Naomi Shumate v. Remx, LLC

United States District Court for the Central District of California

Naomi Shumate v. Remx, LLC

Trial Court Opinion

1 Maribel B. Ullrich, Esq. (SBN 246970) LAW OFFICES OF MARIBEL ULLRICH 2 20042 Beach Blvd., Suite 100 Huntington Beach, California 92648 3 Telephone: (714) 465-9646 4 Facsimile: (714) 274-9710 Email: [email protected] 5 Attorneys for Plaintiff, 6 NAOMI SHUMATE 7 MCGUIREWOODS LLP Sabrina A. Beldner (SBN 221918) 8 Email: [email protected] Andrew W. Russell (SBN 280669) 9 Email: [email protected] Sarah Y. Oh (SBN 322164) 10 Email: [email protected] 1800 Century Park East, 8th Floor 11 Los Angeles, CA 90067-1501 Telephone: 310.315.8200 Facsimile: 310.315.8210 12 Attorneys for Defendants 13 REMX, LLC and KAISER PERMANENTE INTERNATIONAL 14

15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 16 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17

18 NAOMI SHUMATE, an individual Case No. 8:22-cv-01659-CJC-ADSx

19 Plaintiff(s), [Discovery Document: referred to Magistrate Judge Autumn D. Spaeth] 20 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 21 REMX, LLC dba REMX; KAISER 22 PERMANENTE INTERNATIONAL; and DOES 1 to 100, Inclusive; 23 Defendant(s). 24 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 5 may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the

6 Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties 7 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 8 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from 9 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that 10 are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The 11 parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section XIII(C), below, that this 12 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 13 under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 14 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the 15 Court to file material under seal. 16 II. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

17 A. This action is likely to involve trade secrets, marketing information, 18 customer and pricing lists and other valuable research, development, 19 commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which 20 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other 21 than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary 22 materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business 23 or financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, 24 or other confidential research, development, or commercial information 1 (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties, including but 2 not limited to, mailing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers of current 3 and former employees of Defendants), information otherwise generally 4 unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected 5 from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or

6 common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the 7 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to 8 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 9 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material 10 in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the 11 end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 12 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that 13 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that 14 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained 15 in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not 16 be part of the public record of this case.

17 III. DEFINITIONS 18 A. Action: This pending federal lawsuit. 19 B. Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 20 of information or items under this Order. 21 C. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how 22 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 23 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 24 the Good Cause Statement. 1 D. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 2 support staff). 3 E. Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or 4 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 5 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

6 F. Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of 7 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained 8 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that 9 are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this 10 matter. 11 G. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 12 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to 13 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 14 H. House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 15 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 16 counsel.

17 I. Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 18 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 19 J. Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party 20 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 21 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law 22 firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 23 K. Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 24 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and 1 their support staffs). 2 L. Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 3 Discovery Material in this Action. 4 M. Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support 5 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

6 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 7 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 8 N. Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 9 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 10 O. Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 11 from a Producing Party. 12 IV. SCOPE 13 A. The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 14 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 15 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 16 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or

17 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 18 B. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of 19 the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 20 V. DURATION 21 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 22 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Protective Order becomes public and will 23 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 24 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are 1 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of 2 Honolulu,

447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81

(9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing 3 for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when 4 merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this 5 Protective Order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

6 VI. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 A. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection 8 1. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for 9 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation 10 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 11 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of 12 material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that 13 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or 14 communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 15 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 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 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 24 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 1 B. Manner and Timing of Designations 2 1. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., Section 3 B(2)(b) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or 4 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be 5 clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.

6 2. Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 7 a. For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or 8 electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or 9 other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix 10 at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 11 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected 12 material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 13 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 14 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 15 markings in the margins). 16 b. A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents

17 available for inspection need not designate them for protection 18 until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it 19 would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before 20 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection 21 shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 22 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the 23 Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 24 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 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 markings in the margins). 7 c. For testimony given in depositions, that the Designating 8 Party identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, 9 before the close of the deposition all protected testimony. 10 d. For information produced in form other than document and 11 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a 12 prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in 13 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If 14 only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 15 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 16 protected portion(s).

17 C. Inadvertent Failure to Designate 18 1. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified 19 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating 20 Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 21 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 22 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with 23 the provisions of this Order. 24 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 B. Meet and Confer 7 1. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 8 under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 9 C. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 10 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 11 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 12 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 13 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 14 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 15 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 16 challenge.

17 VIII. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 A. Basic Principles 19 1. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 20 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 21 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. 22 Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of 23 persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the 24 Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the 1 provisions of Section XIV below. 2 2. Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving 3 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is 4 limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 5 B. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items

6 1. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by 7 the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or 8 item 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 necessary for this Action; 16 c. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to

17 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who 18 have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 19 (Exhibit A); 20 d. The Court and its personnel; 21 e. Court reporters and their staff; 22 f. Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 23 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary 24 for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 1 Agreement to be Bound” attached as Exhibit A hereto; 2 g. The author or recipient of a document containing the 3 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise 4 possessed or knew the information; 5 h. During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for

6 witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably 7 necessary provided: (i) the deposing party requests that the 8 witness sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound;” 9 and (ii) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential 10 information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement 11 to Be Bound,” unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or 12 ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or 13 exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 14 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 15 anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; 16 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 SUBPOENAED 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 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this 24 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 1 1. Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 2 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 3 2. Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 4 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material 5 covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such

6 notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 7 3. Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 8 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be 9 affected. 10 B. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served 11 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated 12 in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court from 13 which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the 14 Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden 15 and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and 16 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a

17 Receiving Party in 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 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should 24 be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 1 B. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 2 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 3 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 4 confidential information, then the Party shall: 5 1. Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

6 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 7 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 8 2. Promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 9 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 10 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 11 3. Make the information requested available for inspection by the 12 Non-Party, if requested. 13 C. If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 15 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 16 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the

17 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control 18 that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 19 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party 20 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its 21 Protected Material. 22 XI. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 A. If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 24 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not 1 authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must 2 immediately (1) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 3 disclosures, (2) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 4 Protected Material, (3) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized 5 disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (4) request such person

6 or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” that is 7 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 8 XII. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 9 PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 A. When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 11 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 12 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 13 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 14 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 15 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 16 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of

17 disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 18 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their 19 agreement in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted to the Court. 20 XIII. MISCELLANEOUS 21 A. Right to Further Relief 22 1. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its 23 modification by the Court in the future. 24 B. Right to Assert Other Objections 1 1. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, no Party waives 2 any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 3 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 4 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 5 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective

6 Order. 7 C. Filing Protected Material 8 1. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must 9 comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed 10 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 11 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 12 under seal is denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the 13 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. 14 XIV. FINAL DISPOSITION 15 A. After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section V, within 16 sixty (60) days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving

17 Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such 18 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, 19 abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or 20 capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is 21 returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to 22 the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating 23 Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) 24 all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the 1 Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries 2 or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 3 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of 4 all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal 5 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports,

6 attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 7 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 8 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth 9 in Section V. 10 B. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 11 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 12 sanctions. 13 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

14 Dated: March 30,2023 /s/ Maribel B. Ullrich Attorney(s) for Plaintiff NAOMI SHUMATE 15

16 Dated: March 30, 2023 /s/ Andrew W. Russell Attorney(s) for Defendants REMX, LLC and 17 KAISER PERMANENTE INTERNATIONAL

18 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2), the filing attorney attests that all signatories listed 19 other than the filer concur in the filing’s content and have authorized the filing.

20

21 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

22

Dated: 3/31/2023 /s/ Autumn D. Spaeth 23 HONORABLE AUTUMN D. SPAETH United States Magistrate Judge 24 1 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2

3 I, [print or type full name], of 4 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I 5 have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issue 6 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [DATE] in 7 the case of [insert formal name of the case and the 8 number and initials assigned to it by the Court]. I agree to comply with and to be 9 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in 11 the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 12 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or 13 entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint [print or 18 type full name] of [print or type full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this 20 action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 Date: 22 City and State where sworn and signed: 23 Printed Name: 24 Signature:

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