Vladimir Royter v. Costco Wholesale Corporation

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA — WESTERN DIVISION $12 VLADIMIR ROYTER, Case No. 2:24-cv-06484-FLA-PVCx Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CORPORATION and DOES 1 t0 50, 16 Defendant(s).

19 1. INTRODUCTION 20 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 71 Discovery in this action may involve production of confidential, proprietary, or 22 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use □□ 23 any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.

24 Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does nx |! confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the 27 protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited || information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable leg || principles. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3 below, that thi || Order does not entitle them to file Confidential Information under seal; Civil Local Ru 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be || applied when a Party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal.

6 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 7 This action arises from alleged injuries sustained by Plaintiff VLADIMIR g || ROYTER (“Vladimir”) due to an incident in a Costco retail store. Vladimir was g || attempting to move a box containing a mattress when he tore his biceps tendon.

190 || Vladimir alleges negligence and premises liability causes of action. ll Evidence or potential evidence that will be disclosed in discovery is expected to 12 || include confidential and proprietary information and documents regarding business || practices pertaining to safety, products sold in Costco, and other matters which are || generally unavailable to the public and could be exploited by actors (e.g. criminals and 15 || Scammers) who have no interest in or need for evidence produced in this case for their || Own unlawful purposes. Likewise, evidence shall include surveillance footage which 1 || also generally unavailable to the public. This footage invokes the same concerns as th 1g || other information discussed above, and potentially implicates third party privacy |] concerns as well.

20 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt || resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect || information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are || permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the || conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends || of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the || intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical || reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been -2- || maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should || not be part of the public record of this case.

3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit, which originated in the Superior Court || of the State of California and was removed to Federal Court by Defendant COSTCO || WHOLESALE CORPORATION (“Defendant” or “Costco”) on diversity jurisdiction || grounds. g 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation of g || information or items under this Order.

10 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it || generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 12 || Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and as specified above in the Good Cause || Statement.

14 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 15 || Support staff).

16 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Nonparty that designates information or ttems || that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

18 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the || medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among || other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generatec || in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter || pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an || expert witness or as a consultant in this action.

25 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action. Hous || Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.

7 2.9 Nonparty: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other 2g || legal entity not named as a Party to this action. -3- 1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a Party to || this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party and have appeared in this || Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf of that Party, including support staff.

5 2.11 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, || employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their || support staffs).

8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or Discover g || Material in this Action.

10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support || services (for example, photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 12 || demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) □□□□ || their employees and subcontractors.

14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated || as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material fro: || a Producing Party.

18 3. SCOPE 19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected || Material (as defined above) but also any information copied or extracted from Protecte || Material; all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and a || testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal || Protected Material.

24 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial || Judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

4. DURATION 7 Once a case proceeds to trial, all the information that was designated as ag || confidential or maintained under this Order becomes public and will be presumptively 4.

1 || available to all members of the public, including the press, unless the trial judge finds || compelling reasons to proceed otherwise. See Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, || 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for || sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” needed for merit: || related documents). Accordingly, the terms of this Order do not extend beyond the || beginning of trial unless the trial judge Orders otherwise.

7 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations g || imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise g || writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition is the later of (1) dismissal || all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice, or (2) final judgment || after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or □□□□□□ 12 || of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for || extension of time under applicable law.

14 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 5.1 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or ttems for protection || under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that || qualifies under the appropriate standards. To the extent practicable, the Designating 1g || Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or || Oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, || documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not || Swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.

Indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are || shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (for || example, to unnecessarily encumber the case-development process or to impose || unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party || sanctions.

7 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items it 2g || designated for protection do not qualify for that level of protection, that Designating -5- || Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable || designation.

3 5.2 Except as otherwise provided in this Order, Disclosure or Discovery Materia || that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the || material is disclosed or produced.

6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 7 (a) for information in documentary form (for example, paper or electronic g || documents but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceeding: g || the Producing Party must affix at a minimum the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each || page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a || page qualify for protection, the Producing Party should to the extent practicable clearly 12 || identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate markings in the || Margins).

14 A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents available for inspection nee 15 || not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which || documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the || designation, all material made available for inspection must be treated as 1g || “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants || copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portiot || thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified || documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each pag || that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page || qualify for protection, the Producing Party should to the extent practical clearly identif || the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate markings in the margins).

25 (b) for testimony given in depositions, the Designating Party must identify the || Disclosure or Discovery Material that is protected on the record, before the close of the || deposition. -6- 1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any || other tangible items, the Producing Party must affix in a prominent place on the exteric || of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” [f only a portion or portions of the information warrant □□□□□□□□□□ || the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, must identify the protected portion(s).

6 5.3 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified information| || items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protectior g || under this Order for that material. On timely correction of a designation, the Receiving g || Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance || with the provisions of this Order. ll 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS B12 6.1 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of confidentiality at any || time consistent with the Court’s scheduling order.

14 6.2 The Challenging Party must initiate the dispute-resolution process (and, if 15 || necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.

16 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such proceeding is on the Designating Party || Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (for example, to □□□□□□□ 1g || impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), may expose the Challengi || Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the || confidentiality designation, all parties must continue to afford the material in question || the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation || until the Court rules on the challenge.

24 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 7.1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced || another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, || defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclose 2g || only to the categories of people and under the conditions described in this Order. Wher -7- || the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of || Section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a || location and in a manner sufficiently secure to ensure that access is limited to the peop || authorized under this Order.

6 7.2 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the || Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated g || “CONFIDENTIAL” only to the following people: 9 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as || employees of that Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to || disclose the information for this Action; 12 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the || Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 14 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 15 || reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and || Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (d) the Court and its personnel; 18 (ec) court reporters and their staff; 19 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors 1 || whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodi || or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 24 (h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for witnesses to whom || disclosure is reasonably necessary, provided that the deposing party requests that the || Witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto and the witnesses will not be || permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the form, unless 9g || otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribe -8- || deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be || separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as || permitted under this Order; and 4 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually || agreed on by any of the Parties engaged in settlement discussions or appointed by the || Court.

7 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED □ g OTHER LITIGATION 9 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation tha || compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as || “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must B12 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification must || mclude a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 14 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to isst 15 || in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order || Subject to this Protective Order. Such notification must include a copy of this Order; ar 17 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by t 1g || Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating Party || timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shou || not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a || determination on the protective-order request by the relevant court unless the Party has || obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party bears the burden || and expense of seeking protection of its Confidential Material, and nothing in these || provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this || Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. -9- 1 9. ANONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Nonpart || in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information is protected by || the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be || construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from seeking additional protections.

7 (b) In the event that a Party is required by a valid discovery request to produce a g || Nonparty’s Confidential Information in its possession and the Party is subject to an g || agreement with the Nonparty not to produce the Nonparty’s Confidential Information, || then the Party must (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Nonparty B12 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 13 agreement with a Nonparty; 14 (2) promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of this Order, the 15 relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the 16 information requested; and 17 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 18 Nonparty, if requested.

19 (c) If the Nonparty fails to seek a protective order within 21 days of receiving th || notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Nonparty’ || Confidential Information responsive to the discovery request. If the Nonparty timely || seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party must not produce any information in its || possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Nonparty || before a ruling on the protective-order request. Absent a court order to the contrary, the || Nonparty must bear the burden and expense of seeking protection of its Protected || Material. -10- 1 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 If a Receiving Party learns that by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed || Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Ord« the Receiving Party must immediately notify the Designating Party in writing of the || unauthorized disclosures, use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the || Protected Material, inform the person or people to whom unauthorized disclosures wer || made of the terms of this Order, and ask that person or people to execute the g || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

9 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 10 PROTECTED MATERIAL When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 12 || inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, tk || obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil || Procedure 26(b)(5)(B).

12. MISCELLANEOUS 16 12.1 Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its || modification by the Court.

18 12.2 By stipulating to the entry of this Order, no Party waives any right it || otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on || any ground not addressed in this Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object « || any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Order.

2 12.3 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply wi || Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may be filed under seal only pursuant to a || court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party || request to file Protected Material under seal is denied, then the Receiving Party may fil || the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. -]1- 1 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 da || of a written request by the Designating Party, cach Receiving Party must return all || Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this || subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, || summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Materi || Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must g || submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or g || entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that identifies (by category, || when appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and affirms || that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, □□□□□□□□ 8 || or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.

13 || Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all || pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts; legal memoranda; 15 || correspondence; deposition and trial exhibits; expert reports; attorney work product; ar || consultant and expert work product even if such materials contain Protected Material.

17 || Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject t 1g || this Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). a0 || /// ay □□□ |} /// || /// || /// /// || /// /// ag || /// -]2- 1 14. SANCTIONS 2 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal contemy || financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or other || appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.

6 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS SO , ORDERED.

Mt ? || DATED: September 19, 2024 fuk 10 HON. PEDRO V. CASTILLO 4 United States Magistrate Judge

: 15 -]3- 2 EXHIBIT A 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 4 I, [full name], of [ful || address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understan || the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the U.S. District Court for the Centr || District of California on [date] in the case of Vladimir Royter and g || Larisa Royter v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, Case No.: 2:24-cv-06484-FLA-PVC g || agree to comply with and to be bound by all terms of this Stipulated Protective Order || and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to || Sanctions and punishment, including contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not 12 || disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated || Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions || of this Order.

3 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the || Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated || Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 1g || action. I hereby appoint [full name] of 19 [full address and telephone □□□□□□ || as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any || proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.

3 Date: City and State where signed: 25 Printed name: 26 Signature: -14-