Johnson v. California Forensic Medical Group, Inc. ( 2019 )

1 MICHAEL J. HADDAD (SBN 189114) JULIA SHERWIN (SBN 189268) 2 MAYA RODRIGUEZ SORENSEN (SBN 250722) TERESA ALLEN (SBN 264865) 3 HADDAD & SHERWIN LLP 4 505 Seventeenth Street Oakland, CA 94612 5 Telephone: (510) 452-5500 Facsimile: (510) 452-5510 6 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff KATHERINE JOHNSON 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RANDALL SCOTT JOHNSON, DECEASED, by ) and through his Successor in Interest, KATHERINE ) 12 JOHNSON, KATHERINE JOHNSON, Individually, ) ) 13 Plaintiff, ) No. 2:19-cv-01722-JAM-DB ) vs. 14 ) ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 15 CITY OF REDDING, a public entity; REDDING ) ORDER PURSUANT TO CIVIL POLICE CHIEF ROGER MOORE; REDDING ) LOCAL RULE 141.1 16 POLICE OFFICER DARREN HULL; REDDING ) POLICE OFFICER TREVOR KUYPER; SHASTA ) 17 COUNTY, a public entity; SHASTA COUNTY ) SHERIFF-CORONER TOM BOSENKO, in his ) 18 individual and official capacities; SHASTA ) 19 C SEO RU GN ET AY N J TA BIL . RC OA DP GT EA RIN S; D DA EV PUE TK YE NT; ) ) ) 20 MCQUILLAN; DEPUTY WYATT MASON; ) DEPUTY JOSHUA DORSTAD; CALIFORNIA 21 FORENSIC MEDICAL GROUP, ) ) 22 INCORPORATED, a California corporation; DOE ) Defendant 1; KERI RUBALCAVA, R.N.; ) 23 AMANDA REAM, R.N.; LINDA SMITH, R.N.; ) JOHN MAIKE, Psychiatric R.N.; CYNTHIA ) 24 COLLINS, L.V.N.; SHELBY CALLAHAN, L.V.N.; ) DEBORAH SAEGER, MFT, and DOES 2–20; ) 25 individually, jointly, and severally, ) ) 26 ) ) 27 Defendants. ) 1 The parties, by and through their respective attorneys of record, hereby stipulate to the 2 following protective order being issued in this matter: 3 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 4 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of confidential, 5 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 6 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties 7 hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The 8 parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses 9 to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 10 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal 11 principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated 12 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 13 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 14 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 15 2. DEFINITIONS 16 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information or 17 items under this Order. 18 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 19 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of 20 Civil Procedure 26(c), and for which public disclosure is likely to result in particularized harm or 21 violate privacy interests recognized by law. This information may include: 22 a. personnel file records of any peace officer; 23 b. medical records; 24 c. social security numbers and similar sensitive identifying information (unless 25 redacted by order or by agreement of all parties). 26 Except by stipulation or order based on good cause, this information may not include 27 investigation of the subject incident(s), specifically the incident involving Decedent Randall 1 Johnson on or about August 14, 2018 through August 16, 2018. 2 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 3 their support staff). 4 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 5 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 6 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium 7 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 8 transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to 9 discovery in this matter. 10 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the 11 litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a 12 consultant in this action. 13 2.7 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. House Counsel 14 does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 15 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 16 entity not named as a Party to this action. 17 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this action 18 but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action on behalf 19 of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party. 20 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 21 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 22 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material 23 in this action. 24 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services (e.g., 25 photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, 26 or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 27 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 1 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 2 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 3 Producing Party. 4 3. SCOPE 5 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as 6 defined above), but also (1) any information copied from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, 7 summaries, or compilations of Protected Material that reveal the source of the Protected Material or 8 that reveal specific information entitled to confidentiality as a matter of law; and (3) any testimony, 9 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 10 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following 11 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving 12 Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of 13 publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record 14 through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the 15 disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the 16 information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party; (c) any 17 information mentioned or referenced in a deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, unless 18 such portions of testimony have been designated as confidential pursuant to section 5.2 (b) of this 19 order. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 20 4. DURATION 21 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 22 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order 23 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and 24 defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion 25 and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the time 26 limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 27 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 1 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 2 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to limit 3 any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 4 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral 5 or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or 6 communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 7 this Order. 8 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to 9 be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber 10 or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 11 parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 12 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 13 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties 14 that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 15 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, 16 e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or 17 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 18 the material is disclosed or produced. 19 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 20 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 21 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party 22 affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or 23 portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 24 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). A Party or 25 Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection need not designate 26 them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material it would like copied 27 and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for 1 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 2 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or 3 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 4 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains 5 Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 6 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 7 markings in the margins). 8 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that the 9 Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other 10 proceeding, all protected testimony. 11 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other 12 tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or 13 containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If the 14 information is produced electronically, then the term “CONFIDENTIAL” must appear in the name of 15 each electronic file containing confidentially designated information. If only a portion or portions of 16 the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall 17 identify the protected portion(s). 18 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 19 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right 20 to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the 21 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with 22 the provisions of this Order. 23 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 24 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 25 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality 26 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic burdens, 27 or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to challenge a 1 confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the original 2 designation is disclosed. 3 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 4 by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each 5 challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written notice must recite 6 that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with the Protective Order. The parties 7 shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must begin the process by conferring directly 8 (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication are not sufficient) within 14 days of the 9 date of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that 10 the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to 11 review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is 12 offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next 13 stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes 14 that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely 15 manner. 16 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 17 intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under Civil 18 Local Rule 7 (and in compliance with Civil Local Rule 141, if applicable) within 21 days of the initial 19 notice of challenge or within 14 days of the parties agreeing that the meet and confer process will not 20 resolve their dispute, whichever is earlier. Each such motion must be accompanied by a competent 21 declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed in 22 the preceding paragraph. Failure by the Designating Party to make such a motion including the 23 required declaration within 21 days (or 14 days, if applicable) shall automatically waive the 24 confidentiality designation for each challenged designation. In addition, the Challenging Party may 25 file a motion challenging a confidentiality designation at any time if there is good cause for doing so, 26 including a challenge to the designation of a deposition transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion 27 1 brought pursuant to this provision must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the 2 movant has complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed by the preceding paragraph. 3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating Party. 4 Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary 5 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 6 Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion to retain 7 confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level 8 of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the court rules on the 9 challenge. 10 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 12 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 13 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed by any 14 party only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the 15 litigation has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below 16 (FINAL DISPOSITION). 17 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by all parties at a location and in a secure 18 manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 19 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by 20 the court or permitted in writing by agreement of both the Designating Party and Receiving Party(ies), 21 all parties may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 22 a) the Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as employees of said 23 Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this 24 litigation (counsel and law firms appearing in this action are deemed to have agreed to be bound by 25 this Protective Order); 26 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Party to whom 27 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, including employees and agents of the 1 designating party(ies) in the normal course of their business with due regard for the confidential 2 nature of the information under this protective order.; 3 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of any Party to whom disclosure is reasonably 4 necessary for this litigation; 5 (d) the court and its personnel; 6 e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 7 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation; 8 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably 9 necessary ,unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party and any other parties present at the 10 deposition or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 11 depositions that reveal Protected Material must be separately bound by the court reporter and may not 12 be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order or as agreed by all 13 parties. 14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or 15 other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 16 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 17 LITIGATION 18 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 19 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party 20 must: 21 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy 22 of the subpoena or court order; 23 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the 24 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this 25 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 26 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 27 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 1 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or 2 court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before 3 a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained 4 the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of 5 seeking protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these provisions should be 6 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive 7 from another court. 8 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS 9 LITIGATION 10 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this 11 action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in 12 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing 13 in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 14 protections. 15 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non- 16 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the 17 Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 18 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all 19 of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 20 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in 21 this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the 22 information requested; and 23 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party. 24 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within 14 25 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the 26 Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely 27 seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or 1 control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by 2 the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of 3 seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 4 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 If a Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected Material to any 6 person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Party must 7 immediately (a) notify in writing all Parties of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to 8 retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom 9 unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or 10 persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as 11 Exhibit A. 12 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED 13 MATERIAL 14 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced 15 material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties 16 are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to 17 modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 18 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 19 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by 20 the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in 21 the stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 22 12. MISCELLANEOUS 23 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek 24 its modification by the court in the future. 25 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order no 26 Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or 27 item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any 1 right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 2 Order. 3 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission of all parties or a court order 4 secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in the public record in 5 this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must 6 comply with Civil Local Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court 7 order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 8 141, a sealing order will issue only upon a request establishing that the Protected Material at issue is 9 privileged, protectable as a trade secret, or otherwise entitled to protection under the law. If a Party's 10 request to file Protected Material under seal pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141(b) is denied by the 11 court, then any Party may file the information in the public record pursuant to Civil Local Rule 12 141(e)(1) unless otherwise instructed by the court. 13 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 14 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, upon written 15 notification served by Producing or Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected 16 Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected 17 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or 18 capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 19 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person 20 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 21 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2)affirms that the 22 Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format 23 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are 24 entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 25 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney 26 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 27 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 1 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 2 3 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 4 5 Dated: December 2, 2019 HADDAD & SHERWIN LLP 6 7 /s/ Teresa Allen 8 TERESA ALLEN Attorneys for Plaintiff 9 10 Dated: December 2, 2019 MCNAMARA, NEY, BEATTY, SLATTERY, BORGES & AMBACHER LLP 11 12 /s/ Noah Blechman NOAH BLECHMAN 13 Attorneys for Defendants 14 CITY OF REDDING; REDDING POLICE CHIEF ROGER MOORE; OFFICER DARREN HULL; and 15 OFFICER TREVOR KUYPER 16 17 Dated: December 2, 2019 BRICKWOOD LAW OFFICE 18 /s/ Gary Brickwood 19 GARY BRICKWOOD Attorneys for Defendants 20 SHASTA COUNTY; SHERIFF-CORONER TOM BOSENKO; SHASTA COUNTY JAIL CAPTAIN 21 DAVE KENT; SERGEANT B. RODGERS; DEPUTY 22 MCQUILLAN; DEPUTY WYATT MASON; and DEPUTY JOSHUA DORSTAD 23 24 Dated: December 2, 2019 THE LAW OFFICES OF JEROME VARANINI 25 /s/ Jerome M. Varanini 26 JEROME M. VARANINI 27 Attorneys for Defendants CALIFORNIA FORENSIC MEDICAL GROUP, 1 INC.; KERI RUBALCAVA, R.N.; AMANDA REAM, 2 R.N.; LINDA SMITH, R.N.; JOHN MAIKE, Psychiatric R.N.; CYNTHIA COLLINS, L.V.N.; 3 SHELBY CALLAHAN, L.V.N.; and DEBORAH SAEGER, MFT 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 ORDER 2 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT: 4 1. Requests to seal documents shall be made by motion before the same judge who will 5 decide the matter related to that request to seal. 6 2. The designation of documents (including transcripts of testimony) as confidential 7 pursuant to this order does not automatically entitle the parties to file such a document with the 8 court under seal. Parties are advised that any request to seal documents in this district is governed 9 by Local Rule 141. In brief, Local Rule 141 provides that documents may only be sealed by a 10 written order of the court after a specific request to seal has been made. L.R. 141(a). However, a 11 mere request to seal is not enough under the local rules. In particular, Local Rule 141(b) requires 12 that “[t]he ‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory or other authority for sealing, 13 the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be permitted access to the 14 document, and all relevant information.” L.R. 141(b). 15 3. A request to seal material must normally meet the high threshold of showing that 16 “compelling reasons” support secrecy; however, where the material is, at most, “tangentially 17 related” to the merits of a case, the request to seal may be granted on a showing of “good cause.” 18 Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096-1102 (9th Cir. 2016); Kamakana 19 v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-80 (9th Cir. 2006). 20 4. Nothing in this order shall limit the testimony of parties or non-parties, or the use of 21 certain documents, at any court hearing or trial – such determinations will only be made by the 22 court at the hearing or trial, or upon an appropriate motion. 23 5. With respect to motions regarding any disputes concerning this protective order which 24 the parties cannot informally resolve, the parties shall follow the procedures outlined in Local Rule 25 251. Absent a showing of good cause, the court will not hear discovery disputes on an ex parte 26 basis or on shortened time. 27 //// 1 6. The parties may not modify the terms of this Protective Order without the court’s 2 approval. If the parties agree to a potential modification, they shall submit a stipulation and 3 proposed order for the court’s consideration. 4 7. Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(f), the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement of 5 the terms of this Protective Order after the action is terminated. 6 8. Any provision in the parties’ stipulation that is in conflict with anything in this order is 7 hereby DISAPPROVED. 8 DATED: December 3, 2019 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print or type 4 full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 5 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District 6 of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the number 7 and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of 8 this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 9 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not 10 disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to 11 any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 12 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern District 13 of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such 14 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 15 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 16 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as 17 my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to 18 enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 19 20 Date: ______________________________________ 21 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 22 23 Printed name: _______________________________ 24 25 Signature: __________________________________ 26 27