Cristobal v. Amazon Inc, No. 2:2023cv00508 - Document 14 (W.D. Wash. 2023)

Court Description: ORDER granting Parties' 13 Stipulated Motion for Protective Order. Signed by Judge John H. Chun. (SS) (cc: Plaintiff via USPS)

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Cristobal v. Amazon Inc Doc. 14 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 1 of 12 1 The Honorable John H. Chun 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 9 ABSALOM CRISTOBAL, 10 Plaintiff, Case No. 2:23-cv-00508-JHC STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 11 12 v. AMAZON INC., 1 13 Defendant. 14 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 15 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private 16 information for which special protection may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate 17 to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge 18 that this agreement is consistent with LCR 26(c). It does not confer blanket protection on all 19 disclosures or responses to discovery, the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 20 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the 21 applicable legal principals, and it does not presumptively entitle parties to file confidential 22 information under seal. A party who seeks to maintain the confidentiality of its information must 23 satisfy the requirements of Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(B), even if it is not the party filing the motion 24 25 1 Plaintiff improperly identifies the defendant as “Amazon Inc.,” a non-existent entity. Plaintiff’s employer, and the correct defendant, is Amazon.com Services LLC. 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 1 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 2 of 12 1 to seal. Failure to satisfy this requirement will result in the motion to seal being denied, in accordance 2 with the strong presumption of public access to the Court’s files. 3 2. “CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL 4 “Confidential” material shall include the following documents and tangible things 5 produced or otherwise exchanged: (a) Plaintiff’s medical records, including documents relating 6 to or discussing Plaintiff’s worker’s compensation file and work-related restrictions; (b) personnel 7 records of current or former employees that include current or former employees' names, residence 8 addresses, telephone numbers, and/or income; (c) proprietary business information of Defendant; 9 (d) Defendant’s employer-specific internal operations documents and employer-specific policies 10 and procedures; and (e) documents or testimony relating to internal investigations relating to 11 Plaintiff’s allegations, including but not limited to, investigation reports and witness interviews. 12 3. SCOPE 13 The protections conferred by this agreement cover not only confidential material (as 14 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from confidential material; (2) all 15 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of confidential material; and (3) any testimony, 16 conversations, or presentations by parties or their counsel that might reveal confidential material. 17 However, the protections conferred by this agreement do not cover information that is in the public 18 domain or becomes part of the public domain through trial or otherwise. 19 4. 20 ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL 4.1 Basic Principles: A receiving party may use confidential material that is disclosed 21 or produced by another party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 22 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Confidential material may be disclosed only to the 23 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this agreement. Confidential material 24 must be stored and maintained by a receiving party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures 25 that access is limited to the persons authorized under this agreement. 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 2 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 3 of 12 1 4.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Unless otherwise ordered 2 by the court or permitted in writing by the designating party, a receiving party may disclose any 3 confidential material only to: 4 5 (a) the receiving party’s counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation; 6 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including in house counsel) of the 7 receiving party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, unless the parties 8 agree that a particular document or material produced is for Attorney’s Eyes Only and is so 9 designated; 10 11 (c) experts and consultants to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (d) the court, court personnel, and court reporters and their staff; 13 (e) copy or imaging services retained by counsel to assist in the duplication of 14 confidential material, provided that counsel for the party retaining the copy or imaging service 15 instructs the service not to disclose any confidential material to third parties and to immediately 16 return all originals and copies of any confidential material; 17 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 18 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 19 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the designating party or ordered by the court. Pages of 20 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal confidential material must 21 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 22 under this agreement; 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. 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 3 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 4 of 12 1 4.3 Filing Confidential Material: Before filing confidential material or discussing or 2 referencing such material in court filings, the filing party shall confer with the designating party, 3 in accordance with Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(A), to determine whether the designating party will 4 remove the confidential designation, whether the document can be redacted, or whether a motion 5 to seal or stipulation and proposed order is warranted. Local Civil Rule 5(g) sets forth the 6 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks 7 permission from the court to file material under seal. 8 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection: Each 10 party or non-party that designates information or items for protection under this agreement must 11 take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 12 standards. The designating party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 13 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify, so that other portions of the 14 material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 15 unjustifiably within the ambit of this agreement. 16 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 17 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 18 unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses 19 and burdens on other parties) expose the designating party to sanctions. 20 If it comes to a designating party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 21 protection do not qualify for protection, the designating party must promptly notify all other parties 22 that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 23 24 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations: Except as otherwise provided in this agreement (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 4 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 5 of 12 1 ordered, disclosure or discovery material that qualifies for protection under this agreement must 2 be clearly so designated before or when the material is disclosed or produced. 3 (a) Information in documentary form: (e.g., paper or electronic documents and 4 deposition exhibits, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), 5 the designating party must affix the word “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains 6 confidential material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, 7 the producing party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 8 markings in the margins). 9 (b) Testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial proceedings: the parties 10 and any participating non-parties must identify on the record, during the deposition or other pretrial 11 proceeding, all protected testimony, without prejudice to their right to so designate other testimony 12 after reviewing the transcript. Any party or non-party may, within fifteen days after receiving the 13 transcript of the deposition or other pretrial proceeding, designate portions of the transcript, or 14 exhibits thereto, as confidential. If a party or non-party desires to protect confidential information 15 at trial, the issue should be addressed during the pre-trial conference. 16 (c) Other tangible items: the producing party must affix in a prominent place 17 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the word 18 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, 19 the producing party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 20 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 21 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the designating party’s 22 right to secure protection under this agreement for such material. Upon timely correction of a 23 designation, the receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is treated 24 in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. 25 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 5 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 6 of 12 1 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any party or non-party may challenge a designation of 2 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a designating party’s confidentiality 3 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 4 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a party does not waive its right to 5 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 6 original designation is disclosed. 7 6.2 Meet and Confer. The parties must make every attempt to resolve any dispute 8 regarding confidential designations without court involvement. Any motion regarding confidential 9 designations or for a protective order must include a certification, in the motion or in a declaration 10 or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith meet and confer conference with other 11 affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action. The certification must list 12 the date, manner, and participants to the conference. A good faith effort to confer requires a face- 13 to-face meeting or a telephone conference. 14 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 15 intervention, the designating party may file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under Local 16 Civil Rule 7 (and in compliance with Local Civil Rule 5(g), if applicable). The burden of 17 persuasion in any such motion shall be on the designating party. Frivolous challenges, and those 18 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 19 other parties) may expose the challenging party to sanctions. All parties shall continue to maintain 20 the material in question as confidential until the court rules on the challenge. 21 7. 22 LITIGATION PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 23 If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 24 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that party 25 must: 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 6 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 7 of 12 1 2 (a) promptly notify the designating party in writing and include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 3 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 4 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 5 subject to this agreement. Such notification shall include a copy of this agreement; and 6 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 7 the designating party whose confidential material may be affected. 8 8. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed confidential 10 material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this agreement, the receiving 11 party must immediately (a) notify in writing the designating party of the unauthorized disclosures, 12 (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the protected material, (c) inform the 13 person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this agreement, 14 and (d) request that such person or persons execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 15 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 16 9. 17 MATERIAL INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED 18 When a producing party gives notice to receiving parties that certain inadvertently 19 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 20 receiving parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision 21 is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order or 22 agreement that provides for production without prior privilege review. The parties agree to the 23 entry of a non-waiver order under Fed. R. Evid. 502(d) as set forth herein. 24 10. NON-TERMINATION AND RETURN OF DOCUMENTS 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 7 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 8 of 12 1 Within 60 days after the termination of this action, including all appeals, each receiving 2 party must return all confidential material to the producing party, including all copies, extracts and 3 summaries thereof. Alternatively, the parties may agree upon appropriate methods of destruction. 4 Notwithstanding this provision, any pro se party and any represented party’s counsel are 5 entitled to retain one archival copy of all documents filed with the court, trial, deposition, and 6 hearing transcripts, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work 7 product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain confidential 8 material. 9 10 The confidentiality obligations imposed by this agreement shall remain in effect until a designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise. 11 IT IS SO STIPULATED, BY PRO SE PLAINTIFF AND BY DEFENDANT THROUGH ITS 12 COUNSEL OF RECORD 13 Dated: September 29, 2023 14 s/Jordan T. Wada________________ Jordan T. Wada, WSBA #54937 jwada@littler.com 15 16 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, WA 98101.3122 Telephone: 206.623.3300 Facsimile: 206.447.6965 17 18 19 22 Wendy M. Krincek (pro hac vice) LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 3960 Howard Hughes Parkway, Ste. 300 Las Vegas, NV 89169 Telephone: (702) 862-7726 wkrincek@littler.com 23 Attorney for Defendant 20 21 24 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 8 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 9 of 12 1 Dated: September 29, 2023 2 s/ ________________ Absalom Cristobal Plaintiff – Pro Se 1017 L Street, #750 Sacramento, CA 95814 Tel: 415-980-9165 absalom@usa.net 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 9 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 10 of 12 1 PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED 2 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), the production of any 3 documents, electronically stored information (ESI) or information, whether inadvertent or 4 otherwise, in this proceeding shall not, for the purposes of this proceeding or any other federal or 5 state proceeding, constitute a waiver by the producing party of any privilege applicable to those 6 documents, including the attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product protection, or any other 7 privilege or protection recognized by law. This Order shall be interpreted to provide the maximum 8 protection allowed by Fed. R. Evid. 502(d). The provisions of Fed. R. Evid. 502(b) do not apply. 9 Nothing contained herein is intended to or shall serve to limit a party’s right to conduct a review 10 of documents, ESI or information (including metadata) for relevance, responsiveness and/or 11 segregation of privileged and/or protected information before production. Information produced 12 in discovery that is protected as privileged or work product shall be immediately returned to the 13 producing party. 14 15 DATED: October 2, 2023 A 16 17 HONORABLE JOHN H. CHUN United States District Court Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 10 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 11 of 12 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, ____________________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 ___________________________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of 5 perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was 6 issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on ______ 7 [date] in the case of Cristobal v. Amazon, Inc., Western District of Washington Case No. 2:23-cv- 8 00508-JHC. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective 9 Order and I 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 in any manner 11 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity 12 except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 14 Western District of Washington for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 15 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 16 Date: 17 City and State where sworn and signed: 18 Printed name: 19 Signature: 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 11 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300 Case 2:23-cv-00508-JHC Document 14 Filed 10/02/23 Page 12 of 12 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 2 I am a resident of the State of Washington, over the age of eighteen years, and not a party 3 to the within action. My business address is One Union Square, 600 University Street, Suite 3200, 4 Seattle, WA 98101. I hereby certify that on September 29, 2023, I electronically filed the foregoing 5 document(s) with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system. I further caused the foregoing 6 document to be served upon the person(s) listed below via e-mail pursuant to the parties’ e-service 7 agreement: 8 Plaintiff – Pro Se 9 Absalom Cristobal 1017 L Street, #750 Sacramento, CA 95814 Tel: 415-980-9165 absalom@usa.net 10 11 12 13 14 I certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States and of the State of Washington that the foregoing is true and correct. Dated this 29th day of September, 2023. 15 s/Karen Fiumano Yun Karen Fiumano Yun kfiumano@littler.com LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 12 2:23-CV-00508-JHC LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys at Law One Union Square 600 University Street, Suite 3200 Seattle, Washington 98101.3122 206.623.3300

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