whom counsel
reasonably deem necessary for the preparation and trial of this
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action;
f.
court reporters engaged to record depositions, hearings or trials
in this action; and
g.
mediators assigned to this case or selected by agreement of the
parties.
4.
Disclosure of Confidential Information pursuant to this Order shall be
handled as follows:
a.
Any person described in subparagraphs 3(a), (b), (c), (f), and (g) of
this Order is bound by the provisions of this Order without the
necessity of executing a confidentiality agreement;
b.
Before Confidential Information is disclosed to any person set
forth in subparagraphs 3(d) and (e) of this Order, the party
disclosing the information shall inform the person to whom the
disclosure is to be made that Confidential Information shall be
used for the purposes of the prosecution or defense of this action
only, and shall obtain from the person to whom the disclosure is
to be made a signed confidentiality agreement in the form
attached hereto as Exhibit A; and
c.
As long as Confidential Information is handled in accordance with
this Order, this Order 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
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proceeding. Similarly, no party shall be deemed to have waived
any objections as to the admissibility of any Confidential
Information into evidence in connection with any proceeding in
this action.
5.
Any Confidential Information which is filed with the Court shall be filed
under seal pursuant to Local Rule of Civil Procedure 6.1.
In the event any
Confidential Information is filed with the Court other than via the Court’s electronic
case filing system, such Confidential Information shall be filed in sealed envelopes or
other appropriate sealed containers on which shall be endorsed the title in this action,
an indication of the nature and contents thereof, the legend “Confidential” and a
statement substantially in the following form:
This envelope is sealed pursuant to an order of the Court and contains
confidential information and is not to be opened or the contents thereof
to be displayed or revealed by any person other than the Court or the
attorneys for the parties except by order of the Court or pursuant to
stipulation of the parties to this action.
6.
If a party or witness desires to designate any portion of a deposition as
Confidential Information, the designating party or witness shall have thirty (30) days
after receipt of the transcript to designate portions of the transcript or exhibits
thereto as Confidential Information and inform counsel of record in writing of such
designation.
7.
Nothing in this Order shall prevent the disclosure of Confidential
Information beyond the terms of this Order if the party or third party that produced
the information consents in advance in writing.
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8.
This Order shall not limit or in any way restrict the right of any person
or entity to use, disseminate, dispose of, or otherwise benefit from documents or
information obtained (i) other than through discovery in this action, or (ii) from any
person or entity with authority to provide such documents or information
independent of any confidentiality requirement imposed by this Order.
9.
If any party hereto disagrees with the designation of any documents or
information as confidential, the parties shall attempt to resolve the disagreement on
an informal basis. If it is necessary to present the dispute to the Court for resolution,
the material in question shall continue to be treated as confidential under the terms
of this Order unless and until the Court issues a final ruling that the material is not
of a confidential nature. In the event of any such dispute, the party who designated
the documents or information as confidential shall have the burden of proving the
confidential nature of such documents or information.
10.
This Order is without prejudice to the right of any party or witness to
seek modification or amendment of the Order by motion to the Court, or to seek and
obtain additional protection with respect to Confidential Information as such party
may consider appropriate.
11.
This Order shall remain in effect for the period of this litigation and
subsequent to its termination so as to protect the confidentiality of the Confidential
Information.
12.
Ultimate disposition of materials and information protected by this
Order is subject to a final order of the Court upon completion of litigation. However,
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in the absence of a final order of the Court addressing the disposition of Confidential
Information, the parties agree that each party shall, not later than thirty (30) days
after the termination of this litigation, collect from any experts, consultants or third
party witnesses to whom any documents containing Confidential Information were
disclosed pursuant to the terms of this Order, any and all documents containing
Confidential Information, including without limitation any copies or excerpts of such
documents. Counsel of record for each party shall be permitted to retain in their files
a copy of all documents containing information subject to this Order obtained during
the course of this litigation; provided, however, the prohibitions against the use or
disclosure of Confidential Information as set forth above shall continue to apply to
said counsel.
SO ORDERED.
Signed: April 6, 2020
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EXHIBIT A
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
I have read and am familiar with the terms of the Protective Order governing
the disclosure of confidential information in the case of Felicia Ann Underdue v. Wells
Fargo Bank, N.A., and I agree to abide by all the terms of said Order and not to reveal
or otherwise communicate any of the information disclosed to me pursuant thereto to
anyone except in accordance with the terms of said Order. I agree not to make use of
any information or material obtained pursuant to that Order other than for purposes
of this litigation.
I also agree to return to counsel of record not later than thirty (30) days after
the termination of this litigation any and all documents in my possession containing
information which is the subject of said Order (whether such information is in the
form of notes, memoranda, reports or other written communications or documents
prepared by any person at any time containing information covered by the terms of
said Order).
Name: ____________________________________
Date: _____________________________________
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