Tijerina v. Alaska Airlines, Inc. et al, No. 3:2022cv00203 - Document 23 (S.D. Cal. 2022)
Court Description: ORDER Granting Entry of Stipulated Protective Order as Modified (ECF No. 19 ). Signed by Magistrate Judge Bernard G. Skomal on 9/8/2022. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service) (tcf)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 Beatriz TIJERINA, Case No.: 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS Plaintiff, 10 11 v. 12 ALASKA AIRLINES, INC., ORDER GRANTING ENTRY OF STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER AS MODIFIED1 Defendant. 13 14 15 16 The parties request entry of their stipulated protective order. (See ECF No. 19.) The 17 Court enters the Protective Order as follows: The Court recognizes that at least some of the 18 documents and information (“materials”) being sought through discovery in the above- 19 captioned action are, for competitive and privacy, medical, or financial reasons, normally 20 kept confidential by the parties. The parties have agreed to be bound by the terms of this 21 Protective Order (“Order”) in this action. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Paragraph 13 was added to the parties’ proposed Protective Order to fully comply with Judge Skomal’s Chambers’ Rule VI(A)(4) regarding how the parties should file documents under seal and what the parties shall do if an application to file a document under seal is granted. Paragraph 28 has been added to the parties’ proposed Protective Order to fully comply with Judge Skomal’s Chambers’ Rule VI(A)(3) regarding the relation to any court or local rules. The parties’ proposed Protective Order has been modified at Paragraph 14 with a footnote reflecting that the parties must follow the undersigned’s Chambers Rules to raise a discovery dispute. To the extent the parties object to these modifications, they may seek modification of the Protective Order by jointly contacting Judge Skomal’s Chambers within 10 days of the filing of this Order. 1 1 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 The materials to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation between the 2 parties may contain trade secret or other confidential research, technical, cost, price, 3 marketing or other commercial information, as is contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil 4 Procedure 26(c)(1)(G) or other private or embarrassing personal information as 5 contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1) authorizing protection of any 6 “party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden.” The 7 purpose of this Order is to protect the confidentiality of such materials as much as practical 8 during the litigation. THEREFORE: 9 10 DEFINITIONS 1. The term “confidential information” will mean and include information 11 contained or disclosed in any materials, including documents, portions of documents, 12 answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, trial testimony, deposition 13 testimony, and transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, including data, summaries, 14 and compilations derived therefrom that is deemed to be confidential information by any 15 party to which it belongs. 16 2. The term “materials” will include, but is not be limited to: documents; 17 correspondence; memoranda; bulletins; blueprints; specifications; customer lists or other 18 material that identify customers or potential customers; price lists or schedules or other 19 matter identifying pricing; minutes; telegrams; letters; statements; cancelled checks; 20 contracts; invoices; drafts; books of account; worksheets; notes of conversations; desk 21 diaries; appointment books; expense accounts; recordings; photographs; motion pictures; 22 compilations from which information can be obtained and translated into reasonably usable 23 form through detection devices; sketches; drawings; notes (including laboratory notebooks 24 and records); reports; instructions; disclosures; other writings; models and prototypes and 25 other physical objects. 26 3. The term “counsel” will mean counsel of record, and other attorneys, 27 paralegals, secretaries, and other support staff employed in the law firms identified below: 28 Hogue & Belong, APC and Seyfarth Shaw LLP [“Counsel” also includes in-house 2 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 attorneys for Defendant.] 2 3 GENERAL RULES 4. Each party to this litigation that produces or discloses any materials, answers 4 to interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, trial testimony, deposition 5 testimony, and transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, or information that the 6 producing party believes should be subject to this Protective Order may designate the same 7 as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY.” 8 a. Designation as “CONFIDENTIAL”: Any party may designate information as 9 “CONFIDENTIAL” only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its 10 counsel, the unrestricted disclosure of such information could be potentially 11 prejudicial to the business or operations or privacy rights of a party, including 12 medical and/or psychological records. 13 b. Designation as “CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY”: Any party 14 may designate information as “CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY” 15 only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its counsel, the information 16 is among that considered to be most sensitive by the party, including but not 17 limited to trade secret or other confidential research, development, financial 18 or other commercial information. 19 5. In the event the producing party elects to produce materials for inspection, no 20 marking need be made by the producing party in advance of the initial inspection. For 21 purposes of the initial inspection, all materials produced will be considered as 22 "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY," and must be treated as such pursuant to the 23 terms of this Order. Thereafter, upon selection of specified materials for copying by the 24 inspecting party, the producing party must, within a reasonable time prior to producing 25 those materials to the inspecting party, mark the copies of those materials that contain 26 confidential information with the appropriate confidentiality marking. 27 28 6. Whenever a deposition taken on behalf of any party involves a disclosure of confidential information of any party: 3 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 a. the deposition or portions of the deposition must be designated as 2 containing confidential information subject to the provisions of this 3 Order; such designation must be made on the record whenever possible, 4 but a party may designate portions of depositions as containing 5 confidential information after transcription of the proceedings; [A] 6 party will have until fourteen (14) days after receipt of the deposition 7 transcript to inform the other party or parties to the action of the 8 portions of the transcript to be designated "CONFIDENTIAL" or 9 "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY.” 10 b. the disclosing party will have the right to exclude from attendance at 11 the deposition, during such time as the confidential information is to be 12 disclosed, any person other than the deponent, counsel (including their 13 staff and associates), the court reporter, and the person(s) agreed upon 14 pursuant to paragraph 8 below; and 15 c. the originals of the deposition transcripts and all copies of the 16 deposition 17 "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY," as appropriate, and the 18 original or any copy ultimately presented to a court for filing must not 19 be filed unless it can be accomplished under seal, identified as being 20 subject to this Order, and protected from being opened except by order 21 of this Court. 22 7. must bear the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or All confidential information designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or 23 "CONFIDENTIAL FOR COUNSEL ONLY" must not be disclosed by the receiving party 24 to anyone other than those persons designated within this order and must be handled in the 25 manner set forth below and, in any event, must not be used for any purpose other than in 26 connection with this litigation, unless and until such designation is removed either by 27 agreement of the parties, or by order of the Court. 28 /// 4 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 8. Information designated "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" must 2 be viewed only by counsel (as defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, and by 3 independent experts under the conditions set forth in this Paragraph. The right of any 4 independent expert to receive any confidential information will be subject to the expert’s 5 execution of a copy of the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, in advance of providing any 6 confidential information of the producing party to the expert. Any objection by the 7 producing party to an independent expert receiving confidential information must be made 8 in writing within fourteen (14) days following receipt of the identification of the proposed 9 expert. The approval of independent experts must not be unreasonably withheld. 10 9. Information designated "confidential" must be viewed only by counsel (as 11 defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, by independent experts (pursuant to the 12 terms of paragraph 8), by court personnel, and by the additional individuals listed below, 13 provided each such individual has read this Order in advance of disclosure and has agreed 14 in writing to be bound by its terms: 15 a. Executives who are required to participate in policy decisions with reference 16 to this action; 17 b. Technical personnel of the parties with whom Counsel for the parties find it 18 necessary to consult, in the discretion of such counsel, in preparation for trial 19 of this action; and 20 c. Stenographic and clerical employees associated with the individuals identified 21 22 above. 10. With respect to material designated "CONFIDENTIAL" or 23 "CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY," any person indicated on the face of the 24 document to be its originator, author or a recipient of a copy of the document, may be 25 shown the same. 26 11. All information which has been designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or 27 "CONFIDENTIAL -FOR COUNSEL ONLY" by the producing or disclosing party, and 28 any and all reproductions of that information, must be retained in the custody of the counsel 5 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 for the receiving party identified in paragraph 3, except that independent experts authorized 2 to view such information under the terms of this Order may retain custody of copies such 3 as are necessary for their participation in this litigation. 4 12. Before any materials produced in discovery, answers to interrogatories, 5 responses to requests for admissions, deposition transcripts, or other documents which are 6 designated as confidential information are filed with the Court for any purpose, the party 7 seeking to file such material must seek permission of the Court to file the material under 8 seal. 9 13. No document shall be filed under seal unless counsel secures a court order 10 allowing the filing of a document under seal. An application to file a document under seal 11 shall be served on opposing counsel, and on the person or entity that has custody and 12 control of the document, if different from opposing counsel. If opposing counsel, or the 13 person or entity who has custody and control of the document, wishes to oppose the 14 application, he/she must contact the chambers of the judge who will rule on the application, 15 to notify the judge’s staff that an opposition to the application will be filed. 16 If an application to file a document under seal is granted by Judge Skomal, a redacted 17 version of the document shall be e-filed. A courtesy copy of the unredacted document shall 18 be delivered to Judge Skomal’s chambers. 19 14. At any stage of these proceedings, any party may object to a designation of 20 the materials as confidential information. The party objecting to confidentiality must 21 notify, in writing, counsel for the designating party of the objected-to materials and the 22 grounds for the objection. If the dispute is not resolved consensually between the parties 23 within seven (7) days of receipt of such a notice of objections, the designating party may 24 move the Court for a ruling on the objection.2 The materials at issue must be treated as 25 confidential information, as designated by the designating party, until either the Court has 26 ruled on the objection, the seven days lapses without any motion by the designating party, 27 28 2 The parties must follow the undersigned’s Chambers Rules to raise a discovery dispute. 6 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 or the matter has been otherwise resolved. 2 15. All confidential information must be held in confidence by those inspecting 3 or receiving it, and must be used only for purposes of this action. Counsel for each party, 4 and each person receiving confidential information must take reasonable precautions to 5 prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such information. If confidential 6 information is disclosed to any person other than a person authorized by this Order, the 7 party responsible for the unauthorized disclosure must immediately bring all pertinent facts 8 relating to the unauthorized disclosure to the attention of the other parties and, without 9 prejudice to any rights and remedies of the other parties, make every effort to prevent 10 further disclosure by the party and by the person(s) receiving the unauthorized disclosure. 11 16. No party will be responsible to another party for disclosure of confidential 12 information under this Order if the information in question is not labeled or otherwise 13 identified as such in accordance with this Order. 14 17. If a party, through inadvertence, produces any confidential information 15 without labeling or marking or otherwise designating it as such in accordance with this 16 Order, the designating party may give written notice to the receiving party that the 17 document or thing produced is deemed confidential information, and that the document or 18 thing produced should be treated as such in accordance with that designation under this 19 Order. The receiving party must treat the materials as confidential, once the designating 20 party so notifies the receiving party. If the receiving party has disclosed the materials before 21 receiving the designation, the receiving party must notify the designating party in writing 22 of each such disclosure. Counsel for the parties will agree on a mutually acceptable manner 23 of labeling or marking the inadvertently produced materials as "CONFIDENTIAL" or 24 "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" - SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER. 25 18. Nothing within this order will prejudice the right of any party to object to the 26 production of any discovery material on the grounds that the material is protected as 27 privileged or as attorney work product. 28 /// 7 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 19. Nothing in this Order will bar counsel from rendering advice to their clients 2 with respect to this litigation and, in the course thereof, relying upon any information 3 designated as confidential information, provided that the contents of the information must 4 not be disclosed. 5 20. This Order will be without prejudice to the right of any party to oppose 6 production of any information for lack of relevance or any other ground other than the mere 7 presence of confidential information. The existence of this Order must not be used by either 8 party as a basis for discovery that is otherwise improper under the Federal Rules of Civil 9 Procedure. 10 11 12 21. Nothing within this order will be construed to prevent disclosure of confidential information if such disclosure is required by law or by order of the Court. 22. Upon final termination of this action, including any and all appeals, counsel 13 for each party must, upon request of the producing party, return all confidential information 14 to the party that produced the information, including any copies, excerpts, and summaries 15 of that information, or must destroy same at the option of the receiving party, and must 16 purge all such information from all machine-readable media on which it resides. 17 Notwithstanding the foregoing, counsel for each party may retain all pleadings, briefs, 18 memoranda, motions, and other documents filed with the Court that refer to or incorporate 19 confidential information, and will continue to be bound by this Order with respect to all 20 such retained information. Further, attorney work product materials that contain 21 confidential information need not be destroyed, but, if they are not destroyed, the person 22 in possession of the attorney work product will continue to be bound by this Order with 23 respect to all such retained information. 24 23. The restrictions and obligations set forth within this order will not apply to 25 any information that: (a) the parties agree should not be designated confidential 26 information; (b) the parties agree, or the Court rules, is already public knowledge; (c) the 27 parties agree, or the Court rules, has become public knowledge other than as a result of 28 disclosure by the receiving party, its employees, or its agents in violation of this Order; or 8 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 (d) has come or will come into the receiving party's legitimate knowledge independently 2 of the production by the designating party. Prior knowledge must be established by pre- 3 production documentation. 4 24. The restrictions and obligations within this order will not be deemed to 5 prohibit discussions of any confidential information with anyone if that person already has 6 or obtains legitimate possession of that information. 7 8 9 10 11 25. Transmission by email or some other currently utilized method of transmission is acceptable for all notification purposes within this Order. 26. This Order may be modified by agreement of the parties, subject to approval by the Court. 27. The Court may modify the terms and conditions of this Order for good cause, 12 or in the interest of justice, or on its own order at any time in these proceedings. The parties 13 prefer that the Court provide them with notice of the Court’s intent to modify the Order 14 and the content of those modifications, prior to entry of such an order. 15 16 17 18 28. Without separate court order, the Protective Order and the parties’ stipulation does not change, amend, or circumvent any court rule or local rule. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: September 8, 2022 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 9 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 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 Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of California on _________________________ in the case of Beatriz Tijerina v. Alaska Airlines, Inc. (22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS) I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 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 United States District Court for the 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Southern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type 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 Protective Order. Date: ________________________________ 23 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 28 Signature: ________________________________ 10 22-cv-00203-JLS-BGS
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