Truong Son Market, Inc. v. State Auto Property and Casualty Insurance Company, No. 2:2021cv02058 - Document 46 (W.D. Ark. 2022)

Court Description: OPINION AND ORDER granting 45 Motion for Protective Order. Signed by Honorable P. K. Holmes III on May 25, 2022. (jlm)

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Truong Son Market, Inc. v. State Auto Property and Casualty Insurance Company Doc. 46 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS FORT SMITH DIVISION TRUONG SON MARKET, INC. and 4 STAR GENERAL CONTRACTING, INC. v. PLAINTIFFS No. 2:21-CV-02058 STATE AUTO PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY DEFENDANT OPINION AND ORDER Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion (Doc. 45) for protective order and proposed protective order (Doc. 45-1). The parties seek protection of trade secrets, confidential commercial information, and other sensitive or proprietary information. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will GRANT the motion and enter a revised protective order. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G) provides that “[t]he court may, for good cause, issue an order to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense” by “requiring that a trade secret or other confidential research, development or commercial information not be revealed or be revealed only in a specific way.” “The burden is therefore upon the movant to show the necessity of its issuance, which contemplates ‘a particular and specific demonstration of fact, as distinguished from stereotyped and conclusory statements.’” Gen. Dynamics Corp. v. Selb Mfg. Co., 481 F.2d 1204, 1212 (8th Cir. 1973) (citing Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2035 at 264-65). The parties have shown good cause for the entry of a protective order as to documents containing confidential and/or proprietary information. Trade secrets and other confidential commercial information fall squarely within the ambit of Rule 26(c). “Where discovery of confidential commercial information is involved, the court must ‘balance the risk of disclosure to 1 Dockets.Justia.com competitors against the risk that a protective order will impair prosecution or defense of the claims.’” Bussing v. COR Clearing, LLC, No. 12CV238, 2015 WL 4077993, at *2 (D. Neb. July 6, 2015) (quoting Nutratech, Inc. v. Syntech (SSPF) Int’l, Inc., 242 F.R.D. 552, 555 (C.D. Cal. 2007)). Here, entry of a protective order will impair neither prosecution nor the defense of the claims because the parties are in agreement as to the proposed protective order. The Court finds that good cause has been shown for the entry of a protective order regarding documents containing trade secrets or other confidential commercial information. The proposed protective order also includes information relating to personnel matters. Courts routinely protect employee personnel files. See Kampfe v. Petsmart, Inc., 304 F.R.D. 554, 559 (N.D. Iowa 2015); see also Nuckles v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 06CV00178, 2007 WL 1381651, at *1 (E.D. Ark. May 10, 2007); Williams v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs, No. 98-2485, 2000 WL 133433, at *1 (D. Kan. Jan. 21, 2000) (holding that “personnel files and records are confidential in nature and that, in most circumstances, they should be protected from wide dissemination”). The Court finds that good cause has been shown for entry of a protective order regarding documents containing personal information. The Court will separately enter a revised protective order which complies with the Court’s standard procedure for filing documents under seal, does not allow modification of the protective order except by order of the Court, and clarifies that the protective order will not benefit only one party, but instead either party may designate information confidential as set forth in the protective order. IT IS SO ORDERED this 25th day of May, 2022. /s/P. K. Holmes, ΙΙΙ P.K. HOLMES, III U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE 2

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