Nguyen v. CenturyLink, Inc.

Filing 21

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER re parties' 20 Stipulation, by Judge Robert S. Lasnik. (SWT)

THE HONORABLE ROBERT S. LASNIK

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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8 THUYHONG NGUYEN, an individual

CASE NO. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

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STIPULATED
PROTECTIVE ORDER

Plaintiff,
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v.
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CENTURYLINK, INC., a Louisiana
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Defendant.

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1.

Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or

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private information for which special protection may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties
hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The
parties acknowledge that this agreement is consistent with LCR 26(c). It does not confer blanket
protection on all disclosures or responses to discovery, the protection it affords from public
disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to
confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles, and it does not presumptively entitle
parties to file confidential information under seal.

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PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

“CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL
“Confidential” material shall include the following documents and tangible things produced

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 1
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

(A) The various applicable versions of the CenturyLink Sales Compensation Agreement

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between the parties;

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(B) The applicable Business Unit (“BU”) Master Guide (“BU Master Guide”), and any

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documents, forms, and tables specifically attached to or incorporated into the BU Master

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Guide;

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(C) Compensation information regarding employees other than Plaintiff;

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(D) Documents containing the claims submitted through the CenturyLink issue tracking

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system (“ITS”) by employees other than Plaintiff;

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(E) Personnel information regarding employees other than Plaintiff.

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3.

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The protections conferred by this agreement cover not only confidential material (as
defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from confidential material; (2)
all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of confidential material; and (3) any testimony,
conversations, or presentations by parties or their counsel that might reveal confidential material.

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SCOPE

However, the protections conferred by this agreement do not cover information that is in
the public domain or becomes part of the public domain through trial or otherwise.
4.

ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL
4.1

Basic Principles. A receiving party may use confidential material that is disclosed

or produced by another party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for prosecuting,
defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Confidential material may be disclosed only to
the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this agreement. Confidential
material must be stored and maintained by a receiving party at a location and in a secure manner
that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this agreement.

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 2
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

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4.2

Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise

2 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the designating party, a receiving party may
3 disclose any confidential material only to:
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(a)

the receiving party’s counsel of record in this action, as well as employees

5 of counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation;
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(b)

the officers, directors, and employees (including in house counsel) of the

7 receiving party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, unless the parties
8 agree that a particular document or material produced is for Attorney’s Eyes Only and is so
9 designated;
(c)

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experts and consultants to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for

11 this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgement and Agreement to be Bound”
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(d)

the court, court personnel, and court reporters and their staff;

(e)

copy or imaging services retained by counsel to assist in the duplication of

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confidential material, provided that counsel for the party retaining the copy or imaging service
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instructs the service not to disclose any confidential material to third parties and to immediately
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return all originals and copies of any confidential material;
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(f)

during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is

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reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
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(Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the designating party or ordered by the court. Pages of
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transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal confidential material must
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be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
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under this agreement;
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(g)

the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

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custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 3
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

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4.3

Filing Confidential Material. Before filing confidential material or discussing or

2 referencing such material in court filings, the filing party shall confer with the designating party
3 to determine whether the designating party will remove the confidential designation, whether the
4 document can be redacted, or whether a motion to seal or stipulation and proposed order is
5 warranted. Local Civil Rule 5(g) sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the
6 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under
7 seal.
8 5.

DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

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5.1

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each party

10 or non-party that designates information or items for protection under this agreement must take
11 care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate
12 standards. The designating party must designate for protection only those parts of material,
13 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify, so that other portions of the
14 material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not
15 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this agreement.
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Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are

17 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to
18 unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose unnecessary
19 expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the designating party to sanctions.
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If it comes to a designating party’s attention that information or items that it designated

21 for protection do not qualify for protection, the designating party must promptly notify all other
22 parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.
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5.2

Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this

24 agreement (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or
25 ordered, disclosure or discovery material that qualifies for protection under this agreement must
26 be clearly so designated before or when the material is disclosed or produced.
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 4
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

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(a)

Information in documentary form: (e.g., paper or electronic documents

2 and deposition exhibits, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
3 proceedings), the designating party must affix the word “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that
4 contains confidential material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for
5 protection, the producing party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by
6 making appropriate markings in the margins).
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(b)

Testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial proceedings: the parties

8 and any participating non-parties must identify on the record, during the deposition or other
9 pretrial proceeding, all protected testimony, without prejudice to their right to so designate other
10 testimony after reviewing the transcript. Any party or non-party may, within fifteen days after
11 receiving the transcript of the deposition or other pretrial proceeding, designate portions of the
12 transcript, or exhibits thereto, as confidential.

If a party or non-party desires to protect

13 confidential information at trial, the issue should be addressed during the pre-trial conference.
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(c)

Other tangible items: the producing party must affix in a prominent place

15 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the word
16 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection,
17 the producing party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
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5.3

Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to

19 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the designating party’s
20 right to secure protection under this agreement for such material. Upon timely correction of a
21 designation, the receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is
22 treated in accordance with the provisions of this agreement.
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CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

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6.1

Timing of Challenges. Any party or non-party may challenge a designation of

25 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a designating party’s confidentiality
26 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 5
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

1 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a party does not waive its right to
2 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the
3 original designation is disclosed.
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6.2

Meet and Confer. The parties must make every attempt to resolve any dispute

5 regarding confidential designations without court involvement. Any motion regarding
6 confidential designations or for a protective order must include a certification, in the motion or in
7 a declaration or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith meet and confer
8 conference with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action. The
9 certification must list the date, manner, and participants to the conference. A good faith effort to
10 confer requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference.
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6.3

Judicial Intervention. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without court

12 intervention, the designating party may file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under
13 Local Civil Rule 7 (and in compliance with Local Civil Rule 5(g), if applicable). The burden of
14 persuasion in any such motion shall be on the designating party. Frivolous challenges, and those
15 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
16 other parties) may expose the challenging party to sanctions. All parties shall continue to
17 maintain the material in question as confidential until the court rules on the challenge.
18 7.

PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER

19 LITIGATION
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If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels

21 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that
22 party must:
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(a)

promptly notify the designating party in writing and include a copy of the

24 subpoena or court order;
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 6
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

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(b)

promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to

2 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is
3 subject to this agreement. Such notification shall include a copy of this agreement; and
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(c)

cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued

5 by the designating party whose confidential material may be affected.
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UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed confidential

8 material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this agreement, the receiving
9 party must immediately (a) notify in writing the designating party of the unauthorized
10 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the protected material,
11 (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of
12 this agreement, and (d) counsel shall provide such person with a copy of this Protective Order
13 and request that such person agree to abide by this Protective Order.
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INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED

15 MATERIAL
When a producing party gives notice to receiving parties that certain inadvertently

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17 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the
18 receiving parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This
19 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery
20 order or agreement that provides for production without prior privilege review. The parties
21 agree to the entry of a non-waiver order under Fed. R. Evid. 502(d) as set forth herein.
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NON TERMINATION

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The confidentiality obligations imposed by this agreement shall remain in effect until a

24 designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise.
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 7
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

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DATED this 12th day of April 2018.

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4 REED LONGYEAR MALNATI & AHRENS,

KIOVSKY DUWALDT, LLC

PLLC

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s/Elizabeth A. Hanley______________
Elizabeth A. Hanley, WSBA # 38233
Reed Longyear Malnati & Ahrens, PLLC
801 Second Ave., Ste. 1415
Seattle, WA 98104
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Attorney for Plaintiff

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s/Elizabeth I. Kiovsky______________
Elizabeth I. Kiovsky
Kiovsky Duwaldt, LLC
2820 Welton St.
Denver, CO 80205
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Attorney for Defendant
LAW OFFICES OF THOMAS J. OWENS

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s/Thomas J. Owens______________
Thomas J. Owens, WSBA #23868
Law Offices of Thomas J. Owens
1001 Fourth Avenue, Suite 4400
Seattle, WA 98154
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Attorney for Defendant

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PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), the production of any

19 documents in this proceeding shall not, for the purposes of this proceeding or any other
20 proceeding in any other court, constitute a waiver by the producing party of any privilege
21 applicable to those documents, including the attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product
22 protection, or any other privilege or protection recognized by law.
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Dated this 18th day of April, 2018.

A
Robert S. Lasnik

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United States District Court Judge

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 8
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL

EXHIBIT A

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

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I,

____________________________________

[print

or

type

full

name],

of

4 ____________________________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of
5 perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was
6 issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on
7 ____________ in the case of Thuyhong Nguyen v. CenturyLink, Inc., Case No. 2:17-cv-013418 RSL. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order
9 and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
10 punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
11 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity
12 except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
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I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the

14 Western District of Washington for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated
15 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
16 Date:
17 City and State where sworn and signed:
18 Printed name:
19 Signature:
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER- 9
Case No. 2:17-cv-01341-RSL