Claudia Chavez v. LAC and USC Medical Center
Claudia Chavez v. LAC and USC Medical Center
Trial Court Opinion
1 MICHAEL W. BIEN – 096891 LISA ELLS – 243657 2 CAROLINE E. JACKSON – 329980 ROSEN BIEN GALVAN & GRUNFELD LLP 3 101 Mission Street, Sixth Floor San Francisco, California 94105-1738 4 Telephone: (415) 433-6830 Facsimile: (415) 433-7104 5 Email: [email protected] [email protected] 6 [email protected] 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, WESTERN DIVISION 11 12 CLAUDIA CHAVEZ, Case No. 2:19-cv-10735-JAK-RAO 13 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER1 14 v. Judge: Hon. Rozella A. Oliver 15 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, Action Filed: December 19, 2019 16 Defendant. Trial Date: None Set 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is substantially based on the model protective order provided under Magistrate Judge Rozella A. Oliver’s Procedures. 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 5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 10 under the applicable legal principles. 11 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 12 This case centers around Defendant’s alleged failure to provide a qualified 13 interpreter to communicate with Ms. Chavez while she received medical care at 14 their facility, and the alleged emotional distress she experienced as a result. This 15 action is likely to involve disclosure and discussion of Ms. Chavez’s medical 16 records and other information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and 17 Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Public disclosure of this information violates 18 HIPAA. 19 This action is also likely to involve discovery activity and production of 20 confidential, proprietary, financial, business, or other private information for which 21 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 22 this litigation is warranted. 23 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 24 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 25 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 26 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 27 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 1 matter. 2 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 3 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 4 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 5 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 6 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 7 to file material under seal. 8 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 9 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 10 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 11 County of Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 1176(9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 12 Corp.,
307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, 13 Inc.,
187 F.R.D. 576, 577(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders 14 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling 15 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with 16 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere 17 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 18 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the 19 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 20 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 21 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 22 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 23 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 24 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n,
605 F.3d 665, 677-79(9th Cir. 2010). For 25 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 26 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 27 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 1 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 2 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 3 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. 4 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting 5 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, 6 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their 7 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 8 2. DEFINITIONS 9 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 10 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 11 of information or items under this Order. 12 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 13 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 14 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 15 the Good Cause Statement. 16 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 17 their support staff). 18 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 19 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 20 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 21 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 22 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 23 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 24 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 25 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 26 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 27 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 1 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 2 counsel. 3 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 4 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 5 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 6 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 7 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 8 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 9 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 10 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 11 support staffs). 12 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 13 Discovery Material in this Action. 14 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 15 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 16 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 17 and their employees and subcontractors. 18 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 19 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 20 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 21 from a Producing Party. 22 3. SCOPE 23 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 24 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 25 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 26 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 27 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 1 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 2 4. DURATION 3 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 4 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 5 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 6 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 7 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 8 of the trial. See Kamakana,
447 F.3d at 1180-81(distinguishing “good cause” 9 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 10 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 11 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 12 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 14 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 15 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 16 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 17 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 18 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 19 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 20 within the ambit of this Order. 21 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 22 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 23 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 24 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 25 Party to sanctions. 26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 27 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 1 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 2 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 3 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 4 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 5 produced. 6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 7 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 8 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 9 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 11 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 12 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 13 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 14 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 15 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 16 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 17 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 18 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 19 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 20 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 21 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 22 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 23 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 24 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 25 in the margins). 26 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 27 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 2 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place 3 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 4 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 5 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 6 protected portion(s). 7 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 8 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 9 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 10 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 11 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 12 Order. 13 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 14 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 15 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 16 Scheduling Order. 17 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 18 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 19 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 20 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 21 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 22 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 23 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 24 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 25 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 26 challenge. 27 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 1 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 2 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 3 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 4 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 5 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 6 DISPOSITION). 7 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 8 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 9 authorized under this Order. 10 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 11 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 12 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 13 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 14 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, 15 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 16 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 17 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 18 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 19 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 20 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (d) the court and its personnel; 23 (e) court reporters and their staff; 24 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 25 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action 26 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 27 A); 1 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 2 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, 3 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 4 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) 5 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 6 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 7 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 8 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 9 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 10 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 11 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 12 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 13 discussions. 14 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 15 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 16 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 17 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 18 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 19 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 20 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 21 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 22 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 23 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 24 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 25 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 26 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 27 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 1 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 2 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 3 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 4 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 5 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 6 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 7 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 8 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced 9 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 10 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected 11 by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions 12 should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 13 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 14 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 15 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 16 confidential information, then the Party shall: 17 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 18 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 19 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 20 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the 21 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 22 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 23 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by 24 the Non-Party, if requested. 25 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 26 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 27 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 1 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 2 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to 3 the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the 4 court. 5 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 6 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 7 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 9 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 10 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 11 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 12 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 13 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 14 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 15 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 16 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 18 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 19 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 20 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 21 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without 22 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar 23 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 24 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 25 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 26 to the court. 27 1 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 3 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 5 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 10 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 11 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 12 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 13 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 14 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 15 12.4 Qualified Protective Order. This Order constitutes a qualified 16 protective order under
45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e)(v). 17 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 18 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 19 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 20 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 21 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 22 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 23 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 24 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 25 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 26 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 27 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 1 || of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 2 ||retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 3 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 4 ||reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 5 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 6 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 7||Section 4 (DURATION). 8j}14. VIOLATION 9 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 10 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 11 12 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 13 14||DATED: August 16, 2020 ROSEN, BIEN, GALVAN & GRUNFELD, LLP 15 16 By: /s/ Caroline E. Jackson 7 Caroline E. Jackson 18 Attorneys for Plaintiff DATED: August 14, 2020 REBACK, MCANDREWS & BLESSEY 20 3 By: Brandon Sanchez Brandon Sanchez 22 33 Attorneys for Defendant
>A FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 Oe 36 DATED: August 18, 2020 Rey On, Honorable Rozella A. Oliver 27 United States Magistrate Judge 28
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