MATTHEW F. LEITMAN, District Judge.
WHEREAS, parties and non-parties to this action ("Litigation"), have been or may be requested in the course of discovery or other proceedings to produce or disclose testimony, documents, or other information ("Discovery Material") that they consider private, confidential, or proprietary; and
WHEREAS, Plaintiff Marlene Jacobson and Defendant Macomb County Community College have agreed, through their undersigned attorneys, to set forth procedures for, and rules governing, the use of such Discovery Material;
1.
2. Documents are to be designated as "Confidential" by stamping each page of the document with the corresponding legend. Deposition testimony may be designated "Confidential" by so indicating orally on the record during the deposition.
3. Any person in possession of Confidential Material shall maintain it in a reasonable and appropriate manner so as to avoid disclosure of its contents in any manner not permitted by this Order.
4. Confidential Material shall not be disclosed, except as provided in paragraph 5, except upon prior written consent of the designating party.
5. Discovery Material that is designated "Confidential" may be disclosed only to the extent reasonably necessary for the conduct of the Litigation and only to the following:
All persons to whom Confidential Material is disclosed in accordance with the terms of this Order shall be advised by counsel of the terms of this Order and informed that they are subject to the requirements of this Order prior to disclosure.
6. In the event that counsel for any signatory to this Order at any time believes that Confidential Material should cease to be so designated, such counsel shall so notify counsel for the designating party. Counsel for the challenging and designating parties shall confer in good faith. If agreement is not reached, the non-designating party shall have the burden of moving and may move upon proper notice within thirty (30) days to obtain an appropriate order of the Court regarding the challenged designation. In the event that such a motion is made, it shall be the burden of the designating party to demonstrate that the Discovery Material warrants the designation as Confidential. In the event that such a motion is made, any disputed Discovery Material shall remain subject to and protected by this Order until such motion is resolved.
7. This Order does not authorize the filing of any documents under seal. Documents may be sealed only if authorized by statute, rule, or order of the Court. A party seeking to file under seal any paper or other matter in any civil case pursuant to this section shall file and serve a motion or stipulation that sets forth (i) the authority for sealing; (ii) an identification and description of each item proposed for sealing; (iii) the reason that sealing each item is necessary; (iv) the reason that a means other than sealing is not available or unsatisfactory to preserve the interest advanced by the movant in support of the seal; and, if a party files a motion only, (v) a memorandum of legal authority supporting the seal. See Local Rule 5.3. No party shall file or otherwise tender to the Clerk any item proposed for sealing unless the Court has entered an order allowing filing under seal.
8. Compliance with the terms of the Order shall not be deemed an admission that any Discovery Material is not otherwise protected from disclosure or admissible in evidence and shall not constitute a waiver of the right of any person to object to the production of any Discovery Material for any reason.
9. This Order shall have no effect upon a designating party's use of its own Confidential Material.
10. The inadvertent failure to designate Discovery Material as Confidential shall be corrected by supplemental written notice to the receiving party as soon as practicable to prevent further use or disclosure of Confidential Material contained therein by such persons.
11. Nothing in this Order shall be deemed in any way to restrict the use of Discovery Material that is publicly available or has been or could be legally obtained independent of formal discovery in the Litigation, whether or not the same material has also been obtained through formal discovery in the Litigation.
12. Upon request of the designating party, and following the termination of this action and any related proceedings and appeals, any person in possession of Confidential Material shall, upon request, either: (1) return such material to counsel for the designating party; or (2) certify to counsel for the designating party that all such material and copies, summaries, and extracts thereof have been destroyed, provided, however, that the signatories to this Order and their counsel may retain copies of attorney work-product and briefs, pleadings, and other papers filed with or sent to the Court that incorporate, append, or refer to such material, with such papers remaining subject to the terms and conditions of this Order.
13. The terms of this Order shall be effective and the parties and their counsel shall be bound by the terms of this Order on the date the Order is signed by the parties' counsel.
14. Prior to the time this Order is entered by the Court, Confidential Material shall be subject to the terms of this Order to the same extent as though the Order has been entered by the Court.