DISCOVERY MATTER:

PROTECTIVE ORDER

SUZANNE H. SEGAL, Magistrate Judge.

1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

Discovery in this action has involved and is likely to continue to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and ask the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 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. The Parties also acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.

2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

This action is likely to involve trade secrets, proprietary business information, competitively sensitive information, or other information the disclosure of which would, in the good faith judgment of the Party, or, as appropriate, Non-Party, designating the material as confidential or highly confidential, be detrimental to the conduct of that Party's or Non-Party's business or the business of any of that Party's or Non-Party's customers or clients including customer and pricing lists and other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the Parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the Parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be designated as "confidential" or "highly confidential" for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.

3. DEFINITIONS

3.1 Action: The case pending as Helga Arminak and Armin Arminak vs. Arminak & Associates, LLC, Rieke-Arminak Corporation, Mark Box and David Pritchett, case no. 2:16-cv-03382 (JAK) Ssx.

3.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information or items under this Order.

3.3 "CONFIDENTIAL" Information or Items: shall mean all Documents and Testimony, and all information contained therein, and other information designated as confidential (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained), if such Documents or Testimony contain trade secrets, proprietary business information, competitively sensitive information, or other information the disclosure of which would, in the good faith judgment of the Party, or, as appropriate, Non-Party, designating the material as confidential, be detrimental to the conduct of that Party's or Non-Party's business or the business of any of that Party's or Non-Party's customers or clients. Confidential Information shall also include personal information including, but not limited to, Social Security numbers, bank and other financial account numbers, credit card numbers, tax returns, personal financial information, and other sensitive personal information.

3.4 "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" Information or Items: shall mean all Documents and Testimony, and all information contained therein, and other information designated as highly confidential, if, in the good faith judgment of the party designating the material as highly confidential, such Documents or Testimony contain information that, if disclosed to any party to this action or the directors, officers, or employees of any party to this action, would cause a present, clearly defined, and serious injury to the business or business relationships of the party designating the material as highly confidential.

3.5 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and In-House Counsel (as well as their support staff).

3.6 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL."

3.7 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

3.8 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

3.9 In-House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.

3.10 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

3.11 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

3.12 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its agents, officers, directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).

3.13 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action.

3.14 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.

3.15 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL."

3.16 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a Producing Party.

4. SCOPE

The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

The Parties further agree that the following discovery which occurred prior to the entry of this Protective Order is also subject to this Order: (1) Plaintiffs Helga Arminak and Armin Arminak's document production, bates labeled PLTFFS-0000001 to PLTFFS-0004959, produced on February 28, 2017 and March 1, 2017; (2) Defendants document production, bates labeled Rieke_CA_881 to Rieke_CA_4719; (3) the deposition of William D. Kent, which occurred on March 2, 2017; and (4) the deposition of Judy Baranowski, which occurred on March 3, 2017.

5. DURATION

Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.

6. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

6.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the scope of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.

If it comes to a Designating Party's attention that information or items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

6.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 6.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.

Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

6.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party's right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.

7. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

7.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court's Scheduling Order.

7.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.

7.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party's designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

8. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

8.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 14 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). Protected 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 Order.

8.2 Disclosure of "CONFIDENTIAL" Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated "CONFIDENTIAL" only to:

(a) the Receiving Party's Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);

(d) the court and its personnel, if filed in accordance with paragraph 13;

(e) court reporters and their staff;

(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);

(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

(h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the Parties engaged in settlement discussions.

8.3 Disclosure of "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" only to:

(b) Experts (as defined in this Order) — not including officers or employees of a party — of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);

(c) the court and its personnel, if filed in accordance with paragraph 13.3 of this Order;

(d) court reporters and their staff;

(e) to deposition witnesses in this action provided that the Receiving Party shall give the Producing Party five (5) business days' written notice via email, personal delivery of correspondence, or any other means sufficient to provide the Producing party with actual notice at least five (5) business days' prior to the disclosure of Highly Confidential Information pursuant to this section. Written notice shall include the name, employment, and affiliations of the person or entity to which the Highly Confidential Information is sought to be disclosed. This provision shall not apply to potential witnesses, experts, consultants or their attorneys, staff, representative or agents who are authors or prior recipients of the Highly Confidential Information. If during the five (5) business day period the Producing Party objects to the disclosure, then no disclosure shall be made until the Receiving Party obtains from the Court an Order compelling such disclosure. The Parties shall confer in good faith to resolve any such disagreements prior to bringing any motion to compel disclosure. The court reporter and any deposition witness who is given access to Highly Confidential Information pursuant to this section shall, prior thereto, be provided with a copy of this Protective Order and shall execute Exhibit "A" attached hereto. Counsel for the party obtaining the certificate shall supply a copy to counsel for the other party.

9. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," that Party must:

(b) within five (5) days of receipt of the subpoena or court order notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating Party objects in writing within ten (10) days, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued on any motion for protective order, motion to compel brought by the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation, or until the Designating party states in writing that it does not object to disclosure of the Protected Material. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material.

In the event documents or other things responsive to a subpoena properly issued and served on a Non-Party to this Action may contain material which may be subject to designation by a Party pursuant to this Order, the Party may notify the other parties of its belief, in which case all documents produced in response to the subpoena shall be considered HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL, if identified as such by a Party pursuant to this Order, for thirty (30) days after they are produced. After the 30th day following production, all documents produced pursuant to the subpoena shall be deemed non-confidential except any documents otherwise designated as CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL pursuant to the terms of this Order or by the Designating Party.

10. A NON-PARTY'S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL." Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-Party's confidential or highly confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party's confidential or highly confidential information, then the Party shall:

(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within fourteen (14) days of receiving the notice and accompanying information or there is not otherwise a motion pending to address whether the Non-Party's information should be produced, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party's confidential or highly confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order or there otherwise is a motion pending on this topic, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

11. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

12. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the Parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the Parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.

13. MISCELLANEOUS

13.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

13.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

13.3 Filing Protected Material.

(a) A Party or, as appropriate, Non-Party, who seeks to file with the Court (i) any deposition transcripts, exhibits, answers to interrogatories, or other documents which have previously been designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL", or (ii) any pleading, brief or memorandum which reproduces, paraphrases or discloses information designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" shall follow the procedures of Local Rule 79-5's, et. seq., including the procedures regarding notice to the Designating Party and filing the document(s) under seal. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

(b) All pleadings, briefs or memoranda which reproduce, paraphrase or disclose any materials which have previously been designated by a party as comprising or containing Confidential Information or Highly Confidential Information shall identify such documents by the production number ascribed to them at the time of production.

14. FINAL DISPOSITION

After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, "all Protected Material" includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) certifies that all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 5 (DURATION).

Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

15. NOWAIVER

Other than as specified herein, the taking of or the failure to take any action to enforce the provisions of this Protective Order, or the failure to object to any designation or any such action or omission, shall not constitute a waiver of any right to seek and obtain protection or relief in this action or any other action, such right, including, but not limited to, the right to claim that any information is or is not proprietary to any Designating Party, is or is not entitled to particular privilege or work product or protection, or that such information does or does not embody trade secrets of any Designating Party. The procedures set forth herein shall not affect the rights of Parties to object to discovery on grounds other than those related to trade secrete or proprietary information claims; nor shall it relieve a Designating Party of the necessity of proper response to discovery.

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on __________ [date] in the case of Helga Arminak, Armin Arminak and Roger Abadjian vs. Arminak & Associates, LLC, Rieke-Arminak Corporation, William D. Kent, David Pritchett, Mark Box and Judy Baranowski, Case Number 2:16-cv-03519 (JAK) Ssx. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.

I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.