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7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9

10 DAYNA RAMIREZ, Case No. 1:23-cv-00983-SAB

11 Plaintiff, ORDER ENTERING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 12 v. (ECF No. 16) 13 HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC., 14 Defendant.

15 16 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

17 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 18 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of 19 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 20 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be 21 warranted. 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 not 23 confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the 24 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 legal 26 principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 27 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rules 140, 141 and 141.1 set forth the procedures that must be followed 1 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 2 material under seal. 3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 5 information or items under this Order. 6 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 7 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 8 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). 9 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel 10 (as well as their support staff). 11 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 13 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 14 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other 15 things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in 16 disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 17 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 18 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 19 expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 20 2.7 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. 21 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 22 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 23 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 24 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 25 this action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared 26 in this action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared 27 on behalf of that party. 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, 1 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 2 support staffs). 3 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 4 Discovery Material in this action. 5 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 6 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 7 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 8 their employees and subcontractors. 9 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 10 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 11 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 12 from a Producing Party. 13 3. SCOPE 14 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 15 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 16 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 17 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 18 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. However, the protections conferred by this 19 Stipulation and Order do not cover the following information: (a) any information that is 20 in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the 21 public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not 22 involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through 23 trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the 24 disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who 25 obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the 26 Designating Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate 27 agreement or order. /// 1 4. DURATION 2 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 3 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in 4 writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later 5 of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) 6 final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 7 remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the time limits for filing any motions 8 or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 9 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each 11 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order 12 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 13 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those 14 parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify – so 15 that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which 16 protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 17 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that 18 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 19 to unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose 20 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating Party to 21 sanctions. 22 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 23 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 24 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 25 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 26 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 27 ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 1 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 2 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 3 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 4 Producing Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected 5 material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 6 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 7 appropriate markings in the margins). A Party or Non-Party that makes original 8 documents or materials available for inspection need not designate them for protection 9 until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material it would like copied and 10 produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made 11 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party 12 has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 13 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 14 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 15 “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 16 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party 17 also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 18 in the margins). 19 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that 20 the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or 21 other proceeding, all protected testimony. 22 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 23 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of 24 the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend 25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant 26 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 27 portion(s). 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 1 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 2 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 3 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 4 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 5 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 7 of confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s 8 confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, 9 unnecessary economic burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a 10 Party does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to 11 mount a challenge promptly after the original designation is disclosed. 12 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 13 process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing 14 the basis for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, 15 the written notice must recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in 16 accordance with this specific paragraph of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt 17 to resolve each challenge in good faith and must begin the process by conferring directly 18 (in voice-to-voice dialogue; other forms of communication are not sufficient) within 14 19 days of the date of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the 20 basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the 21 Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the 22 circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the 23 chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge 24 process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that the 25 Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely 26 manner. 27 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality 1 under Civil Local Rules 140, 141, and 141.1 (and in compliance with Civil Local Rule 2 230, if applicable) within 21 days of the initial notice of challenge or within 14 days of the 3 parties agreeing that the meet and confer process will not resolve their dispute, whichever 4 is earlier. Each such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming 5 that the movant has complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed in the 6 preceding paragraph. Failure by the Designating Party to make such a motion including 7 the required declaration within 21 days (or 14 days, if applicable) shall automatically 8 waive the confidentiality designation for each challenged designation. In addition, the 9 Challenging Party may file a motion challenging a confidentiality designation at any time 10 if there is good cause for doing so, including a challenge to the designation of a deposition 11 transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to this provision must be 12 accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the 13 meet and confer requirements imposed by the preceding paragraph. 14 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 15 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 16 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 17 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived the 18 confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion to retain confidentiality as described 19 above, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to 20 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the court rules on the 21 challenge. 22 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 24 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case 25 only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected 26 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 27 described in this Order. When the litigation has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 1 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and 2 in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this 3 Order. 4 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 5 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 6 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 7 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as 8 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 9 disclose the information for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 10 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A; 11 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 12 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who 13 have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 14 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is 15 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 16 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (d) the court and its personnel; 18 (e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock 19 jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 20 litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 21 (Exhibit A); 22 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 23 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 24 Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the 25 court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 26 Protected Material must be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be 27 disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order. (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian 1 or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 2 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 3 OTHER LITIGATION 4 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 5 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as 6 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 7 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 8 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 9 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue 10 in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 11 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated 12 Protective Order; and 13 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 14 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 15 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 16 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as 17 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or 18 order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 19 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of 20 its confidential material – and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 21 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive 22 from another court. 23 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN 24 THIS LITIGATION 25 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party 26 in this action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non- 27 Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided 1 by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party 2 from seeking additional protections. 3 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a 4 Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 5 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, 6 then the Party shall: 7 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or 8 all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 9 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order 10 in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of 11 the information requested; and 12 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party. 13 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within 14 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 15 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If 16 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 17 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 18 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 19 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 20 court of its Protected Material. 21 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 23 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 24 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 25 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all 26 unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom 27 unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is 1 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 2 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 3 PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 5 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of 6 the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 7 This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e- 8 discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to 9 Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the 10 effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 11 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 12 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 13 12. MISCELLANEOUS 14 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 15 person to seek its modification by the court in the future. 16 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 17 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing 18 or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 19 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in 20 evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 21 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without a court order a Party may not file in the 22 public record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal 23 any Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rules 140, 141 and 141.1. 24 Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the 25 sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Receiving Party’s request to file 26 Protected Material under seal pursuant to Civil Local Rules 140, 141 and 141.1 is denied 27 by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record pursuant to Civil Local Rules 140, 141 and 141.1, unless otherwise instructed by the court. 1 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 2 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, 3 each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy 4 such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, 5 abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of 6 the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 7 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the 8 same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 9 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 10 and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 11 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 12 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 13 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 14 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney 15 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain 16 Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 17 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print or 4 type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand 5 the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Northern 6 District of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the 7 number and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the 8 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 9 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 10 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 11 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions 12 of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Northern 14 District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, 15 even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 16 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 17 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] 18 as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings 19 related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 20

21 Date: ______________________________________ 22 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 23

24 Printed name: _______________________________ 25

26 Signature: __________________________________ 27 1 2 COURT ORDER ENTERING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 3 Pursuant to the stipulation of the parties, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 4 1. The above stipulated protective order is entered; 5 2. The parties are advised that pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States 6 District Court, Eastern District of California, any documents which are to be filed 7 under seal will require a written request which complies with Local Rule 141; 8 3. The party making a request to file documents under seal shall be required to show 9 either good cause or compelling reasons to seal the documents, depending on the 10 type of filing, Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n,

(9th Cir. 11 2009); Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC,

(9th Cir. 12 2016); and 13 4. If a party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then 14 the previously filed material shall be immediately accepted by the court and 15 become information in the public record and the information will be deemed filed 16 as of the date that the request to file the Protected Information under seal was 17 made. 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. DAM Le 29 | Dated: _June 21,2024 _ ee UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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