Marc Buentiempo v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

United States District Court for the Central District of California

Marc Buentiempo v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Trial Court Opinion

1 XAAttoVrIEnRey B GECenERerRaAl of California 2 KENNETH C. JONES Supervising Deputy Attorney General 3 BRUCE W. REYNOLDS Deputy Attorney General 4 State Bar No. 104820 300 South Spring Street, Suite 1702 5 Los Angeles, CA 90013 Telephone: (213) 269-6462 6 Fax: (916) 731-2119 E-mail: [email protected] 7 Attorneys for Defendants California Department of Corrections and 8 Rehabilitation and Josephine Gastelo 9 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 13 MARC BUENTIEMPO, 2:18-cv-08966-CJC (MAAx) 14 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND 15 PROTECTIVE ORDER v. REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL 16 MATERIALS 17 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Courtroom: 7C CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF Judge: Hon. Cormac J. Carney 18 CORRECTIONS AND Trial Date: 6/30/2020 REHABILITATION, a governmental Action Filed: 8/22/2018 19 entity, JOSEPHINE GASTELO, an individual, and DOES 1 THROUGH 20 10, inclusive, 21 Defendant. 22 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties Marc Buentiempo 23 (Plaintiff), the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and 24 Josephine Gastelo (Gastelo), collectively referred to hereafter as “Parties,” by their 25 respective counsel of record as follows: 26 /// 27 /// 28 1 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 3 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be 5 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter 6 the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order 7 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and 8 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 9 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the 10 applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 11 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file 12 confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures 13 that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks 14 permission from the court to file material under seal. 15 16 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 17 This action involves the plaintiff’s private medical information, medical 18 history and financial income information for which special protection from public 19 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is 20 warranted. Plaintiff’s private medical information, medical history, related and 21 unrelated to the disability at issue in this case, and his personal financial information 22 is information otherwise generally unavailable to the public or which may be 23 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 24 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 25 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 26 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 27 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 28 1 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 2 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 3 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 4 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 5 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 6 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 7 record of this case. 8 9 2. DEFINITIONS 10 2.1 Action: the above-entitled proceeding (case number 2:18-cv-08966- 11 CJC (MAAx)). 12 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 13 designation of information or items under this Order. 14 2.3 Confidential Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 15 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 16 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified 17 above in the Good Cause Statement 18 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 19 their support staff). 20 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 21 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL” 23 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 24 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained 25 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), 26 that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in 27 this matter. 28 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 3 serve as an 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 6 outside counsel. 7 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 8 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 to this Action 11 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated 12 with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes 13 support staff. 14 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 15 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record 16 (and their support staffs). 17 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 18 Discovery Material in this Action. 19 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 20 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 21 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 22 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 23 24 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 25 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 27 from a Producing Party. 28 1 3. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 6 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any 7 use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. 8 This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 9 10 4. DURATION 11 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 12 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will 13 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 14 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are 15 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of 16 Honolulu,

447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81

(9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” 17 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 18 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 19 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 20 21 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 23 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 24 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 25 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 26 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 27 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 28 1 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 2 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 3 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 4 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 5 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 6 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 7 Party to sanctions. 8 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 9 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 10 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 11 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 12 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 13 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 14 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 15 produced. 16 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 17 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 18 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 19 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 20 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 21 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 22 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 23 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 24 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 25 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 26 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 27 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 28 1 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 2 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 3 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 4 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 5 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 6 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 7 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 8 markings in the margins). 9 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 10 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 11 the deposition all protected testimony. 12 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 13 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 14 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 15 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 16 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 17 protected portion(s). 18 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 19 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 20 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 21 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 22 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 23 Order. 24 25 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 26 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 27 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 28 Scheduling Order. 1 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 2 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 3 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 4 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 5 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 6 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 7 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 8 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 9 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 10 challenge. 11 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 12 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 13 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 14 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 15 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 16 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 17 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 18 DISPOSITION). 19 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 20 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 21 authorized under this Order. 22 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 23 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 24 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 25 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 26 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 27 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 28 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 1 2 3 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 4 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 5 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 6 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 8 (d) the court and its personnel; 9 (e) court reporters and their staff; 10 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 11 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 12 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 13 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 14 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 15 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in 16 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the 17 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A 18 hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 19 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 20 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. 21 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 22 Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not 23 be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 24 Order; and 25 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 26 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 27 /// 28 /// 1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 2 IN OTHER LITIGATION 3 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 4 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 5 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 7 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 9 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 10 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 11 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 13 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 14 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 15 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 16 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 17 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 18 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 19 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 20 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 21 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 22 23 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 24 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 25 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 26 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 27 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 28 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 1 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 2 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 3 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 4 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 5 confidential information, then the Party shall: 6 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 7 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 8 agreement with a Non-Party; 9 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 10 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 11 specific description of the information requested; and 12 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 13 Non-Party, if requested. 14 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 15 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 16 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 17 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 18 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 19 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 20 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 21 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 22 23 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 25 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 26 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 27 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 28 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 1 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 2 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 3 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 4 5 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 6 PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 8 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 9 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 10 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 11 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 12 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 13 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 14 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 15 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 16 to the court. 17 18 12. MISCELLANEOUS 19 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 20 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 21 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 22 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 23 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 24 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 25 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 26 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 27 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 28 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 1 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 2 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 3 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 4 5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 6 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 7 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 8 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 9 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 10 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 11 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 12 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 13 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 14 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 15 destroyed and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 16 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 17 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 18 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 19 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 20 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 21 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 22 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 23 Section 4 (DURATION). 24 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 25 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 26 sanctions. 27 /// 28 /// 1 | ITISSO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 2 3 | Dated: December 29, 2019 Respectfully Submitted, THE MYERS LAW GROUP 4 LAW OFFICE OF LARRY MINSKY 5 6 By: /s/- Ann Hendrix 7 Ann Hendrix Larry Minsky 8 Attorneys for Marc Buentiempo 9 10 | Dated: December 29, 2019 XAVIER BECERRA Attorney General of California KENNETH C. JONES B Supervising Deputy Attorney General 14 15 By: /s/- Bruce W. Reynolds Bruce W. Reynolds, Deputy Attorney 16 General, attorney for Defendants, California 17 Department of Corrections and ig Rehabilitation and Josephine Gastelo

19 20 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 71 DATED: January 9, 2020 22 “lane 244) Honor Maria A. Audero 25 United States Magistrate Judge 26 27 28 14

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 perjury 5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 7 on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the 8 number and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be 9 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 11 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 12 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 13 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 15 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print 18 or type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type 19 full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in 20 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this 21 Stipulated Protective Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

Case Marc Buentiempo v. State No. 2:18-cv-08966-CJC Name: of California, et al. (MAAx)

I hereby certify that on December 30, 2019, I electronically filed the following documents with the Clerk of the Court by using the CM/ECF system: STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS I certify that all participants in the case are registered CM/ECF users and that service will be accomplished by the CM/ECF system. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California the foregoing is true and correct and that this declaration was executed on December 30, 2019, at Los Angeles, California.

Everth Mandujano /s/ Declarant Signature

LA2018502602 53998729.docx

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