S.G. v. Vagabond Inn Corporation et al, No. 8:2021cv00955 - Document 145 (C.D. Cal. 2023)
Court Description: ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER AS TO IDENTITY OF PLAINTIFF S.G. (Doc. #144), by Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes 144 . SEE DOCUMEENT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. (twdb)
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S.G. v. Vagabond Inn Corporation et al 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Doc. 145 KAI PETERS (SBN: 198516) kpeters@grsm.com GORDON REES SCULLY MANSUKHANI, LLP 275 Battery Street, Suite 2000 San Francisco, CA 94111 Telephone: (415) 875-3179 Facsimile: (415) 986-8054 SARA M. TURNER (Pro Hac Vice) smturner@bakerdonelson.com BAKER, DONELSON, BEARMAN CALDWELL & BERKOWITZ, PC 420 20th Street North, Suite 1400 Birmingham, Alabama 35203 Telephone: (205) 328-0480 Facsimile: (205) 322-8007 Attorneys for Defendant CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 14 S.G., an individual, Case No. 8:21-cv-00955-SSS-KESx Plaintiff, 15 v. 16 17 20 VAGABOND INN CORP.; CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC.; AND WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS, INC., 21 Defendants. 18 19 ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER AS TO IDENTITY OF PLAINTIFF S.G. (Doc. #144) HEARING: N/A TIME: N/A JUDGE: HON. SUNSHINE S. SYKES 22 23 24 25 On April 11, 2023, the Parties filed a stipulation seeking the entry of a proposed 26 protective order pursuant to Local Rule 7.1 relating to the use and disclosure of the 27 identity of Plaintiff, who—for purposes of pre-trial public filings—is proceeding by 28 pseudonym. 1 Dockets.Justia.com 1 2 3 The Court, having considered the Parties’ proposed stipulated protective order, hereby GRANTS the stipulated protective order and ORDERS as follows: 1. Immediately upon the entry of this Order, Plaintiff shall provide 4 Defendants with (1) Plaintiff’s full name, maiden name, alias names used at any time, 5 and date of birth (“Plaintiff’s Identity”); and (2) the full name(s) of Plaintiff’s alleged 6 trafficker(s), maiden names, aliases used at any time, date(s) of birth, and last known 7 contact information (“Traffickers’ Identity”), and the corresponding information for 8 the affiliates of any alleged traffickers. Disclosures will be made to the extent they are 9 known to or recalled by Plaintiff or within her care, custody, or control or that of her 10 counsel. If the identity of Plaintiff’s trafficker(s) or any of the trafficker(s)’ affiliates, 11 or any other details, become known to Plaintiff or her counsel after her initial 12 disclosures, Plaintiff will supplement her disclosures. 13 2. Notwithstanding anything in this Order, Defendants expressly reserve their 14 rights to request from Plaintiff during the course of discovery any other information 15 that is related to Plaintiff’s Identity or that of her alleged trafficker(s), such as, but not 16 limited to, any medical, educational, financial, employment, or other information. 17 Relatedly, Plaintiff agrees that nothing in this Protective Order relieves Plaintiff of the 18 obligation to produce any discoverable documents or information that Plaintiff would 19 otherwise be required to produce in the normal course of discovery. The protections 20 conferred by this stipulation do not cover information that is in the public domain or 21 becomes part of the public domain through trial or otherwise. 22 3. The Parties agree that Plaintiff is permitted to proceed pseudonymously 23 throughout the pre-trial course of these proceedings without prejudice as to Defendants 24 seeking relief from such protection. The Parties exclusively will reference the Plaintiff 25 through the pseudonym “S.G.” or as “Plaintiff” in all public filings, throughout the 26 course of discovery, and in all pre-trial Court proceedings until the time of trial. The 27 Parties dispute whether the use of a pseudonym is appropriate at trial (in documents or 28 otherwise) and agree to revisit the issue at the time of trial. 2 1 4. The Parties shall generally keep Plaintiff’s Identity confidential in 2 accordance with this Order until the time of trial and until the Court has ruled upon this 3 issue. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Parties may only disclose Plaintiff's Identity 4 to the following: 5 a. The Parties, including the current employees, officers, and 6 representatives of the Parties, as reasonably needed to litigate or investigate any 7 claims or defenses, provided that such individuals are advised that Plaintiff’s 8 Identity is to be kept confidential as set forth herein; 9 b. Former employees, officers, and representatives of the Parties as 10 reasonably needed to litigate any claims or defenses, provided that such individuals 11 are advised that Plaintiff considers the matters raised in this action to be sensitive 12 and, therefore, requests that witnesses act with discretion; 13 14 c. 17 18 for the Parties and employees, agents, and representatives of counsel as reasonably needed to litigate any claims or defenses; 15 16 Counsel d. Insurers for the Parties and employees, agents, and representatives of the insurers as needed to investigate the Action, and only after each person has agreed to keep the information confidential by signing the form attached as Exhibit A; 19 20 21 22 The Court, Court personnel, and members of the jury; f. Court reporters, recorders, and videographers engaged for g. Any mediator appointed by the Court or jointly selected by the h. Any Expert, outside consultant, or investigator retained by the depositions; 23 24 e. Parties; 25 26 27 28 Parties or Outside Counsel of Record specifically in connection with this Action, and only after each person has agreed to keep the information confidential by signing 3 1 the form attached as Exhibit A; 2 i. Professional Vendors and other independent providers of 3 document production, electronic discovery, or other litigation services, including 4 focus groups, retained or employed specifically in connection with this litigation; 5 j. Government agencies and agency personnel, but only to the extent 6 that the disclosure of Plaintiff’s Identity is reasonably needed to investigate or 7 litigate any claims or defenses or to comply with any legal obligations or 8 requirements; 9 k. Any potential, anticipated, or actual fact witnesses (except the 10 alleged trafficker, see infra § 5), but only to the extent that the disclosure of 11 Plaintiff’s Identity is reasonably needed to investigate or litigate any claims or 12 defenses, and provided that (i) any such witness shall not retain copies of any 13 documents produced by Plaintiff reflecting Plaintiff’s Identity that may be provided 14 by the parties to a witness; and (ii) such witnesses are advised that Plaintiff considers 15 the matters raised in this action to be sensitive and, therefore, requests that witnesses 16 act with discretion; and 17 18 l. Such other persons as hereafter may be designated by written agreement in this Action or by order of the Court. 19 5. Defendants shall refrain from disclosing Plaintiff’s Identity to the 20 alleged trafficker for a period of thirty (30) days from the date this Protective Order 21 is entered by the Court, during which time Plaintiff may file a motion for a separate 22 protective order governing the disclosure of Plaintiff’s Identity to the alleged 23 trafficker. In the event Plaintiff timely files such a motion, Plaintiff’s Identity shall 24 not be disclosed to the alleged trafficker until such time as Plaintiff’s motion is 25 resolved by the Court. If such a motion is not timely filed, the disclosure of 26 Plaintiff’s Identity to the alleged trafficker shall be governed by the terms of Section 27 4(k). 28 6. This Protective Order is voided by any intentional act of the anonymous 4 1 Plaintiff (or her counsel) to communicate with the media, including to author news 2 articles, provide interviews to media, author books, or request media appearances at 3 court proceedings. 4 7. Nothing in this Protective Order authorizes the filing of protected 5 information under seal. Thus, the Parties may file a motion seeking the Court’s 6 permission to file documents that are necessarily unredacted under seal in 7 accordance with the Local Rules for the United States District Court for the Central 8 District of California. 9 8. All Parties and any third parties appearing or submitting filings in this 10 case are required to redact Plaintiff’s Identity in their filings with the Court or use 11 the pseudonym “S.G.” or “Plaintiff”. 12 9. The Parties will comply with the good faith meet-and-confer 13 requirement in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1) prior to seeking judicial intervention if there 14 are any disputes relating to this Protective Order. 15 10. Nothing in this Protective Order abridges the right of any Party to seek its 16 modification by the Court in the future. Furthermore, this Protective Order is subject 17 to modification sua sponte by Court order. 18 11. The Parties agree that the terms of this Protective Order shall survive and 19 remain in effect after the Final Determination of the above-captioned matter. The 20 Court shall retain jurisdiction after Final Determination of this matter to hear and 21 resolve any disputes arising out of this Protective Order. 22 12. This Order shall be binding upon the Parties, their Outside Counsel, 23 and their successors, executors, personal representatives, administrators, heirs, legal 24 representatives, assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, employees, agents, retained 25 consultants and experts, and any persons or organizations over which they have 26 direct control. 27 13. This Court has the authority to interpret and enforce this Protective Order. 28 All disputes concerning Protected Material, however designated, produced under the 5 1 protection of this Protective Order shall be resolved by this Court. 2 14. Nothing herein shall alter or change in any way the discovery provisions 3 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Local Rules for the Central District of 4 California, or the Court’s own orders. Identification of any individual pursuant to this 5 Protective Order does not make that individual available for deposition or any other 6 form of discovery outside of the restrictions and procedures of the Rules of Civil 7 Procedure, the Local Rules, or the Court’s own orders. 8 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 11 12 13 Dated: April 13, 2023 ______________________________ SUNSHINE S. SYKES United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 6 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 1 2 3 4 5 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of ________________________________ [print or type 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 United States District Court for the Central 6 District of California on [date] in the case of S.G. v. Vagabond Inn Incorporated, et 7 al., Central District of California, Case No. 8:21-cv-00955-SSS-KES. I agree to 8 comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I 9 understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions 10 and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose 11 in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective 12 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this 13 14 15 16 17 Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States 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 __________________________ [print or type full name] of 18 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ Signature: __________________________________ 27 28 7
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