Ward v. Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. ( 2021 )

1 LGAAFRAYY TE.T LTAEF &A YKEUTMTEA G(SABIN L L88P6 66) 2 Email: glafayette@lkclaw.com BRIAN H. CHUN (SBN 215417) 3 Email: bchun@lkclaw.com SAISRUTHI PASPULATI (SBN 319879) 4 Email: spaspulati@lkclaw.com 1300 Clay Street, Suite 810 5 Oakland, California 94612 Telephone: (415) 357-4600 6 Facsimile: (415) 357-4605 7 Attorneys for Defendant HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC. 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 JEVON WARD, Case No. 2:20-cv-01571-JAM-KJN 14 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 15 vs. 16 HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC., and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive, Complaint Filed: July 1, 2020 17 Notice of Removal Filed: August 7, 2020 Defendants. 1 18 9 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 2 To adequately protect material entitled to be kept confidential, expedite the flow of 3 discovery and facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality, the parties to this 4 action, by and through their attorneys of record, hereby stipulate to and request that the Court 5 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order: 6 1. Documents or information produced or provided by the parties during the course 7 of discovery in the above-styled matter may be designated as “Confidential Information” so long 8 as the party who seeks confidentiality has a good faith belief that such document or information 9 is entitled to confidentiality under the terms of this Order. 10 2. For purposes of this Order, “Confidential Information” means (a) any document or 11 information designated as confidential in accordance with paragraph 6 of this Order, and (b) any 12 aggregation of Confidential Information. The identification of an individual document or 13 category of documents or information as Confidential Information under paragraphs 2(b) or 2(c) 14 may be challenged pursuant to paragraph 9 of this Order. 15 3. For purposes of this Order, “Document” means all written, recorded, or graphic 16 material, in hard copy or electronic format, including but not limited to deposition transcripts and 17 exhibits, trial and hearing transcripts and exhibits, pleadings, motions, affidavits, and briefs that 18 may quote, summarize, or contain Confidential Information. 19 4. For purposes of this Order, “Producing Party” means a party that produces 20 Confidential Information or other information in connection with this litigation. 21 5. For purposes of this Order, “Recipient” means a named party in this litigation (or 22 counsel thereto and their agents) who receives Confidential Information or other information in 23 connection with the litigation. 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 6. A. The Producing Party may designate as Confidential Information any 2 information it believes to be confidential, including, without limitation, (i) non-public 3 information about a past, present or potential employee of Home Depot or a subsidiary, including 4 personnel records, evaluations, compensation levels, databases, surveys, statistical analyses, 5 analyses of personnel practices, or other information incorporating or aggregating information 6 pertaining to individuals, and (ii) trade secrets or other non-public proprietary, strategic or 7 commercial information, data or research of Home Depot or one or more of its subsidiaries. 8 B. To designate Confidential Information on Documents, the Producing Party 9 shall place a legend or stamp upon the Document indicating such in a way that brings the 10 designation to the attention of a reasonable examiner, or otherwise puts the Recipient on 11 reasonable notice that it contains Confidential Information. To designate Confidential 12 Information in testimony (or in exhibits referred to therein), the Producing Party shall (a) make 13 an oral statement to that effect on the record, or (b) notify the Recipient in writing at any time up 14 until twenty (20) days after receipt of the transcript. 15 7. The Recipient of Confidential Information shall use that information solely in 16 connection with this litigation, and shall not disclose Confidential Information to any person 17 except: 18 a) plaintiff; 19 b) the Court and its officers (including court reporters); 20 c) counsel of record in this action and employees of counsel in this action who have been actively engaged in the conduct of this litigation; 21 d) Home Depot’s or its subsidiaries’ or affiliates’ in-house counsel; 22 e) experts or litigation consultants engaged by counsel to assist in this 23 litigation, provided that these expert witnesses or litigation consultants expressly agree to be bound by the terms of this Order and not to disclose 24 Confidential Information except as permitted herein; 25 f) fact witnesses providing testimony by deposition or at any court proceeding in this case but only in accordance with the procedures set forth 26 in paragraph 8 of this Order. 27 8. The Recipient of Confidential Information shall disclose such information to 28 persons set forth in paragraph 7(f), of this Order only under the conditions set forth below: 1 pOarrdaegrr,a hpeh o7r( fs)h, et hmea Rye ncoipt ideinvtu slhgael ls uacdhv iisnef othrmata ptieornso tno tahnayt, optuhresru ianndti vtoid tuhaisl. 2 b) Any person who receives Confidential Information pursuant to paragraph 3 7(f), shall execute an Agreement in the form annexed hereto as Exhibit A. Each original, executed Agreement shall be maintained in the files of the 4 Recipient and shall be available for review by all counsel and parties upon reasonable notice. 5 c) The Recipient who discloses Confidential Information pursuant to 6 paragraph 7(f), shall maintain a list specifically identifying the persons to whom the information was disclosed and the Bates number and/or other 7 means sufficient to identify such information disclosed. 8 9. In the event the Recipient disputes the Producing Party’s designation of individual 9 documents or a category of documents or information as Confidential Information, the Recipient 10 shall notify the Producing Party in writing of such dispute. In an effort to settle such dispute 11 without judicial intervention, the parties shall meet and confer to determine whether the 12 restrictions imposed by this Order are warranted with respect to such disputed information. If 13 resolution of the dispute cannot be reached, the Recipient may apply to the Court for an 14 appropriate determination. In connection with such an application, the Producing Party shall bear 15 the burden to show that the information is entitled to continued protection under California law. 16 During the pendency of such dispute or application, and until the court may rule otherwise, the 17 information designated Confidential Information shall remain subject to the designations and 18 restrictions of this Order. 19 10. Inadvertent failure to designate Confidential Information shall not be construed as 20 a waiver, in whole or in part, and may be corrected by the Producing Party by written notification 21 to the Recipient promptly upon discovery of the failure to designate. 22 / / / 23 / / / 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 11. All information obtained by a Recipient in discovery in this litigation, regardless 2 of whether it is Confidential Information, shall be used by the Recipient solely for the 3 prosecution or defense of the claims in this litigation, and shall not be used by the Recipient in 4 any other legal action, or for any business, commercial, competitive, personal, publicity, media or 5 other purpose, except that nothing herein shall preclude Home Depot (or a subsidiary of it) from 6 pursuing legal or other business action in discovered instances of misconduct as to its own 7 employees or ensuring that its employees are acting in accordance with the law. No Recipient or 8 other person to whom Confidential Information is disclosed shall copy, transcribe, or otherwise 9 reproduce in written or any other form any part or portion of any Confidential Information except 10 as necessary for purposes of the litigation. 11 12. Within fifteen business days after the conclusion of this litigation, by adjudication 12 (including appeals) or otherwise, the Recipient shall return to the Producing Party all 13 Confidential Information, all copies of such information, and any Documents incorporating such 14 information. Alternatively, at the request of the Producing Party, the Recipient shall destroy all 15 such materials and certify in writing that all such materials have been destroyed. 16 13. Confidential Information shall not be filed in the public record of this litigation. 17 Any Confidential Information that is filed with the Court, and any pleadings, motions, or other 18 papers filed with the Court containing such information, shall be filed in a sealed envelope 19 accompanied by a request that the Court file and maintain the information under seal. Where 20 possible, only the portions of filings containing Confidential Information shall be filed with the 21 Court under seal. 22 14. The restrictions set forth in this Order shall not apply to: 23 a) information that was, is or becomes public knowledge through its authorized release by a person or entity who rightfully obtained and 24 possesses such information during the normal course of business, and not in violation of this Order; 25 b) Home Depot (or its subsidiaries), with respect to its own information or 26 information received or created during the normal course of its own business. 27 28 1 Whether information that becomes a matter of public record in any other manner may still 2 be subject to protection as confidential shall be determined according to the standards and 3 procedures set forth in paragraphs 2 through 10 of this Order. The owner of Confidential 4 Information shall be able to seek protection of that information in accordance with paragraph 6 of 5 this Order even if it did not produce that information in discovery. 6 15. Nothing in this Order shall be deemed to be a limit or waiver of the attorney-client 7 privilege, the work product privilege, or any other relevant privilege. Further, inadvertent 8 production of privileged information shall not waive the privilege. If privileged information is 9 inadvertently produced, the Recipient agrees that, upon request from the Producing Party, it shall 10 promptly return all copies of Documents containing the privileged information, delete any 11 versions of the Documents containing the privileged information on any database or computer 12 filing system it maintains, and make no use of the privileged information. 13 16. Nothing in this Order shall prohibit any party from objecting to the production or 14 disclosure of Confidential Information solely on the grounds that such information is confidential 15 or sensitive, or on any other grounds. Furthermore, nothing in this Order shall preclude the 16 parties from objecting to the admissibility or use of Confidential Information. 17 17. In the event plaintiff or his counsel obtain information of Home Depot’s (or its 18 subsidiaries) from a third party that Home Depot believes is confidential, Home Depot may 19 designate such information Confidential Information pursuant to this Order and it shall be treated 20 as such in accordance with this Order. 21 18. If a Recipient discloses Confidential Information in a manner not authorized 22 herein, the Recipient must immediately and in writing notify the Producing Party of all pertinent 23 facts relating to such disclosure and, without prejudice to other rights and remedies of the 24 Producing Party, make every effort to prevent further disclosure by the Recipient or by the person 25 to whom the Recipient disclosed such information. 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 19. The Court shall retain jurisdiction, both before and after the entry of final 2 judgment in this case, whether by settlement or adjudication, to construe, enforce, and amend the 3 provisions of this Order. 4 DATED: November 4, 2021 LAW OFFICES OF CORREN & CORREN 5 6 7 By: /s/ Spencer D. Sinclair SPENCER D. SINCLAIR 8 Attorneys for Plaintiff JEVON WARD 9 10 DATED: November 5, 2021 LAFAYETTE & KUMAGAI LLP 11 12 13 By: /s/ Saisruthi Paspulati SAISRUTHI PASPULATI 14 Attorneys for Defendant HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC. 15 16 17 SIGNATURE ATTESTATION 18 I hereby attest that I have obtained the concurrence of Spencer D. Sinclair, counsel for 19 Plaintiff, for the filing of this Stipulated Protective Order. 20 /s/ Saisruthi Paspulati 21 SAISRUTHI PASPULATI 22 23 /// 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// ee OI OS III IN EEO OS OSE OS IE OSE EE OE 1 ORDER 2 The court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order, and finds it comports with 3 || the relevant authorities and the court’s applicable local rule, though only barely. See || L.R. 141.1(c)!; see also Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 5 || 1210 (9th Cir. 2002) (“Generally, the public can gain access to litigation documents and 6 || information produced during discovery unless the party opposing disclosure shows ‘good cause’ 7 || why a protective order is necessary.”). Therefore, the court APPROVES the protective order 8 || subject to the following modifications. 9 First, paragraph 19 is DISAPPROVED because this court’s Local Rules provide that once 10 || this action is closed, “unless otherwise ordered, the court will not retain jurisdiction over 11 || enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R. 141.1(f). Courts in 12 || the district generally do not agree to retain jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders ° » || after closure of the case. See, e.g., MD Helicopters, Inc. v. Aerometals, Inc., 2017 WL 495778 Ss 14 (E.D. Cal., Feb. 03, 2017). Based on this rationale, the court will not retain jurisdiction in this 5 =& || case once the case is closed. 3 c= 16 Second, with respect to paragraph 13, the parties are instructed to follow Local Rule 141 : 17 || when making requests to file documents under seal. 18 || Dated: November 10, 2021 7 send 30 EENDALLJ.NE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 ward.1571 22 23 | 24 ' The Court’s Local Rules instruct the parties, when requesting a protective order, to include in their submission: (1) A description of the types of information eligible for protection under the order, with the 25 description provided in general terms sufficient to reveal the nature of the information (e.g., customer list, formula for soda, diary of a troubled child); 26 (2) A showing of particularized need for protection as to each category of information proposed to be covered by the order; and 27 (3) A showing as to why the need for protection should be addressed by a court order, as opposed to a private agreement between or among the parties. 28 Local Rule 141.1(c). 1 EXHIBIT A 2 AGREEMENT CONCERNING INFORMATION COVERED BY THE STIPULATED 3 PROTECTIVE ORDER ENTERED IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR 4 THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 The undersigned hereby acknowledges that he/she has read the Stipulated Protective 6 Order (“Order”) in Jevon Ward v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-01571-JAM- 7 KLN and understands its terms, agrees to be bound by each of those terms, and agrees to subject 8 himself/herself personally to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court, Eastern District 9 of California for the purpose of enforcing its terms. Specifically, and without limitation upon 10 such terms, the undersigned agrees not to use or disclose any Confidential Information made 11 available to him/her other than in accordance with the Order. 12 13 Dated: __________________________ 14 15 By: ______________________________ 16 17 _________________________________ (Type or print name of individual) 18 19 Of: ______________________________ Name of Employer 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28