1 BRIAN D. CHASE, ESQ. [email protected] 2 TOM G. ANTUNOVICH, ESQ. 3 [email protected] BISNAR | CHASE LLP 4 1301 Dove Street, Suite 120 5 Newport Beach, California 92660 Telephone: (949) 752-2999/Facsimile: (949) 752-2777 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff 7 CHRISTINA PEÑALOZA 8 Marie B. Maurice, Esq. (SBN 258069) 9 [email protected] Byron M. Purcell, Esq. (SBN 176410) 10 [email protected] 11 Michelle Zhang, Esq. (SBN 348359) [email protected] 12 IVIE McNEILL WYATT PURCELL & DIGGS 13 A Professional Law Corporation 444 S. Flower Street, Suite 1800 14 Los Angeles, California 90071 15 Telephone: (213) 489-0028/Facsimile: (213) 489-0552 Attorneys for Defendant, 16 HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC. 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 19 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 20 CHRISTINA PEÑALOZA, CASE NO.: 8:22-cv-02214-JWH-ADS 21 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 22 ORDER 23 vs. 24 HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC., and 25 DOES 1 through 20, 26 Defendants. 27 1 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary 3 or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 4 for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the 5 parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 6 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 7 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 8 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 9 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 10 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 11 This action is likely to involve trade secrets and other proprietary information 12 manifested in training and business practices documents and property ownership and 13 management agreements, which information is the result of valuable and costly research 14 and development undertaken on behalf of Defendant(s) for which special protection from 15 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is 16 warranted. The documents and information may also include and implicate the privacy 17 rights of third parties, information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which 18 may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 19 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 20 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 21 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 22 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such 23 material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end 24 of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 25 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 26 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a 27 good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 1 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 2 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 3 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 4 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 5 seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 6 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 7 material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to 8 judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive 9 motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City 10 and County of Honolulu,

(9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 11 Corp.,

, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 12

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good 13 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper 14 evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected 15 Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure 16 or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not — without the submission of 17 competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under 18 seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable — constitute good 19 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 Pintos 23 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n.,

(9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type of 24 information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the party 25 seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and 26 legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 27 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 1 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its 2 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 the 4 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. 5 Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include an 6 explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 7 4. DEFINITIONS 8 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 9 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 10 information or items under this Order. 11 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how 12 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 13 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 14 Statement. 15 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 16 support staff). 17 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 18 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 19 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 20 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among 21 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in 22 disclosures or responses to discovery. 23 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 24 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 25 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 26 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 27 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 1 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 2 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 3 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 4 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in this 5 Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf 6 of that party, and includes support staff. 7 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 8 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 9 support staffs). 10 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 11 Discovery Material in this Action. 12 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 13 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 14 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 15 their employees and subcontractors. 16 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 17 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 19 Material from a Producing Party. 20 5. SCOPE 21 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 22 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 23 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 24 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 25 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 26 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial 27 judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of Protected 1 Material at trial. 2 6. 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 as 5 an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of 6 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 7 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See 8 Kamakana,

(distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 9 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 10 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective 11 order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 12 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each 14 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order 15 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 16 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those 17 parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so that 18 other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which protection 19 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 20 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that 21 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 22 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 23 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 24 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 25 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 26 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 27 1 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 2 Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that 3 qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material 4 is disclosed or produced. 5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 6 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 7 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), 8 that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 9 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 10 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 11 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 12 margins). 13 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 14 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 15 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 16 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 17 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 18 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 19 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 20 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 21 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 22 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., 23 by making appropriate markings in the margins). 24 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 25 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 26 deposition all protected testimony. 27 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 1 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 2 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 3 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 4 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 5 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 6 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 7 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 8 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 9 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 10 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 11 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 12 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 13 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 14 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 15 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 16 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 17 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 18 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 19 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 20 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 21 the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question 22 the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until 23 the Court rules on the challenge. 24 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 26 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action 27 only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected 1 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 2 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must 3 comply with the provisions of section below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 5 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 6 authorized under this Order. 7 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 8 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 9 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 10 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 11 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 12 disclose the information for this Action; 13 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 14 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 15 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 16 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 18 (d) the court and its personnel; 19 (e) court reporters and their staff; 20 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 21 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 22 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 23 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 24 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 25 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 26 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 27 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not 1 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 2 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 3 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 4 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 5 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 6 Order; and 7 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 8 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 9 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 10 IN OTHER LITIGATION 11 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 12 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 14 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 15 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 16 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 17 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 18 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 19 Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 21 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating 22 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order 23 shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before 24 a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party 25 has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the 26 burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and 27 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 1 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 2 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 3 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 4 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 5 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 6 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 7 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 8 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 10 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject 11 to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 12 information, then the Party shall: 13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 14 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a 15 Non-Party; 16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 17 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 18 description of the information requested; and 19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 20 Party, if requested. 21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 22 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 23 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If 24 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 25 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 26 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 27 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 1 court of its Protected Material. 2 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 4 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 5 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 6 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 7 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 8 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 9 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be 10 Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 11 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 12 PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 14 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the 15 obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be 17 established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege 18 review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach 19 an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by 20 the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their 21 agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 22 14. MISCELLANEOUS 23 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 24 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 25 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 26 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 27 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 1 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground 2 to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 3 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 4 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only 5 be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 6 Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by 7 the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 8 otherwise instructed by the court. 9 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 10 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 days 11 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 12 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 13 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 14 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 15 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit 16 a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 17 Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 18 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that 19 the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or 20 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding 21 this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion 22 papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, 23 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and 24 expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 25 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective 26 Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 27 1 16. VIOLATION 2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 3 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 4 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 5 DATED: March 24, 2023 BISNAR | CHASE LLP 6 7 By: /s/TOM G. ANTUNOVICH 8 BRIAN D. CHASE, ESQ. 9 TOM G. ANTUNOVICH, ESQ Attorneys for Plaintiff 10 CHRISTINA PEÑALOZA 11 DATED: March 24, 2023 IVIE McNEILL WYATT 12 PURCELL & DIGGS 13 By: /S/ MARIE MAURICE 14 MARIE B. MAURICE, ESQ. 15 BYRON M. PURCELL, ESQ. MICHELLE ZHANG, ESQ. 16 Attorneys for Defendant 17 HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC. 18 19 Upon consideration of the parties’ Stipulation for Protective Order and for 20 good cause shown, it is hereby ORDERED that the Order is granted. 21 22 DATED: 3/29/2023 /s/ Autumn D. Spaeth 23 HONORABLE AUTUMN D. SPAETH 24 United States Magistrate Judge 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, (name) of 4 5 (address) declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on the ___ day of ________, 8 2023, in the case of Christina Peñaloza v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc, Case No. 9 8:22-cv-02214-JWH-ADS. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms 10 of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure 11 to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 13 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 14 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. 19 I hereby appoint [full name] 20 of 21 [full address and telephone number] as my 22 California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any 23 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 24 25 Date: Signature: 26 27 City and State where sworn and signed: