David Walker v. CBS Broadcasting Inc. et al, No. 2:2020cv10370 - Document 42 (C.D. Cal. 2020)
Court Description: ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Jean P. Rosenbluth re Stipulation for Protective Order 34 . [See document for details.] (et)
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David Walker v. CBS Broadcasting Inc. et al Doc. 42 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 WESTERN DIVISION 11 DAVID WALKER, an individual, Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) 12 Plaintiff, (Removed from Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No.: 20STCV38774) v. 13 14 15 CBS BROADCASTING, INC., a New York Corporation, MITCHELL SPACONE, an individual, and DOES 110, inclusive, 16 Defendants. 17 ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER [DISCOVERY MATTER] Complaint Filed: October 8, 2020 Ctrm.: District Judge: 18 7A John F. Walter Roybal Bldg. Ctrm: 690 Magistrate Judge: Jean P. Rosenbluth 19 20 Trial Date: Not Set 21 22 Counsel for the parties have presented to the Court their Stipulated Protective 23 Order as follows: 24 1. INTRODUCTION 25 1.1 26 Discovery in this action may involve production of confidential, proprietary, or PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 27 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 28 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, -1Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER Dockets.Justia.com 1 the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 2 Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 3 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it 4 affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or 5 items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 6 The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3 below, that this Order 7 does not entitle them to file Confidential Information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79- 8 5 and the Standing Order issued in this Action (Dkt. No. 9) set forth the procedures 9 that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a Party seeks 10 permission from the Court to file material under seal. 11 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 12 This case concerns Plaintiff David Walker’s (“Plaintiff’s”) claims that he was 13 not granted proper accommodations for his alleged disability and that his employment 14 was wrongfully terminated on the basis of his age and/or disability. Defendants CBS 15 Broadcasting Inc. (“CBS”) and Mitchell Spacone (“Spacone,” collectively with CBS, 16 “Defendants”) contend there was no failure to accommodate Plaintiff and that 17 Plaintiff’s termination was for a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason related to 18 defendant CBS’s business needs. Discovery in this case likely may include personal 19 and private information concerning Non-Parties, as well as valuable commercial and 20 proprietary information concerning the operation of defendant CBS’s business, for 21 which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other 22 than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary 23 materials and information consist of, among other things, information regarding 24 confidential business practices concerning competitively sensitive policies and 25 practices regarding the operation of CBS television stations, and information 26 implicating the privacy rights of third parties, including but not limited to dates of 27 birth and employment information, which information is otherwise generally 28 unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from -2Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. 2 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of 3 disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information 4 the Parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the Parties are permitted 5 reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of 6 trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, 7 a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the 8 Parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and 9 that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in 10 a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of 11 the public record of this case. 12 2. DEFINITIONS 13 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 14 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation 15 16 of information or items under this Order. 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 17 how it is generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 18 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and as specified above in the Good Cause 19 Statement. 20 21 22 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their support staff). 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Nonparty that designates information or 23 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 24 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 25 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 26 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 27 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 28 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. -3Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 3 expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 4 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action. 5 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 6 counsel. 7 8 2.9 Nonparty: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 9 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a Party 10 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party and have appeared in this 11 Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on 12 behalf of that Party, including support staff. 2.11 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 13 14 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 15 support staffs). 16 17 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action. 18 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 19 services (for example, photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 20 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 21 and their employees and subcontractors. 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 22 23 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 24 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 25 from a Producing Party. 26 3. SCOPE 27 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 28 Protected Material (as defined above) but also any information copied or extracted -4Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 from Protected Material; all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 2 Material; and any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 3 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 4 5 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 6 4. 7 DURATION Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 8 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise 9 in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition is the later of (1) 10 dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice, or (2) 11 final judgment after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 12 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any 13 motions or applications for extension of time under applicable law. 14 5. 15 DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 5.1 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for 16 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific 17 material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 18 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or 19 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 20 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 21 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 22 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 23 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 24 purpose (for example, to unnecessarily encumber the case-development process or to 25 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 26 Designating Party to sanctions. 27 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items it 28 designated for protection do not qualify for that level of protection, that Designating -5Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 2 designation. 3 5.2 Except as otherwise provided in this Order, Disclosure or Discovery 4 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated 5 before the material is disclosed or produced. 6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: (a) for information in documentary form (for example, paper or 7 8 electronic documents but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 9 proceedings), the Producing Party must affix at a minimum the legend 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion 11 or portions of the material on a page qualify for protection, the Producing Party must 12 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate markings 13 in the margins). 14 A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents available for inspection 15 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 16 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 17 before the designation, all material made available for inspection must be treated as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 19 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or 20 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the 21 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend 22 to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the 23 material on a page qualify for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 24 identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate markings in the 25 margins). 26 (b) for testimony given in depositions, the Designating Party must 27 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material that is protected on the record, before 28 the close of the deposition. -6Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 2 for any other tangible items, the Producing Party must affix in a prominent place on 3 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 4 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrant 5 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, must identify the protected 6 portion(s). 5.3 7 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified 8 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to 9 secure protection under this Order for that material. On timely correction of a 10 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the 11 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 12 6. 13 14 6.1 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of confidentiality at any time consistent with the Court’s scheduling order. 6.2 15 16 CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS The Challenging Party must initiate the dispute-resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37. 6.3 17 The burden of persuasion in any such proceeding is on the Designating 18 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (for example, to 19 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), may expose the 20 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 21 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties must continue to afford the 22 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 23 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 24 7. 25 ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 7.1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 26 produced by another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this Action only for 27 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material 28 may be disclosed only to the categories of people and under the conditions described -7Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply 2 with the provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 4 location and in a manner sufficiently secure to ensure that access is limited to the 5 people authorized under this Order. 6 7.2 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 7 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 8 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to the following people: 9 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 10 well as employees of that Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 11 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 12 13 14 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 15 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 16 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (d) the Court and its personnel; 18 (e) court reporters and their staff; 19 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 20 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 21 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 23 24 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; (h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for witnesses to 25 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, provided that the deposing party requests 26 that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto and the witnesses will not 27 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the form, unless 28 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of -8Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 2 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 3 anyone except as permitted under this Order; and (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 4 5 mutually agreed on by any of the Parties engaged in settlement discussions or 6 appointed by the Court. 7 8. 8 OTHER LITIGATION 9 PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 10 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 11 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 12 13 must include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 14 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 15 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 16 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification must include a 17 copy of this Order; and (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 18 19 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 20 21 the subpoena or court order should not produce any information designated in this 22 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination on the protective-order request 23 by the relevant court unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. 24 The Designating Party bears the burden and expense of seeking protection of its 25 Confidential Material, and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 26 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 27 directive from another court. 28 /// -9Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 9. A NONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 2 IN THIS LITIGATION 3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 4 Nonparty in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information is 5 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 6 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from seeking additional 7 protections. (b) In the event that a Party is required by a valid discovery request to 8 9 produce a Nonparty’s Confidential Information in its possession and the Party is 10 subject to an agreement with the Nonparty not to produce the Nonparty’s Confidential 11 Information, then the Party must (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 12 13 Nonparty that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 14 agreement with a Nonparty; (2) promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of this Order, the 15 16 relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information 17 requested; and (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 18 19 Nonparty, if requested. (c) If the Nonparty fails to seek a protective order within 21 days of 20 21 receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce 22 the Nonparty’s Confidential Information responsive to the discovery request. If the 23 Nonparty timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party must not produce any 24 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 25 with the Nonparty before a ruling on the protective-order request. Absent a court 26 order to the contrary, the Nonparty must bear the burden and expense of seeking 27 protection of its Protected Material. 28 /// -10Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 10. 2 UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL If a Receiving Party learns that by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 3 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 4 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately notify the Designating Party in writing 5 of the unauthorized disclosures, use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies 6 of the Protected Material, inform the person or people to whom unauthorized 7 disclosures were made of the terms of this Order, and ask that person or people to 8 execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as 9 Exhibit A. 10 11. 11 PROTECTED MATERIAL 12 INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 13 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 14 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 15 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 16 12. 17 18 19 MISCELLANEOUS 12.1 Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its modification by the Court. 12.2 By stipulating to the entry of this Order, no Party waives any right it 20 otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on 21 any ground not addressed in this Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object 22 on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Order. 23 12.3 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply 24 with Civil Local Rule 79-5 and the Standing Order issued in this Action (Dkt. No. 9). 25 Protected Material may be filed under seal only pursuant to a court order authorizing 26 the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file 27 Protected Material under seal is denied, then the Receiving Party may file the 28 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. -11Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 3 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 4 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 5 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 6 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 7 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 8 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 9 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that identifies (by 10 category, when appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 11 and affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 12 compilations, summaries, or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 13 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 14 archival copy of all pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and hearing 15 transcripts; legal memoranda; correspondence; deposition and trial exhibits; expert 16 reports; attorney work product; and consultant and expert work product even if such 17 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 18 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Order as set forth in Section 4 19 (DURATION). 20 14. SANCTIONS 21 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 22 contempt, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or 23 other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 24 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, THE FOREGONG PROTECTIVE ORDER IS 25 GRANTED AND IT IS SO ORDERED. 26 DATED: December 16, 2020 27 28 _________________________________ HON. JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE -12Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 1 2 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of David Walker v. CBS Broadcasting Inc., et al., C.D. Cal. Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment, including contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full name] of _______________________________________ [full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. Date: ______________________________________ City and State where signed: _________________________________ 23 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ Signature: __________________________________ 26 27 28 -13Case No. 2:20-CV-10370 JFW (JPR) [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
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