STIPULATION REGARDING DISCOVERY

JOSEPH C. SPERO, Magistrate Judge.

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Plaintiff Nick Perez ("Plaintiff'), by and through his counsel of record, and Defendant Banana Republic, LLC ("Defendant"), by and through its counsel of record, as follows:

WHEREAS on March 11, 2014, Plaintiff filed a collective action complaint against Defendant alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act;

WHEREAS on April 18, 2014, Plaintiff filed a first amended collective action complaint alleging unpaid minimum and overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act;

WHEREAS Plaintiff seeks to represent all current and former hourly-paid or non-exempt employees employed by Defendant at a "specialty" or "factory" (i.e., outlet) "Banana Republic" store in the United States at any time during the period from March 11, 2011 to final judgment and who choose to opt-in to this action;

WHEREAS Erick J. Guzman filed a class action complaint for damages against Defendant on July 12, 2012 in the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, case number BC488069 ("the Guzman action") alleging violations of the California Labor Code for unpaid overtime, unpaid meal period premiums, unpaid rest period premiums, unpaid minimum wages, final wages not timely paid, wages not timely paid during employment, non-compliant wage statements, failure to keep requisite payroll records, unreimbursed business expenses, and unfair competition in violation of the California Business and Professions Code;

WHEREAS on September 11, 2013, Defendant filed a motion to deny class certification in the Guzman action on the grounds Plaintiff Guzman cannot meet the elements necessary to certify a class action under California law.

WHEREAS on February 24, 2014, Erick J. Guzman filed a motion for class certification pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 382, and seeks certification of a class of all current and former hourly-paid or non-exempt individuals employed by Defendant within the State of California at Banana Republic specialty or factory outlet stores at any time during the period from July 12, 2008 to final judgment;

WHEREAS significant discovery has been conducted in the Guzman action, including but not limited to the depositions of Defendant's persons most knowledgeable, percipient witnesses, and putative class members; the production of thousands of documents, including but not limited to employee handbooks, job descriptions, attendance policies, scheduling policies, training materials, loss prevention policies, codes of business conduct, etc.

WHEREAS both the instant action and the Guzman action contain claims against Defendant for failure to pay minimum and overtime wages based on the same factual allegations;

WHEREAS the putative class members in the Guzman action who are or were 9 employed at Banana Republic stores in the State of California at any time during the period from March 11, 2011 to the present are also alleged to be putative members of the collective class in the Perez action;

WHEREAS counsel for Plaintiff, Lawyers for Justice, PC, is also counsel for the plaintiff in the Guzman action;

WHEREAS counsel for Defendant, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is also counsel for Defendant in the Guzman action;

WHEREAS in the interest of avoiding duplicative discovery and conserving resources in the Perez action, the parties wish to use relevant discovery in the Guzman action for the Perez action.

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED between Plaintiff and Defendant, through their respective attorneys of record as follows:

1. Documents, Testimony, Evidence and Information produced in the Guzman action that is relevant to the allegations in the Perez action may be used in the prosecution or defense of the Perez action. As used herein, "Documents" means (i) any "Writing," "Original," and "Duplicate" as those terms are defined by California Evidence Code sections 250, 255, and 260, and (ii) any copies, reproductions, or summaries of all or any part of the foregoing. As used herein, "Testimony" means all depositions, declarations, or other testimony taken or used in the Guzman action. As used herein, "Information" means the content of Documents or Testimony.

2. Documents, Testimony, and Information that have been designated as "confidential" by any party in the Guzman action may be used in the prosecution or defense of the Perez action, but shall retain their "confidential" designation and be subject to the Stipulated Protective Order in the Perez action.

3. The parties do not waive their rights to object to the competence, authenticity, relevance, materiality, propriety, admissibility and any and all other objections and grounds which would or could require or permit the exclusion of any Documents, Testimony or Information produced in the Guzman action.

4. Nothing contained in this stipulation will be construed as a waiver of Defendant's argument that prosecution of the Perez action and Guzman action simultaneously is improper.