Hudson v. Costco Wholesale Corp. ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOYCE HUDSON, et al., Case No. 2:24-cv-01728-KJM-CSK 12 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING MODIFIED 13 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER v. 14 (ECF No. 3) COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP., 15 Defendant. 16 17 The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order below (ECF No. 3), 18 and finds it comports with the relevant authorities and the Court’s Local Rule. See L.R. 19 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following clarification. 20 The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain 21 jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R. 22 141.1(f); see Bylin Heating Sys., Inc. v. Thermal Techs., Inc., 2012 WL 13237584, at *2 23 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2012) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain 24 jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, the 25 Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed. 26 Further, the protective order appears to contain references to California Rules of 27 Evidence. See Stip. Prot. Order ¶ 1 (g) (referencing California Evidence Code Sections 1 || of evidence, the Court rejects these references and reminds the parties to refer to the 2 || applicable rules of evidence under the Federal Rules of Evidence. 4||Dated: October 17, 2024 5 ( han Spo \ GHI 500 KIM 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 8 4, huds1728.24 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 FREEMAN MATHIS & GARY, LLP 2 Sharon C. Collier (State Bar No. 203450) sharon.collier@fmglaw.com 3 Nathaniel L. Dunn (State Bar No. 255661) nate.dunn@fmglaw.com 4 1850 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Suite 510 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 5 Telephone: 925.210.2283 Facsimile: 833.317.0293 6 7 Attorneys for Defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 JOYCE HUDSON, an individual and SHAUN Case No.: 2:24-cv-01728-KJM-CSK 13 HUDSON, an individual 14 Plaintiffs, STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] v. PROTECTIVE ORDER 15 COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION; and 16 DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, 17 Defendants. 18 19 20 21 22 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Plaintiffs JOYCE HUDSON and 23 SHAUN HUDSON and Defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION (collectively, the 24 “Parties”), by and through their respective counsel of record, that in order to facilitate the 25 exchange of information and documents which may be subject to confidentiality limitations on 26 disclosure due to federal laws, state laws, and privacy rights, the Parties stipulate as follows: 1 2 /// 3 1. In this Stipulation and Protective Order, the words set forth below shall have the 4 following meanings: 5 a. “Proceeding” means the above-entitled proceeding entitled Hudson, et al. v. 6 Costco Wholesale Corporation, et al., Eastern District of California Case No.: 2:24-cv-01728- 7 KJM-CSK. 8 b. “Court” means any judge to which this Proceeding may be assigned, 9 including Court staff participating in such proceedings. 10 c. “Confidential” means any information which is in the possession of a 11 Designating Party who believes in good faith that such information is entitled to confidential 12 treatment under applicable law. 13 d. “Confidential Materials” means any Documents, Testimony or Information 14 as defined below designated as “Confidential” pursuant to the provisions of this Stipulation and 15 Protective Order. 16 e. “Designating Party” means the Party that designates Materials as 17 “Confidential.” 18 f. “Disclose” or “Disclosed” or “Disclosure” means to reveal, divulge, give, or 19 make available Materials, or any part thereof, or any information contained therein. 20 g. “Documents” means (i) any “Writing,” “Original,” and “Duplicate” as those 21 terms are defined by California Evidence Code Sections 250, 255, and 260, which have been 22 produced in discovery in this Proceeding by any person, and (ii) any copies, reproductions, or 23 summaries of all or any part of the foregoing. 24 h. “Information” means the content of Documents or Testimony. 25 i. “Testimony” means all depositions, declarations or other testimony taken or 26 used in this Proceeding. 1 2. The Designating Party shall have the right to designate as “Confidential” any 2 Documents, Testimony or Information that the Designating Party in good faith believes to contain 3 non-public information that is entitled to confidential treatment under applicable law. 4 3. The entry of this Stipulation and Protective Order does not alter, waive, modify, or 5 abridge any right, privilege or protection otherwise available to any Party with respect to the 6 discovery of matters, including but not limited to any Party’s right to assert the attorney-client 7 privilege, the attorney work product doctrine, or other privileges, or any Party’s right to contest 8 any such assertion. 9 4. Any Documents, Testimony or Information to be designated as “Confidential” must 10 be clearly so designated before the Document, Testimony or Information is Disclosed or produced. 11 The parties may agree that the case name and number are to be part of the “Confidential” 12 designation. The “Confidential” designation should not obscure or interfere with the legibility of 13 the designated Information. 14 a. For Documents (apart from transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or 15 trial proceedings), the Designating Party must affix the legend “Confidential” on each page of any 16 Document containing such designated Confidential Material. 17 b. For Testimony given in depositions the Designating Party may either: 18 i. identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, all 19 “Confidential” Testimony, by specifying all portions of the Testimony that qualify as 20 “Confidential;” or 21 ii. designate the entirety of the Testimony at the deposition as 22 “Confidential” (before the deposition is concluded) with the right to identify more specific 23 portions of the Testimony as to which protection is sought within 30 days following receipt of the 24 deposition transcript. In circumstances where portions of the deposition Testimony are designated 25 for protection, the transcript pages containing “Confidential” Information may be separately 26 bound by the court reporter, who must affix to the top of each page the legend “Confidential,” as 1 instructed by the Designating Party. 2 c. For Information produced in some form other than Documents, and for any 3 other tangible items, including, without limitation, compact discs or DVDs, the Designating Party 4 must affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the 5 Information or item is stored the legend “Confidential.” If only portions of the Information or item 6 warrant protection, the Designating Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 7 “Confidential” portions. 8 5. The inadvertent production by any of the undersigned Parties or non-Parties to the 9 Proceedings of any Document, Testimony or Information during discovery in this Proceeding 10 without a “Confidential” designation, shall be without prejudice to any claim that such item is 11 “Confidential” and such Party shall not be held to have waived any rights by such inadvertent 12 production. In the event that any Document, Testimony or Information that is subject to a 13 “Confidential” designation is inadvertently produced without such designation, the Party that 14 inadvertently produced the document shall give written notice of such inadvertent production 15 within twenty (20) days of discovery of the inadvertent production, together with a further copy of 16 the subject Document, Testimony or Information designated as “Confidential” (the “Inadvertent 17 Production Notice”). Upon receipt of such Inadvertent Production Notice, the Party that received 18 the inadvertently produced Document, Testimony or Information shall promptly destroy the 19 inadvertently produced Document, Testimony or Information and all copies thereof, or, at the 20 expense of the producing Party, return such together with all copies of such Document, Testimony 21 or Information to counsel for the producing Party and shall retain only the “Confidential” 22 designated Materials. Should the receiving Party choose to destroy such inadvertently produced 23 Document, Testimony or Information, the receiving Party shall notify the producing Party in 24 writing of such destruction within ten (10) days of receipt of written notice of the inadvertent 25 production. This provision is not intended to apply to any inadvertent production of any 26 Information protected by attorney-client or work product privileges. In the event that this 1 provision conflicts with any applicable law regarding waiver of confidentiality through the 2 inadvertent production of Documents, Testimony or Information, such law shall govern. 3 In the event that counsel for a Party receiving Documents, Testimony or Information in 4 discovery designated as “Confidential” objects to such designation with respect to any or all of 5 such items, said counsel shall advise counsel for the Designating Party, in writing, of such 6 objections, the specific Documents, Testimony or Information to which each objection pertains, 7 and the specific reasons and support for such objections (the “Designation Objections”). Counsel 8 for the Designating Party shall have thirty (30) days from receipt of the written Designation 9 Objections to either (a) agree in writing to de-designate Documents, Testimony or Information 10 pursuant to any or all of the Designation Objections and/or (b) file a motion with the Court 11 seeking to uphold any or all designations on Documents, Testimony or Information addressed by 12 the Designation Objections (the “Designation Motion”). Pending a resolution of the Designation 13 Motion by the Court, any and all existing designations on the Documents, Testimony or 14 Information at issue in such Motion shall remain in place. The Designating Party shall have the 15 burden on any Designation Motion of establishing the applicability of its “Confidential” 16 designation. In the event that the Designation Objections are neither timely agreed to nor timely 17 addressed in the Designation Motion, then such Documents, Testimony or Information shall be de- 18 designated in accordance with the Designation Objection applicable to such material. 19 6. Access to and/or Disclosure of Confidential Materials designated as “Confidential” 20 shall be permitted only to the following persons: 21 a. the Court; 22 b. (1) Attorneys of record in the Proceedings and their affiliated attorneys, 23 paralegals, clerical and secretarial staff employed by such attorneys who are actively involved in 24 the Proceedings and are not employees of any Party. (2) In-house counsel to the undersigned 25 Parties and the paralegal, clerical and secretarial staff employed by such counsel. Provided, 26 however, that each non-lawyer given access to Confidential Materials shall be advised that such 1 Materials are being Disclosed pursuant to, and are subject to, the terms of this Stipulation and 2 Protective Order and that they may not be Disclosed other than pursuant to its terms; 3 c. those officers, directors, partners, members, employees and agents of all 4 non-designating Parties that counsel for such Parties deems necessary to aid counsel in the 5 prosecution and defense of this Proceeding; provided, however, that prior to the Disclosure of 6 Confidential Materials to any such officer, director, partner, member, employee or agent, counsel 7 for the Party making the Disclosure shall deliver a copy of this Stipulation and Protective Order to 8 such person, shall explain that such person is bound to follow the terms of such Order, and shall 9 secure the signature of such person on a statement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A; 10 d. court reporters in this Proceeding (whether at depositions, hearings, or any 11 other proceeding); 12 e. any deposition, trial or hearing witness in the Proceeding who previously 13 has had access to the Confidential Materials, or who is currently or was previously an officer, 14 director, partner, member, employee or agent of an entity that has had access to the Confidential 15 Materials; 16 f. any deposition or non-trial hearing witness in the Proceeding who 17 previously did not have access to the Confidential Materials; provided, however, that each such 18 witness given access to Confidential Materials shall be advised that such Materials are being 19 Disclosed pursuant to, and are subject to, the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order and 20 that they may not be Disclosed other than pursuant to its terms; 21 g. mock jury participants, provided, however, that prior to the Disclosure of 22 Confidential Materials to any such mock jury participant, counsel for the Party making the 23 Disclosure shall deliver a copy of this Stipulation and Protective Order to such person, shall 24 explain that such person is bound to follow the terms of such Order, and shall secure the signature 25 of such person on a statement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A. 26 h. outside experts or expert consultants consulted by the undersigned Parties 1 or their counsel in connection with the Proceeding, whether or not retained to testify at any oral 2 hearing; provided, however, that prior to the Disclosure of Confidential Materials to any such 3 expert or expert consultant, counsel for the Party making the Disclosure shall deliver a copy of this 4 Stipulation and Protective Order to such person, shall explain its terms to such person, and shall 5 secure the signature of such person on a statement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A. It shall 6 be the obligation of counsel, upon learning of any breach or threatened breach of this Stipulation 7 and Protective Order by any such expert or expert consultant, to promptly notify counsel for the 8 Designating Party of such breach or threatened breach; and 9 i. any other person that the Designating Party agrees to in writing. 10 7. Confidential Materials shall be used by the persons receiving them only for the 11 purposes of preparing for, conducting, participating in the conduct of, and/or prosecuting and/or 12 defending the Proceeding, and not for any business or other purpose whatsoever. 13 8. Any Party to the Proceeding (or other person subject to the terms of this Stipulation 14 and Protective Order) may ask the Court, after appropriate notice to the other Parties to the 15 Proceeding, to modify or grant relief from any provision of this Stipulation and Protective Order. 16 9. Entering into, agreeing to, and/or complying with the terms of this Stipulation and 17 Protective Order shall not: 18 a. operate as an admission by any person that any particular Document, 19 Testimony or Information marked “Confidential” contains or reflects trade secrets, proprietary, 20 confidential or competitively sensitive business, commercial, financial or personal information; or 21 b. prejudice in any way the right of any Party (or any other person subject to 22 the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order): 23 i. to seek a determination by the Court of whether any particular 24 Confidential Material should be subject to protection as “Confidential” under the terms of this 25 Stipulation and Protective Order; or 26 ii. to seek relief from the Court on appropriate notice to all other 1 Parties to the Proceeding from any provision(s) of this Stipulation and Protective Order, either 2 generally or as to any particular Document, Material or Information. 3 10. Any Party to the Proceeding who has not executed this Stipulation and Protective 4 Order as of the time it is presented to the Court for signature may thereafter become a Party to this 5 Stipulation and Protective Order by its counsel’s signing and dating a copy thereof and filing the 6 same with the Court, and serving copies of such signed and dated copy upon the other Parties to 7 this Stipulation and Protective Order. 8 11. Any Information that may be produced by a non-Party witness in discovery in the 9 Proceeding pursuant to subpoena or otherwise may be designated by such non-Party as 10 “Confidential” under the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order, and any such designation 11 by a non-Party shall have the same force and effect, and create the same duties and obligations, as 12 if made by one of the undersigned Parties hereto. Any such designation shall also function as a 13 consent by such producing Party to the authority of the Court in the Proceeding to resolve and 14 conclusively determine any motion or other application made by any person or Party with respect 15 to such designation, or any other matter otherwise arising under this Stipulation and Protective 16 Order. 17 12. If any person subject to this Stipulation and Protective Order who has custody of 18 any Confidential Materials receives a subpoena or other process (“Subpoena”) from any 19 government or other person or entity demanding production of Confidential Materials, the 20 recipient of the Subpoena shall promptly give notice of the same by electronic mail transmission, 21 followed by either express mail or overnight delivery to counsel of record for the Designating 22 Party, and shall furnish such counsel with a copy of the Subpoena. Upon receipt of this notice, the 23 Designating Party may, in its sole discretion and at its own cost, move to quash or limit the 24 Subpoena, otherwise oppose production of the Confidential Materials, and/or seek to obtain 25 confidential treatment of such Confidential Materials from the subpoenaing person or entity to the 26 fullest extent available under law. The recipient of the Subpoena may not produce any Documents, 1 Testimony or Information pursuant to the Subpoena prior to the date specified for production on 2 the Subpoena. 3 13. Nothing in this Stipulation and Protective Order shall be construed to preclude 4 either Party from asserting in good faith that certain Confidential Materials require additional 5 protection. The Parties shall meet and confer to agree upon the terms of such additional protection. 6 14. If, after execution of this Stipulation and Protective Order, any Confidential 7 Materials submitted by a Designating Party under the terms of this Stipulation and Protective 8 Order is Disclosed by a non-Designating Party to any person other than in the manner authorized 9 by this Stipulation and Protective Order, the non-Designating Party responsible for the Disclosure 10 shall bring all pertinent facts relating to the Disclosure of such Confidential Materials to the 11 immediate attention of the Designating Party. 12 15. This Stipulation and Protective Order is entered into without prejudice to the right 13 of any Party to knowingly waive the applicability of this Stipulation and Protective Order to any 14 Confidential Materials designated by that Party. If the Designating Party uses Confidential 15 Materials in a non-Confidential manner, then the Designating Party shall advise that the 16 designation no longer applies. 17 16. The Parties shall meet and confer regarding the procedures for use of Confidential 18 Materials at trial and shall move the Court for entry of an appropriate order. 19 17. Nothing in this Stipulation and Protective Order shall affect the admissibility into 20 evidence of Confidential Materials, or abridge the rights of any person to seek judicial review or to 21 pursue other appropriate judicial action with respect to any ruling made by the Court concerning 22 the issue of the status of Protected Material. 23 18. This Stipulation and Protective Order shall continue to be binding after the 24 conclusion of this Proceeding and all subsequent proceedings arising from this Proceeding, except 25 that a Party may seek the written permission of the Designating Party or may move the Court for 26 relief from the provisions of this Stipulation and Protective Order. To the extent permitted by law, 1 the Court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce, modify, or reconsider this Stipulation and Protective 2 Order, even after the Proceeding is terminated. 3 19. Upon written request made within thirty (30) days after the settlement or other 4 termination of the Proceeding, the undersigned Parties shall have thirty (30) days to either (a) 5 promptly return to counsel for each Designating Party all Confidential Materials and all copies 6 thereof (except that counsel for each Party may maintain in its files, in continuing compliance with 7 the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order, all work product, and one copy of each pleading 8 filed with the Court (b) agree with counsel for the Designating Party upon appropriate methods 9 and certification of destruction or other disposition of such Confidential Materials, or (c) as to any 10 Documents, Testimony or other Information not addressed by sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), file a 11 motion seeking a Court order regarding proper preservation of such Materials. To the extent 12 permitted by law the Court shall retain continuing jurisdiction to review and rule upon the motion 13 referred to in sub-paragraph (c) herein. 14 20. After this Stipulation and Protective Order has been signed by counsel for all 15 Parties, it shall be presented to the Court for entry. Counsel agrees to be bound by the terms set 16 forth herein with regard to any Confidential Materials that have been produced before the Court 17 signs this Stipulation and Protective Order. 18 21. The Parties and all signatories to the Certification attached hereto as Exhibit A 19 agree to be bound by this Stipulation and Protective Order pending its approval and entry by the 20 Court. In the event that the Court modifies this Stipulation and Protective Order, or in the event 21 that the Court enters a different Protective Order, the Parties agree to be bound by this Stipulation 22 and Protective Order until such time as the Court may enter such a different Order. It is the 23 Parties’ intent to be bound by the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order pending its entry 24 so as to allow for immediate production of Confidential Materials under the terms herein. 25 This Stipulation and Protective Order may be executed in counterparts. 26 1 || /// /// 3 || DATED: 10/11/2024 __ Ne GARY 4 we : AA, 5 By: a □ Nathaniel L. Dunn 6 Attorneys for Defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION 8 g || DATED: 10/11/2020 | AYALA, MORGAN & BUZZARD 10 By: /S/ Thomas A. Morgan 11 Thomas A. Morgan Attorneys for Plaintiffs JOYCE HUDSON AND SHAUN HUDSON 13 14 15 16 ORDER 17 GOOD CAUSE APPEARING, the Court hereby approves this Stipulation and Protective 18 || Order. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 Q1|/DATED: ees eee 22 JUDGE OF THE UNITED STATES 23 DISTRICT COURT 24 25 26 7 13 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I hereby acknowledge that I, [NAME, POSITION AND EMPLOYER] 4 ______________________________________________, am about to receive Confidential 5 Materials supplied in connection with the Proceeding, Hudson, et al. v. Costco Wholesale 6 Corporation, et al., Eastern District of California Case No.: 2:24-cv-01728-KJM-CSK. I certify 7 that I understand that the Confidential Materials are provided to me subject to the terms and 8 restrictions of the Stipulation and Protective Order filed in this Proceeding. I have been given 9 a copy of the Stipulation and Protective Order; I have read it, and I agree to be bound by its 10 terms. 11 I understand that Confidential Materials, as defined in the Stipulation and Protective 12 Order, including any notes or other records that may be made regarding any such materials, 13 shall not be Disclosed to anyone except as expressly permitted by the Stipulation and Protective 14 Order. I will not copy or use, except solely for the purposes of this Proceeding, any Confidential 15 Materials obtained pursuant to this Protective Order, except as provided therein or otherwise 16 ordered by the Court in the Proceeding. 17 I further understand that I am to retain all copies of all Confidential Materials provided 18 to me in the Proceeding in a secure manner, and that all copies of such Materials are to remain 19 in my personal custody until termination of my participation in this Proceeding, whereupon the 20 copies of such Materials will be returned to counsel who provided me with such Materials. 21 22 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States and the State of 23 California that the foregoing is true and correct. 24 25 26 Dated: _________ Signed: ________________________ 27 Freeman Mathis