Zahra Shahim v. Valor Healthcare, Inc. ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – WESTERN DIVISION 10 11 ZAHRA SHAHIM, an individual, Case No. 8:21-cv-00435 DOC (JDEx) 12 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND PROPOSED 13 PROTECTIVE ORDER v. 14 VALOR HEALTHCARE, INC., and Complaint Filed: February 3, 2021 15 DOES 1 to 50, inclusive, Trial Date: None Set District Judge: Hon. David O. Carter 16 Defendants. Magistrate Judge: Hon. John D. Early 17 18 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Plaintiff ZAHRA SHAHIM 19 (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant VALOR HEALTHCARE, INC. (“Defendant”) (collectively, 20 “Parties”) that in order to facilitate the exchange of information and documents which 21 may be subject to confidentiality limitations on disclosure due to federal laws, state 22 laws, the Local Civil Rules, and privacy rights, the Parties stipulate as follows: 23 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 24 Discovery in this action involves the production of confidential, proprietary or 25 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for 26 any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the 27 Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 28 Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 1 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 2 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 3 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 4 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 5 This action arises from Plaintiff’s claims for gender discrimination and 6 Defendant’s alleged violation of California’s Equal Pay Act. Plaintiff is a physician 7 employed by Defendant at a Department of Veterans Affairs’ outpatient clinic. In order 8 to present her case, Plaintiff is seeking confidential information regarding her colleagues’ 9 compensation and her discrimination and retaliation allegations concern patient panels 10 and instances involving particular patients. 11 Discovery conducted thus far implicates third-party medical records and other 12 personal health information, which is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and 13 Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The Parties are committed to respecting federal 14 and state protections for individually identifiable health information (“IIHI”). Discovery 15 has already implicated particular patients and discovery may involve patient medical 16 records, as Plaintiff alleges Defendant reassigned patients to Plaintiff’s patient panel and 17 required her to see patients on the panels of male physicians as a way to justify why 18 Defendant’s male employees are allegedly paid more than Plaintiff. 19 During Plaintiff’s deposition and the deposition of one of Defendant’s physicians, 20 questions pertained to the salary and bonus information of Defendant’s employees. This 21 information is generally unavailable to the public and protected under California’s 22 privacy laws. The amount of money Defendant pays its physicians is confidential 23 financial and proprietary information, which Defendant and its physicians do not want 24 made available to the public. Additionally, it would be extraordinarily difficult to obtain 25 consent from each and every employee, cause an unnecessary delay in the adjudication of 26 the Action, increase litigation costs, and waste the Court’s time and resources in 27 approving each and every argument for or against disclosure of what is essentially a 28 review of job descriptions and salary. 1 The Parties recognize that such information warrants special protection from 2 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action, as it 3 may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state and federal statutes, 4 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 5 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 6 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the Parties are entitled to keep 7 confidential, to ensure that the Parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such 8 material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end 9 of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 10 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be 11 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a 12 good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 13 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 14 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 15 The Parties acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this Stipulated 16 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local 17 Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will 18 be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 19 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings 20 and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause must 21 be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 22 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 23 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Wellbon v. Sony Electronics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 24 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing). The 25 Parties further acknowledge that there must be a specific showing of good cause or 26 compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification must be made 27 with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The Parties’ mere 28 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without 1 the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material 2 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 3 protectable—constitute good cause. 4 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 5 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 6 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos 7 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type 8 of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the party 9 seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and 10 legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 11 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 12 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its 13 entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 14 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the 15 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. 16 Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include an 17 explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 18 4. DEFINITIONS 19 4.1 “Action”: the above-entitled proceeding, Zahra Shahim v. Valor 20 Healthcare, Inc., Case No. 8:21-cv-00435 DOC (JDEx). 21 4.2 “Challenging Party”: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 22 designation of information or items under this Order. 23 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 24 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 25 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 26 Statement. 27 4.4 “Counsel”: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 28 support staff). 1 4.5 “Designating Party”: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 2 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 3 4.6 “Disclosure or Discovery Material”: all items or information, regardless of 4 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among 5 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in 6 disclosures or responses to discovery. 7 4.7 “Expert”: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 8 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 9 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 10 4.8 “House Counsel”: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 11 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 12 4.9 “Non-Party”: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 13 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 14 4.10 “Outside Counsel of Record”: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 15 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in this 16 Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf 17 of that party, and includes support staff. 18 4.11 “Party”: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 19 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 20 support staffs). 21 4.12 “Producing Party”: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 22 Discovery Material in this Action. 23 4.13 “Professional Vendors”: persons or entities that provide litigation support 24 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 25 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 26 their employees and subcontractors. 27 4.14 “Protected Material”: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 28 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 1 4.15 “Receiving Party”: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 2 from a Producing Party. 3 5. SCOPE 4 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 5 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 6 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 7 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 8 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 9 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial 10 judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of Protected 11 Material at trial. 12 6. DURATION 13 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 14 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this Protective Order used or introduced as 15 an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of 16 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 17 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See 18 Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 19 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 20 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective 21 order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 22 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 24 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 25 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 26 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 27 only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that 28 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for 1 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this 2 Order. 3 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that 4 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 5 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 6 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 7 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 8 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 9 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 10 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 11 Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that 12 qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material 13 is disclosed or produced. 14 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 15 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 16 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), 17 that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 18 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 19 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 20 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 21 margins). 22 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 23 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 24 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 25 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 26 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 27 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 28 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 1 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 2 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 3 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., 4 by making appropriate markings in the margins). 5 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 6 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 7 protected testimony. 8 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 9 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 10 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 11 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 12 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 13 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 14 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 15 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 16 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 17 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 18 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 19 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 20 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 21 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 22 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 23 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint 24 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 25 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 26 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 27 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 28 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 1 the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question 2 the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until 3 the Court rules on the challenge. 4 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 6 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action 7 only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected 8 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 9 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must 10 comply with the provisions of Section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 11 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 12 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 13 authorized under this Order. 14 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 15 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 16 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 17 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 18 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 19 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 20 disclose the information for this Action; 21 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 22 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 23 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 24 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 25 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 26 (d) the Court and its personnel; 27 (e) court reporters and their staff; 28 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 1 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 2 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 3 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 4 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 5 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 6 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 7 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not 8 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 9 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 10 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 11 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 12 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 13 Order; and 14 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 15 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 16 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 17 OTHER LITIGATION 18 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 19 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 20 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 21 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 22 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 23 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 24 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 25 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 26 Stipulated Protective Order; and 27 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 28 1 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating 2 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order 3 shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before 4 a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party 5 has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the 6 burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and 7 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 8 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 9 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 10 IN THIS LITIGATION 11 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 12 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced 13 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 14 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a 15 Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 16 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 17 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject 18 to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 19 information, then the Party shall: 20 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 21 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a 22 Non-Party; 23 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 24 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 25 description of the information requested; and 26 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 27 Party, if requested. 28 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14 1 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 2 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If 3 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 4 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 5 with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court order to the 6 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 7 court of its Protected Material. 8 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 10 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 11 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 12 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 13 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 14 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 15 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” 16 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 17 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 18 PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 20 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of 21 the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 22 This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e- 23 discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to 24 Federal Rules of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the Parties reach an agreement on 25 the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 26 privilege or work product protection, the Parties may incorporate their agreement in the 27 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 28 14. MISCELLANEOUS 1 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 2 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 3 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 4 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 5 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 6 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground 7 to use in evidence any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 8 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 9 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5 and the Initial Standing 10 Order of the Honorable David O. Carter. [See Dkt. 9 at §VII]. Protected Material may 11 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 12 Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by 13 the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 14 otherwise instructed by the Court. 15 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 16 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 days 17 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 18 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 19 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 20 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 21 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit 22 a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 23 Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 24 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that 25 the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or 26 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding 27 this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion 28 papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, 1 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and 2 expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 3 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective 4 Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 5 16. VIOLATION 6 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 7 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 8 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 9 DATED: July 20, 2021 LAW OFFICES OF JOSEPH K. JOHNSON, P.C. 10 11 12 By: /s/ Joseph Johnson _____________ Joseph Johnson 13 Attorneys for Plaintiff ZAHRA SHAHIM 14 15 16 DATED: July 20, 2021 OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C. 17 18 19 By: /s/ Sarah Christenson Angela Pak 20 Sarah Christenson Attorneys for Defendant 21 VALOR HEALTHCARE, INC. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 DATED: July 20, 2021 TUCKER ELLIS LLP 3 4 By: /s/Lisa Carteen Ndubisi A. Ezeolu 5 Lisa I. Carteen Samlecia Gaye 6 Attomeys for Defendant VALOR HEALTHCARE, INC. 8 9 19 || PURSUANT TO STIPULATION AND FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO 11 |, ORDERED. 12 13 DATED: July 20, 2021 14 15 J D. EARLY 16 hited States Magistrate Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 14 Racca NTA 2:91 arr NNAI"E □□□□□ □□□□ 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I 5 have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by 6 the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case 7 of Zahra Shahim v. Valor Healthcare, Inc. No. 8:21-cv-00435 DOC (JDEx) (“Action”). I 8 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 10 and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in 11 any manner any Protected Material or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective 12 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this 13 Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 15 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 17 Action. 18 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the 19 foregoing is true and correct. 20 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 21 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone 22 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or 23 any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 24 Date: ______________________________________ 25 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 26 Printed name: _________________________________ 27 Signature: _________________________________ 28