1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 12

13 Theresa Goodfellow, CASE NO.: 2:24-cv-01072-JAM-DMC

14 Plaintiffs, PROTECTIVE ORDER 15 v.

16 Equifax Information Services, LLC. Complaint Filed: April 10, 2024 Experian Information Solutions, Inc, 17 TransUnion LLC; Rocket Mortgage LLC 18 Defendants. 19

20 21 22 PURSUANT TO THE STIPULATION OF THE PARTIES (“Stipulation for 23 Entry of Protective Order re Confidential Documents”), and pursuant to the Court’s 24 inherent and statutory authority, including but not limited to the Court’s authority 25 under the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the United States District 26 Court, Eastern District of California Local Rules (including U.S. Dist. Ct., E.D. Cal. 27 L.R. 141, 141.1, 143, and 251); after due consideration of all of the relevant 28 pleadings, papers, and records in this action; and upon such other evidence or 1 argument as was presented to the Court; Good Cause appearing therefor, and in 2 furtherance of the interests of justice, 3 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 4 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 5 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 6 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 7 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 8 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter 9 the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order 10 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and 11 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 12 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the 13 applicable legal principles. 14 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 15 This action is likely to involve private consumer financial information and 16 confidential business information for which special protection from public 17 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is 18 warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, 19 among other things, confidential business or financial information (including 20 21 mortgage account numbers and payment information), information regarding 22 confidential business practices, trade secrets, or other confidential or commercial 23 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), 24 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 25 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 26 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 27 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 28 2 1 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 2 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 3 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 4 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 5 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 6 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 7 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 8 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 9 record of this case. 10 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 11 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 12 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 13 under seal; Local Civil Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 14 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to 15 file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of 16 access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non- 17 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See 18 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu,

(9th Cir. 2006), 19 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp.,

, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar- 20 21 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc.,

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 22 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 23 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 24 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to 25 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material 26 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by 27 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 28 2 1 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. Further, 2 if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then compelling 3 reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief sought 4 shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos v. 5 Pacific Creditors Ass’n.,

(9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type 6 of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the 7 party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific 8 facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent 9 evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal must be provided 10 by declaration. 11 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 12 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 13 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only 14 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall 15 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 16 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 17 4. DEFINITIONS 18 4.1 Action: the current action of Goodfellow v. Equifax Information 19 Services, LLC., et. al., Case No. 2:24-cv-01072-JAM-DMC, pending in this Court. 20 21 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 22 designation of information or items under this Order. 23 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 24 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 25 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 26 the Good Cause Statement. 27 28 2 1 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 2 their support staff). 3 4.5 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 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 7 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 8 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 9 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 10 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 11 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 12 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 13 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 14 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 15 counsel. 16 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 17 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 18 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 19 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have 20 21 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 22 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 23 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 24 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 25 support staffs). 26 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 27 Discovery Material in this Action. 28 2 1 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 2 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 3 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 4 and their employees and subcontractors. 5 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 6 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 7 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 8 Material from a Producing Party. 9

10 5. SCOPE 11 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 12 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 13 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 14 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 15 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 16 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 17 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 18 Protected Material at trial. 19 6. DURATION 20 21 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 22 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used and 23 introduced at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 24 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported 25 by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in 26 advance of the trial. See Kamakana,

(distinguishing “good 27 cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling 28 2 1 reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). 2 Accordingly, the term of this protective order does not extend beyond the 3 commencement of the trial. 4 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 6 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 7 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material 8 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate 9 for protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 10 communications that qualify so, that other portions of the material, documents, items 11 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 12 within the ambit of this Order. 13 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 14 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 15 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 16 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 17 Party to sanctions. 18 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 19 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 20 21 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 22 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 23 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 24 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 25 the material is disclosed or produced. Designation in conformity with this Order 26 requires: 27 28 2 1 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or 2 electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other 3 pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a 4 minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 5 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected 6 material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 7 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 8 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 9 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 10 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 11 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection 12 and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 13 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 14 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 15 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 16 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 17 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 18 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 19 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 20 21 in the margins). 22 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating 23 Party identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, 24 before the close of the deposition all protected testimony. 25 (c) for information produced in some form other than 26 documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party 27 affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in 28 2 1 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a 2 portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing 3 Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 4 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 5 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 6 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 7 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 8 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 9 provisions of this Order. 10 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 11 8.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 12 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 13 Scheduling Order. 14 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the meet and 15 confer process prior to the filing of any motion. 16 8.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be 17 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 18 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 19 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 20 21 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 22 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 23 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 24 challenge. 25 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 27 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 28 2 1 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 2 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 3 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 4 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL 5 DISPOSITION). 6 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 7 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 8 authorized under this Order. 9 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 10 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 11 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 12 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 13 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 14 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 15 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 16 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 17 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 18 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 19 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 20 21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) 22 (d) the court and its personnel; 23 (e) court reporters and their staff; 24 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 25 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 26 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 28 2 1 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 2 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 3 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 4 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 5 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 6 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign 7 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless 8 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of 9 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 10 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed 11 to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 12 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting 13 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 14 discussions. 15 16 10. PROTECTED MATERIALS SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 17 18 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 19 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 20 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 21 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 22 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 23 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the 24 subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the 25 material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective 26 Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective 27 Order; and 28 2 1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures 2 sought to be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material 3 may be affected. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, 4 the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any 5 information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a 6 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, 7 unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 8 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 9 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these 10 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 11 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another 12 court. 13 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 14 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 15 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information 16 produced by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as 17 “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in 18 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 19 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed 20 as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 21 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery 22 request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its 23 possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party 24 25 not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party 26 shall: 27 28 2 1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 2 NonParty that some or all of the information requested is 3 subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 5 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery 6 request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the 7 information requested; and 8 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 9 Non-Party, if requested. 10 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this 11 court within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying 12 information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s 13 confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non- 14 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not 15 produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 16 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by 17 the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear 18 the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected 19 Material. 20 21 12. 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 25 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 26 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person 27 or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this 28 2 1 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an 2 Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 3 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 4 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 6 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 7 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil\ 8 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 9 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 10 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 11 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 12 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 13 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 14 to the court. 15 14. MISCELLANEOUS 16 17 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 18 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 19 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 20 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 21 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 22 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 23 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 24 Order. 25 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 26 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 141. Protected Material 27 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 28 2 1 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under 2 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the 3 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 4 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 5 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 6 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 7 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 8 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 9 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 10 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 11 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 12 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies 13 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 14 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 15 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 16 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 17 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 18 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 19 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 20 21 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 22 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 23 Section 6 (DURATION). 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 2 /// /// 3 16. VIOLATION 4 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 g Dated: March 4, 2025 c= WS Co 9 _—— 10 DENNIS M. COTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE 11 JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 EXHIBIT A 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 18 ieesesi(‘isOOOO_ [print or type full name], of 19 [print or type full address], 99 | declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 21 | Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California on [Date] in the case of Goodfellow v. Equifax Information Services, LLC., et. al., Case No. 2:24-cv- 24| 01072-JAM-DMC. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 25 | Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 26 | comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS CASE NO. 2:24-CV-01072-JAM-DMC

1 that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in 2 strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 3 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 4 Court for the Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms 5 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur 6 after termination of this action. 7 I hereby appoint _____________________________________ [print or type 8 full name] of 9 ________________________________________________________ [print or 10 type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of 11 process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of 12 this Stipulated Protective Order. 13

14 Date: _____________________________________ 15 City and State where sworn and signed: __________________________________ 16 Printed name: _____________________________________ 17 Signature: ________________________________________ 18

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