DEBORAH BARNES, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff Sergio Garcia and defendant Target Corporation, acting through their respective counsel of record, hereby stipulate and respectfully request that the Court enter the following as the Stipulated Protective Order (this "Order") in this action:
Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely 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. 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 further acknowledge, as set forth in section 12.3, below, that this Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal. Rather, the parties must comply with the applicable rules, standards, and procedures regarding seeking permission from the court to file material under seal.
The protections conferred by this 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. However, the protections conferred by this Order do not cover the following information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order.
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.
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 or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) 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 mistaken designation.
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
Such designation will, without more, subject the information produced or provided under said designation to the provisions of this protective order.
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.
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," that Party must:
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as "CONFIDENTIAL" before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party's permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material — and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this action and designated as "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 information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party's confidential information, then the Party shall:
(c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party's confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, 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.
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 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.
Inadvertent production of a document or other information subject to a claim of privilege or attorney work product will not waive the privilege or the attorney work product doctrine. If a Producing Party produces any material that the Producing Party thereafter claims to be privileged or protected, the Producing Party will give notice thereof to the Receiving Party in writing. Within five days, the material in question (and all notes and work product quoting, referring or relating thereto) will then be returned to the Producing Party, and the Receiving Party will certify that any and all copies have been retrieved and destroyed. If the Receiving Party has disclosed the information to others before being notified of the claim of privilege or protection, the Receiving Party must take reasonable steps to retrieve and return or destroy the disclosed information. The Receiving Party upon receiving a privilege log identifying the document remains free to challenge any claim of privilege or protection, but shall not make any claim that the production of the document caused a waiver of any privilege or protection. Moreover, absent a ruling that the document, data, or information at issue is not privileged or protected, a Receiving Party may not disclose nor make any use whatsoever of the information disclosed in or derived from the document or information at issue. If a Party or counsel for a Party receives a document or other information that appears on its face to be inadvertently produced and subject to a claim of privilege or attorney work product, counsel for the Receiving Party will (i) inform counsel for the Producing Party promptly after becoming aware of the disclosure; (ii) promptly return the document or other information and all copies thereof; and (iii) promptly destroy all notes and other documents containing any reference to, or use of, the inadvertently produced information.
Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, 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) identifies (by category, where appropriate) 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 4 (DURATION).
IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
I, Jeffrey D. Wohl, attest that all other signatories listed concur in the filing's content and have authorized the filing.
Pursuant to the parties' stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT:
1. Requests to seal documents shall be made by motion before the same judge who will decide the matter related to that request to seal.
2. The designation of documents (including transcripts of testimony) as confidential pursuant to this order does not automatically entitle the parties to file such a document with the court under seal. Parties are advised that any request to seal documents in this district is governed by Local Rule 141. In brief, Local Rule 141 provides that documents may only be sealed by a written order of the court after a specific request to seal has been made. L.R. 141(a). However, a mere request to seal is not enough under the local rules. In particular, Local Rule 141(b) requires that "[t]he `Request to Seal Documents' shall set forth the statutory or other authority for sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be permitted access to the document, and all relevant information." L.R. 141(b).
3. A request to seal material must normally meet the high threshold of showing that "compelling reasons" support secrecy; however, where the material is, at most, "tangentially related" to the merits of a case, the request to seal may be granted on a showing of "good cause."
4. Nothing in this order shall limit the testimony of parties or non-parties, or the use of certain documents, at any court hearing or trial — such determinations will only be made by the court at the hearing or trial, or upon an appropriate motion.
5. With respect to motions regarding any disputes concerning this protective order which the parties cannot informally resolve, the parties shall follow the procedures outlined in Local Rule 251. Absent a showing of good cause, the court will not hear discovery disputes on an ex parte basis or on shortened time.
6. The parties may not modify the terms of this Protective Order without the court's approval. If the parties agree to a potential modification, they shall submit a stipulation and proposed order for the court's consideration.
7. Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(f), the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of this Protective Order after the action is terminated.
8. Any provision in the parties' stipulation that is in conflict with anything in this order is hereby DISAPPROVED.
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 (the "Order") that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (the "Court") on [date] in the case of Sergio Garcia., on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, vs. Target Corporation, a Minnesota Corporation; and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive, Defendants, U.S.D.C., E.D. Cal., No. 2:19-cv-01249 TLN-DB. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of the 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 the Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of the Order.
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the Court for the purpose of enforcing the terms of the Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
I hereby appoint __________________________________ [print or type full name] of ___________________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of the Order.