Richard Aragon v. City of Colton
Richard Aragon v. City of Colton
Trial Court Opinion
1 CYNTHIA M. GERMANO, Bar No. 151360 [email protected] 2 ROGER K. CRAWFORD, Bar No. 167426 [email protected] 3 BEN CARNEY, Bar No. 317206 [email protected] 4 BEST BEST & KRIEGER LLP 3390 University Avenue, 5th Floor 5 P.O. Box 1028 Riverside, CA 92502 6 Telephone: (951) 686-1450 Facsimile: (951) 686-3083 7 Attorneys for Defendant, 8 CITY OF COLTON 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 RICHARD ARAGON, JOEY Case No. 5:20-CV-00776-JGB-SPx ARMENDAREZ, JONATHAN Judge: Hon. Jesus G. Bernal 13 BOGGS, RAY BRUNO, CON Referred to: Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym CENDEJAS, ADAM 14 CHITTENDEN, CHRISTOPHER DEANDA, THOMAS DEBELLIS, JOINT STIPULATION AND 15 MICHAEL DELCID, JONATHON PROTECTIVE ORDER ENGLE, WILMER FLEENOR, 16 LUKE GRANGER, CALEB GUINN, AMANDA HARTEL, 17 RONALD HELMS, SERVANDO HERNANDEZ, RICHARD 18 HOUSLEY, BRANDON HUMPHREY, TY HUTCHISON, 19 BRIAN KALOUSEK, JUSTIN LODARSKI, MICHAEL LOYA, 20 JEFF MILLER, AARON MULHALL, JAKE NOVAK, 21 NATHAN PALMER, HENRY PEREZ, MICHAEL RUSTUN, 22 STEVEN SANDS, DAVID SANTOS, DAVID SILVA, RYAN 23 STESLICKI, SHAUN TARCON, JASON TOOLEY, JOHN VAIL, 24 KEVIN VALENTIN, STEVEN VALLEZ, JUSTIN WEEMS, JAKE 25 ZAVOSKY, and JEFFREY ZUIDEMA, on behalf of themselves 26 and all similarly situated individuals, 27 Plaintiff, 28 1 v. 2 CITY OF COLTON, 3 Defendant. 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 I. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 A. 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 5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court 6 7 to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that 8 this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 9 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 10 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 11 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set 12 forth in Section XIII(C), below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not 13 entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets 14 forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied 15 16 when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 17 II. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 18 A. This action is likely to involve confidential employee payroll information 19 which implicates the privacy rights of both parties and third parties for which 20 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 21 prosecution of this action is warranted. Plaintiffs’ confidential payroll materials 22 and information consist of, among other things, confidential employee financial 23 24 information, information regarding deductions made from employees’ pay which 25 may implicate confidential medical information, employee social security 26 numbers, information regarding deductions made as a result of court-ordered 27 wage garnishments which may also reveal confidential employee information, and 28 1 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 2 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 3 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 4 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 5 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to 6 7 keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary 8 uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address 9 their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a 10 protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of 11 the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical 12 reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has 13 been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause 14 why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 15 16 III. DEFINITIONS 17 A. Action: Richard Aragon, et al. v. City of Colton, Case No. 5:20-CV-00776- 18 JGB-SPx 19 B. Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 20 21 information or items under this Order. 22 C. “CONFIDENTIAL” Payroll Information or Payroll Items: Information 23 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that 24 qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as 25 specified above in the Good Cause Statement in Section II 26 D. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 27 support staff). 28 1 E. Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or 2 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 3 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 4 F. Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of 5 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 6 7 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are 8 produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 9 G. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 10 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 11 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 12 H. House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 13 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 14 counsel. 15 16 I. Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 17 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 18 J. Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party to 19 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 20 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 21 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 22 K. Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 23 24 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and 25 their support staffs). 26 L. Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 27 Discovery Material in this Action. 28 1 M. Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support 2 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 3 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 4 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 5 N. Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 6 7 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 8 O. Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 9 from a Producing Party. 10 IV. SCOPE 11 A. The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 12 Protected Material (as defined above in Section II), but also (1) any information 13 copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, 14 or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 15 16 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 17 B. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of 18 the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 19 V. DURATION 20 A. Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 21 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Protective Order becomes public and 22 will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, 23 24 unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed 25 otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City 26 and County of Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81(9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing 27 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from 28 1 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court 2 record). Accordingly, the terms of this Protective Order do not extend beyond the 3 commencement of the trial. 4 VI. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 A. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection 6 7 1. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for 8 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to 9 specific material that qualifies under the Section II. . The Designating 10 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 11 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that 12 other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for 13 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the 14 ambit of this Order. 15 16 2. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 17 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been 18 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case 19 development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 20 other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 21 3. If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or 22 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that 23 24 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 25 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 26 27
28 1 B. Manner and Timing of Designations 2 1. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., Section B(2)(b) 3 below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery 4 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 5 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 6 7 2. Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 8 a. For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or 9 electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or 10 other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at 11 a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 12 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected 13 material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 14 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 15 16 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 17 markings in the margins). 18 b. A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents 19 available for inspection need not designate them for protection until 20 after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would 21 like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 22 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 23 24 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 25 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the 26 Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 27 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 28 1 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix 2 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected 3 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 4 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 5 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 6 7 markings in the margins). 8 c. For testimony given in depositions, that the Designating 9 Party identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, 10 before the close of the deposition all protected testimony. 11 d. For information produced in form other than document and 12 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a 13 prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in 14 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If 15 16 only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 17 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 18 protected portion(s). 19 C. Inadvertent Failure to Designate 20 1. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified 21 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating 22 Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 23 24 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 25 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with 26 the provisions of this Order. 27
28 1 VII. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 2 A. Timing of Challenges 3 1. Any party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 4 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling 5 Order. 6 7 B. Meet and Confer 8 1. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 9 under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 10 C. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 11 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 12 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) 13 may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has 14 waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to 15 16 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under 17 the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 18 VIII. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 A. Basic Principles 20 1. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 21 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 22 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. 23 24 Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons 25 and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has 26 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of 27 Section XIV below. 28 1 2. Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving 2 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is 3 limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 4 B. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items 5 1. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 6 7 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item 8 designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 9 a. The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 10 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to 11 whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this 12 Action; 13 b. The officers, directors, and employees (including House 14 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably 15 16 necessary for this Action; 17 c. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 18 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who 19 have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 20 (Exhibit A); 21 d. The Court and its personnel; 22 e. Court reporters and their staff; 23 24 f. Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 25 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary or 26 this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 27 Agreement to be Bound” attached as Exhibit A hereto; 28 1 g. The author or recipient of a document containing the 2 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed 3 or knew the information; 4 h. During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for 5 witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary 6 7 provided: (i) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the 8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound;” and (ii) they will 9 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they 10 sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound,” unless 11 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. 12 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions 13 that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court 14 reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 15 16 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 17 i. Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 18 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in 19 settlement discussions. 20 IX. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 21 IN OTHER LITIGATION 22 A. If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other 23 24 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this 25 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 26 1. Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 27 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 28 1 2. Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 2 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered 3 by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such 4 notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 5 3. Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 6 7 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be 8 affected. 9 B. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served 10 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in 11 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court from which 12 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating 13 Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of 14 seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these 15 16 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in 17 this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 18 X. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 19 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 20 A. The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 21 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 22 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 23 24 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 25 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 26 B. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 27 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 28 1 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 2 confidential information, then the Party shall: 3 1. Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 4 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 5 agreement with a Non-Party; 6 7 2. Promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 8 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 9 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 10 3. Make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 11 Party, if requested. 12 C. If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 13 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 14 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 15 16 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party 17 shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 18 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 19 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 20 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 21 XI. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 A. If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 23 24 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 25 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (1) 26 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its 27 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) 28 1 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all 2 the terms of this Order, and (4) request such person or persons to execute the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit
4 A. 5XII. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 6 7 PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 A. When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 9 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 10 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 11 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 12 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 13 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 14 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of 15 16 disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 17 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement 18 in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted to the Court. 19 XIII. MISCELLANEOUS 20 A. Right to Further Relief 21 1. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its 22 modification by the Court in the future. 23 24 B. Right to Assert Other Objections 25 1. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, no Party waives 26 any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 27 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 28 1 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 2 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 3 Order. 4 C. Filing Protected Material 5 1. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must 6 7 comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed 8 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 9 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 10 under seal is denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the 11 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. 12 XIV. FINAL DISPOSITION 13 A. After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section V, within 14 sixty (60) days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party 15 16 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such 17 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, 18 abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or 19 capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is 20 returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to 21 the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating 22 Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) 23 24 all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the 25 Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries 26 or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 27 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of 28 1 all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal 2 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, 3 attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 4 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 5 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth 6 7 in Section V. 8 B. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 9 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 10 sanctions. 11
12 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 13
14 Dated: 7/27/20 /s/ DAVID E. MASTAGNI 15 ISAAC S. STEVENS 16 TASHAYLA D. BILLINGTON JOEL M. WEINSTEIN 17 Attorneys for Plaintiffs
18 Dated: 7/27/20 /s/ 19 CYNTHIA M. GERMANO ROGER K. CRAWFORD 20 BEN CARNEY 21 Attorneys for Defendant
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
2
3 Dated: July 29, 2020 HONORABLE SHERI PYM 4 United States Magistrate Judge
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2
3 I, [print or type full name], of Mastagni Holstedt, 4 A.P.C., 1912 “I” Street, Sacramento, California 95811, declare under penalty of perjury 5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was 6 7 issue by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on 8 _______________ in the case of Richard Aragon, et al. v. City of Colton, Case No. 9 5:20-CV-00776-DDP-SPx. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 10 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply 11 could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 12 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to 13 this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with 14 the provisions of this Order. 15 16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 17 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 18 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 19 action. I hereby appoint [print or type full name] of 20 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my 21 California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings 22 related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 23 24 Date: 25 City and State where sworn and signed: 26 Printed Name: 27 Signature: 28
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