Williams v. AB Car Rental Services, Inc. ( 2024 )

1 KEVIN A. LIPELES, Bar No. 244275 kevin@kallaw.com 2 THOMAS SCHELLY, Bar No. 217285 thomas@kallaw.com 3 LIPELES LAW GROUP, APC 880 Apollo St., Suite 336 4 El Segundo, CA 90245 Telephone: 310.322.2211 5 Fax No.: 310.322.2252 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff, Curtis Lemann Williams Jr. 7 [Additional Counsel listed on the following page] 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – SACRAMENTO DIVISION 12 13 CURTIS LEMANN WILLIAMS JR, an Case No. 2:23-CV-01418-WBS-CKD 14 individual, [Removed from Sacramento County Superior 15 Plaintiff, Court, Case No. 23CV003244] 16 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 17 AB CAR RENTAL SERVICES, INC., a Complaint Filed: June 13, 2023 Delaware Corporation and DOES 1 through 100, Removed: July 17, 2023 18 inclusive, 19 Defendants. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 PATRICK H. HICKS, Bar No. 131509 2 phicks@littler.com LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 3 3960 Howard Hughes Parkway Suite 300 4 Las Vegas, NV 89169 Telephone: 702.862.8800 5 Facsimile: 702.862.8811 6 DOUGLAS ROPEL, Bar No. 300486 dropel@littler.com 7 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 500 Capitol Mall 8 Suite 2000 Sacramento, CA 95814 9 Telephone: 916.830.7200 Fax: 916.561.0828 10 JENNY BURKE, Bar No. 240643 11 jburke@littler.com LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 12 18565 Jamboree Road Suite 800 13 Irvine, CA 92612 Telephone: 949.705.3000 14 Fax No.: 949.724.1201 15 Attorneys for Defendant AB CAR RENTAL SERVICES, INC. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action will involve production of confidential, proprietary or private 3 information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other 4 than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and 5 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that 6 this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the 7 protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items 8 that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 9 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 10 The above-captioned matter is likely to involve private medical records, confidential 11 information and documents related to Defendant’s operations, financial information, customer 12 information, non-party employee information, and other proprietary information for which special 13 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action 14 is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 15 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential business 16 practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial information (including 17 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), private medical information, information 18 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from 19 disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to 20 expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 21 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 22 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and 23 in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, 24 a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that 25 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 26 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there 27 is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 28 1 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 2 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated 3 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local Civil Rule 4 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 5 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 6 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and 7 records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to 8 support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th 9 Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. 10 Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require 11 good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper 12 evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party 13 seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as 14 CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, 15 establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 16 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 17 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then compelling 18 reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief sought shall be narrowly 19 tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 20 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be 21 filed or introduced under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 22 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for 23 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 24 under seal must be provided by declaration. 25 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its entirety will 26 not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If documents can be redacted, then 27 a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise 28 1 protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents 2 under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 2.1 Action: Williams v. AB Car Rental Services, Inc.., Case No. 2:23-CV-01418-WBS- 5 CKD. 6 2.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information 7 or items under this Order. 8 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how it is 9 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of 10 Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 11 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their support staff). 12 2.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 13 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of the medium 15 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 16 transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to 17 discovery in this matter. 18 2.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the 19 litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant 20 in this Action. 21 2.8 House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House Counsel 22 does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 23 2.9 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or their legal 24 entity not named as a Party to this action. 25 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party to this Action 26 but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf 27 of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes 28 support staff. 1 2.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 2 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 3 2.12 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material 4 in this Action. 5 2.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support services (e.g., 6 photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, 7 or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 8 2.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 9 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 10 2.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 11 Producing Party. 12 3. SCOPE 13 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as 14 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all 15 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 16 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 17 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This 18 Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 19 4. DURATION 20 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 21 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order 22 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and 23 defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion 24 and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time 25 limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 26 27 28 1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 3 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order 4 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 5 standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 6 documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 7 documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 8 within the ambit of this Order. 9 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown 10 to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily 11 encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 12 parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 13 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 14 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties 15 that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 16 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, 17 e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or 18 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 19 the material is disclosed or produced. 20 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 21 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 22 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party 23 affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each 24 page that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 25 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 26 appropriate markings in the margins). 27 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need not 28 designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would 1 like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made 2 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 3 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 4 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the 5 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 6 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, 7 the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 8 markings in the margins). 9 (b) for testimony given in depositions or pretrial proceedings that the Designating Party 10 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition, 11 hearing, or other proceeding all protected testimony. 12 When it is impractical to identify separately each portion of the testimony that may qualify for 13 protection, and when it appears that substantial portions of the testimony may qualify for protection, 14 either Party or a participating Non-Party may invoke on the record (before the deposition or proceeding 15 is concluded) a right to have up to twenty (20) days following completion of the transcript to identify 16 the specific portions of the testimony as to which protection is sought. Only those portions of the 17 testimony that are appropriately designated for protection within the twenty (20) days shall be covered 18 by the provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order. 19 If practical, transcript pages containing Protected Material must be separately bound 20 by the court reporter. The court reporter must affix to the top of each such page the legend 21 “CONFIDENTIAL” as instructed by the Party or nonparty requesting the designation. 22 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 23 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container 24 or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or 25 portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall 26 identify the protected portion(s). 27 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 28 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right 1 to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the 2 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with 3 the provisions of this Order. 4 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 5 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 6 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 7 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 8 under Local Rule 251 et seq. 9 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 10 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose 11 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. 12 Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 13 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the 14 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 15 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 17 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, 18 defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the 19 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been 20 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 21 DISPOSITION). 22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a 23 secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 24 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by 25 the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 26 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 27 28 1 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as employees 2 of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for 3 this Action; 4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving 5 Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is 7 reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to 8 Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (d) the court and its personnel; 10 (e) court reporters and their staff; 11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 12 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 13 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other 15 person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to whom 17 disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the 18 form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential 19 information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless 20 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition 21 testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the 22 court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 23 Order; 24 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed upon 25 by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions; 26 (j) Insurance carriers and brokers for the undersigned Parties, including their claims 27 representatives, agents, and adjusters to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary in connection with 28 this Action; and 1 (k) Witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary and who have signed 2 the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” (Exhibit A). 3 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 4 LITIGATION 5 If a Receiving Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 6 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that 7 Party must: 8 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy 9 of the subpoena or court order; 10 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the 11 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this 12 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 13 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 14 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 15 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or 16 court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before 17 a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained 18 the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of 19 seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be 20 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive 21 from another court. 22 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS 23 LITIGATION 24 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this 25 Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in 26 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing 27 in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 28 protections. 1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non- 2 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the 3 Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 4 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or 5 all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 6 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order 7 in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the 8 information requested; and 9 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if 10 requested. 11 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of 12 receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s 13 confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a 14 protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control 15 that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 16 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 17 protection in this court of its Protected Material. 18 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 20 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, 21 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 22 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve (or confirm such person or persons have permanently 23 destroyed) all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom 24 unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or 25 persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as 26 Exhibit A. 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED 2 MATERIAL 3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced 4 material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties 5 are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to 6 modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 7 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 8 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by 9 the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement 10 in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 11 12. MISCELLANEOUS 12 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its 13 modification by the Court in the future. 14 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, no 15 Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information 16 or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives 17 any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 18 Order. 19 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material 20 must comply with Local Civil Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to 21 a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to 22 file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the 23 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 24 12.4 Agreement to be Bound Prior to Court Approval. The Parties agree to be bound by the 25 Stipulated Protective Order immediately following its execution and prior to the Court’s approval of 26 the Stipulated Protective Order. Should the Court decline to approve this Stipulated Protective Order, 27 the Parties agree to further meet and confer in good faith regarding a Revised Stipulated Protective 28 Order for the Court’s approval. If the Parties are unable to reach an agreement on the terms of a 1 Revised Stipulated Protective Order after the Parties meet and confer, the Parties agree to return the 2 Protected Material exchanged pursuant to this Stipulated Protective Order and agree the Protected 3 Material will have the same protections as if this Stipulated Protective Order was signed and approved 4 by the Court. 5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 6 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days of a written 7 request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the 8 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” 9 includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing 10 any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 11 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, 12 to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) 13 all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has 14 not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 15 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain 16 an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal 17 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and 18 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such 19 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as 20 set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 21 14. VIOLATION 22 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, without 23 limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 | □□ SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 2 3 4 LIPELES LAW GROUP, APC. 5 Dated: January 30, 2024 is/ Kevin A. Lipeles __ 6 KEVIN A. LIPELES THOMAS H. SCHELLY 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff g CURTIS LEMANN WILLIAMS, JR. 9 10 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 1] 12 | Dated: January 30, 2024 /s/ Jenny Burke PATRICK HICKS 13 DOUGLAS ROPEL JENNY BURKE 14 Attorneys for Defendant 15 AB CAR RENTAL SERVICES, INC. 16 17 | FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. . ; 7 i / 18 | Dated: February 2, 2024 / wd a. na 19 CAROLYN K. DELANEY 20 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 | 3 4 will23cv01418.stip.po 25 26 27 28 15 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 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 have 5 read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 6 District Court for the Eastern District of California on __________________ [date] in the case of 7 Williams v. AB Car Rental Services, Inc., Case No. 2:23-CV-01418-WBS-CKD. I agree to comply 8 with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 9 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 10 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is 11 subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 12 provisions of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern 14 District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even 15 if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint 16 _________________________________ [print or type full name], of _______________________ 17 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in 18 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 19 Order. 20 Date: __________________________ 21 City and State where sworn and signed: ____________________________ 22 Printed Name: _________________________ 23 Signature: ____________________________ 24 25 4861-4784-5024.1 / 035682-1981 26 27 28