Chiquita Battle v. RegenLab USA LLC
Chiquita Battle v. RegenLab USA LLC
Trial Court Opinion
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7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9
10 CHIQUITA BATTLE, an individual, Case No. 2:21-cv-00196 11 Plaintiff,
12 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE v. ORDER 13 REGENLAB USA LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, ANTOINE TURZI, an 14 individual, and DOES 1 to 20, inclusive 15 Defendants.
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17 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 18 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 19 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 20 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 21 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 22 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does 23 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 24 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 25 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 26 legal principles. 27 1 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 This action is likely to involve non-party contact information, trade secrets, 3 customer and pricing lists and other valuable research, development, commercial, 4 financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection from 5 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action 6 is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, 7 among other things, confidential business or financial information, current and 8 prospective client contact information, information regarding confidential business 9 practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial information 10 (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information 11 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise 12 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, 13 or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the 14 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to 15 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure 16 that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation 17 for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, 18 and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 19 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 20 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith 21 belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is 22 good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 23 24 25 26 27 1 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 2 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 3 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 4 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 5 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 6 material under seal. 7 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 8 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 9 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 10 County of Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 1176(9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 11 Corp.,
307 F.3d 1206, 1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 12
187 F.R.D. 576, 577(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good 13 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with 14 proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to 15 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation 16 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the 17 submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material 18 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 19 protectable—constitute good cause. 20 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 21 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 22 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See 23 Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n,
605 F.3d 665, 677–79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each 24 item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under 25 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must 26 articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for 27 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to 1 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 2 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 3 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only 4 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall 5 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 6 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 7 Notwithstanding any other provisions herein, the parties recognize that the 8 contact information and certain employment records for some non-party employees 9 may be produced at some point during the pendency of this litigation. None of the 10 contact information or employment records of non-party employees shall be used for 11 any purpose outside of this litigation, and will not be disseminated to any third party 12 under any circumstances, except where in accordance with the procedures set forth in 13 this Order for the disclosure of documents and information designated as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL” to authorized persons. 15 16 2. DEFINITIONS 17 2.1 Action: shall mean the above entitled case: Chiquita Battle v. RegenLab 18 USA LLC, et. al., Case No.: 2:21-cv-00196 19 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 20 of information or items under this Order. 21 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 22 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 23 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 24 Cause Statement. 25 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 26 support staff). 27 1 2.5 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 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 5 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 6 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 7 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 8 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 9 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 10 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 11 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 12 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 13 counsel. 14 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 15 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 16 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 17 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 18 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 19 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 20 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 21 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 22 support staffs). 23 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 24 Discovery Material in this Action. 25 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 26 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 27 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 1 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 2 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 3 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 4 from a Producing Party. 5 6 3. SCOPE 7 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 8 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 9 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 10 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 11 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 12 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 13 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 14 15 4. DURATION 16 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 17 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 18 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 19 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 20 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 21 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180–81 (distinguishing “good cause” 22 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 23 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 24 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 25 26 27 1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 3 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 4 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 5 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 6 only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that 7 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications 8 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 9 this Order. 10 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 11 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 12 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 13 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 14 to sanctions. 15 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 16 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 17 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 18 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 19 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 20 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 21 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 22 produced. 23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 25 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 26 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 1 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 2 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 4 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 5 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 6 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 7 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 8 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 9 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 10 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 11 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material 12 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 13 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 14 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 15 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition 16 all protected testimony. 17 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 18 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 19 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 20 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 21 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 22 portion(s). 23 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 24 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 25 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 26 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 27 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 1 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 2 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 3 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 4 Scheduling Order. 5 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 6 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 7 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 8 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 9 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 10 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 11 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 12 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 13 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 14 15 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 17 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 18 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 19 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 20 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 21 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 23 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 24 authorized under this Order. 25 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 26 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 27 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 1 (a) any individual Receiving Party and the Receiving Party’s Outside 2 Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of 3 Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 5 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 7 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (d) the court and its personnel; 10 (e) court reporters and their staff; 11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 12 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 13 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 15 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 17 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 18 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will 19 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 21 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 22 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 23 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 24 permitted under this Stipulated Protective 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 1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 2 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 shall 7 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 subpoena 10 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 11 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 13 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 action 16 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 17 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 18 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 19 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 20 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 21 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 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 agreement 8 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 Non- 13 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 expense 21 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 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 Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 1 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal 2 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 3 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 25 14. VIOLATION 26 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 27 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 1 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 2 8/25/2021 3 DATED _______________________ 4 /s/ 5 _____________________________________ Richard Sherman 6 Abhay Khosla Attorneys for Plaintiff 7 8 9 DATED:______8_/2_6_/_2_0_2_1___________ 10 /s/ 11 _____________________________________ Amy Ramsey 12 Alejandro Castro Attorneys for Defendant 13 14 15 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 17 DATED:__A__u_g_u_st_ 2_6_,_ 2_0_2_1__________ 18 /s/ CHARLES F. EICK 19 _____________________________________ HON. CHARLES F. EICK 20 United States Magistrate Judge 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 8 on [date] in the case of RegenLab USA LLC, et. al., Case No.: 2:21-cv-00196. I 9 agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective 10 Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me 11 to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I 12 will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 13 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with 14 the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 16 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 17 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27
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