Tower et al v. Amazon.com Inc et al
Filing
76
PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Magistrate Judge Terence P. Kemp on 3/27/2017. (agm)(This document has been sent by regular mail to the party(ies) listed in the NEF that did not receive electronic notification.)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
EASTERN DIVISION
TABATHA TOWER,
Plaintiff,
vs.
AMAZON.COM, INC.,
Defendant.
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Case No. 2:15-cv-02405
Judge Marbley
Magistrate Judge Kemp
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
XXXXXX
This lawsuit is currently in discovery, and it appears that such discovery may involve the
disclosure of personal, confidential, trade secret, proprietary, technical, business and/or financial
information (hereinafter referred to collectively as “confidential information” or “confidential
material”). Accordingly, it appearing that all of the parties consent to entry of this Agreed
Protective Order, and for good cause, it is further ORDERED AS FOLLOWS:
1.
All confidential information in this case shall be used solely for the purpose of
this lawsuit and for no other purpose. In no event shall any person receiving confidential
information use it for commercial or competitive purposes, make any public disclosure of the
contents thereof, or use it in any other lawsuit, other than in conjunction with prosecuting or
defending this lawsuit.
2.
If any answer given or document produced in response to any discovery in this
case contains any confidential information, the responding party may mark such information or
document as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Any information or document so marked shall not be
disclosed to any person except as may be permitted by this Order. The designation of any
information as “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be made in good faith.
3.
This Agreed Protective Order shall not abrogate or diminish any contractual,
statutory or other legal obligation or right of any party or person with respect to confidential
information.
4.
The aforesaid designation as to documents shall be made by placing a rubber
stamp impression, label or other mark of the word “CONFIDENTIAL” on each page of the
document which the designating party wishes to designate as confidential. All documents so
designated shall be labeled prior to the transmission of a physical copy thereof to the receiving
party.
5.
The
parties
may
designate
portions
of
deposition
testimony
as
“CONFIDENTIAL” by so designating such testimony before, during or after the deposition. If
testimony is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL,” the designating party will clearly state on the
record the reason for such designation. Simply denominating testimony as confidential is
insufficient for purposes of this Order. The designation of testimony as confidential will not
render the entire deposition as confidential. Only the specific portion of the testimony will
receive a preliminary confidential designation. If testimony is designated as confidential
following the deposition, said designation must be made no later than 15 days after receipt of
said deposition transcripts. Any court reporter who transcribes testimony in this action at a
deposition shall agree, before transcribing any such testimony, that testimony is
“CONFIDENTIAL” and shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed except as provided
in this Order; the copies of any transcript, reporter's notes, or other transcription records of any
such testimony shall be retained in absolute confidentiality and safekeeping by such reporter or
delivered to attorneys of record.
6.
Subject to the provisions below, information and documents designated as
“CONFIDENTIAL” shall be disclosed only to the Court, the parties, their attorneys, witnesses or
potential witnesses and persons assisting counsel. As used herein, the term “parties” includes the
parties’ officers, directors and employees in a management capacity. As used herein, the phrase
“persons assisting counsel” shall mean clerks, paralegals and secretaries in the regular employ of
the parties’ counsel, as well as any expert whose technical advice is being or will be used in
connection with this lawsuit, either in preparation for trial or in the trial itself.
7.
If any party or attorney for any party in this lawsuit desires to give, show, make
available or communicate any information or document designated “CONFIDENTIAL” to any
person, other than the Court, or a party, such as to a person assisting counsel or to any witness,
potential witness and/or expert witness, the attorney or party shall first obtain the permission of
the opposing party and then give a copy of this Agreed Protective Order to such person, who
shall read this Agreed Protective Order, be fully familiar with its provisions, and execute a
written affirmation agreeing to its terms. If the opposing party refuses to grant permission or the
third party refuses to execute a written affirmation, the confidential information shall not be
disclosed to the third party.
8.
Inadvertent production of any document or material without a designation of
“CONFIDENTIAL” will not be deemed to waive a party’s claim as to its confidential nature or
estop the party from so designating the particular document or material as confidential at a later
date. Disclosure of such document or material by any party prior to such designation, however,
shall not be deemed in violation of the provisions of this Order. “CONFIDENTIAL” documents
produced by any party or nonparty through discovery in this suit prior to the entry of this Order
by the Court shall be subject to the provisions of this Order to the same extent as if this Order
had already been entered by the Court, unless the Court directs otherwise.
9.
The Agreed Protective Order shall not, in itself, be construed to waive any
applicable privilege, work-product protection, or other protection or to affect the ability of a
party to seek relief for an inadvertent disclosure of material protected by privilege, work-product
protection, or other protection.
10.
With respect to any information or document, or portion thereof, that has been
designated “CONFIDENTIAL,” any party may at any time serve a written notice of objection to
such designation. Counsel and pro se Plaintiff shall attempt to resolve the dispute informally. If
no agreement can be reached, counsel or pro se Plaintiff may move the Court for an order
granting confidential treatment to the documents or information in question. If such a motion is
filed, the documents and/or information shall be kept confidential pending a ruling on the
motion. The party asserting confidentiality has the burden to prove that the documents and/or
information deserve such treatment.
11.
Before filing any information that has been designated “CONFIDENTIAL” with
the Court, or any pleadings, motions, or other papers that disclose any such information, the
party shall confer with the party that produced the information so designated about how the
information should be filed. If the party that produced the information so designated desires that
the materials be filed under seal, then the filing party shall present a motion to file the
document(s) under seal and/or consent order regarding said document(s) to the Court. Parties
wishing any document filed as part of the record to be filed under seal must first present a motion
and/or consent order regarding said document to the Court.
12.
After the termination of this action, the restrictions on communications and
disclosures provided for herein shall continue to be binding upon the parties and upon all of the
persons to whom documents, answers to interrogatories, deposition transcripts or other items of
discovery designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or material contained herein have been
communicated or disclosed pursuant to the provisions of this Agreed Protective Order or any
other order of the Court. Further, all documents designated as “CONFIDENTIAL,” including all
copies which may have been disclosed to expert witnesses, shall be returned to the party
producing it or destroyed.
13.
This Agreed Protective Order is intended to provide a mechanism for the handling
of confidential documents and information. It is not intended by the parties to act as a waiver of
the right to object to any disclosure of information or production of any documents they deem
confidential on any grounds they may deem appropriate, including, without limitation,
confidentiality, relevance or privilege. Further, the provisions of this Agreed Protective Order
shall not affect the admissibility of evidence at trial or any preliminary evidentiary proceeding,
except as directed by separate order entered for good cause shown.
14.
Nothing in this Agreed Protective Order shall preclude any of the parties from
otherwise seeking a modification of this Agreed Protective Order.
___________________________
JUDGE
Agreed to by,
/s
Tabatha A. Tower pro se
2519 Northwold Rd.
Columbus, OH 43231
Phone (254) 245-5812
tabathatower@mail.com
/s
Alicia M. Stefanski (0082515)
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP
191 W. Nationwide Blvd.
Suite 300
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone 614-628-6880
Fax 614-628-6890
Alicia.stefanski@dinsmore.com
Trial Attorney for Defendant Amazon.com, Inc.
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