1 JOSEPH T. MCNALLY Acting United States Attorney 2 DAVID M. HARRIS Assistant United States Attorney 3 Chief, Civil Division NOTE: CHANGES MADE BY THE COURT JOANNE S. OSINOFF 4 Assistant United States Attorney Chief, Complex and Defensive Litigation Section 5 MATTHEW J. SMOCK (Cal. Bar No. 293542) JOSEPH W. TURSI (Cal. Bar No. 300063) 6 Assistant United States Attorney Federal Building, Suite 7516 7 300 North Los Angeles Street Los Angeles, California 90012 8 Telephone: (213) 894-0397 | 3989 Facsimile: (213) 894-7819 9 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] 10 Attorneys for Defendant United States of America 11

12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

13 FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

14 MARIA ISABEL SANDOVAL, Case No. 2:24-cv-06588-ODW-JPR 15 Plaintiff, DISCOVERY MATTER 16 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 17 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; and 18 DOES 1 THROUGH 25, Inclusive, Hon. Jean P. Rosenbluth United States Magistrate Judge 19 Defendants.

20

21 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 22

23 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, 24 or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 25 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the 26 parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 27 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 1 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 2 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 3 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further 4 acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does 5 not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth 6 the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 7 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 8 9 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 10 This action is likely to involve the disclosure of information implicating privacy 11 rights of third parties, including current and former federal employees, and information 12 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise 13 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or 14 common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 15 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect 16 information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are 17 permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct 18 of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, 19 a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the 20 parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that 21 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a 22 confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the 23 public record of this case. 24 2. DEFINITIONS 25 2.1 Action: Sandoval v. United States of America, Case No. 2:24-cv-06588- 26 ODW-JPR. 27 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 1 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 2 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 3 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 4 Statement. 5 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 6 support staff). 7 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items 8 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 9 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 10 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other 11 things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in 12 disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 13 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 14 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 15 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 16 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House 17 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 18 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other 19 legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 20 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 21 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared 22 in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared 23 on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 24 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 25 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 26 support staffs). 27 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 1 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 2 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 3 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 4 their employees and subcontractors. 5 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 6 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 7 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from 8 a Producing Party. 9 3. SCOPE 10 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 11 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 12 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 13 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel 14 that might reveal Protected Material. 15 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial 16 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 17 4. DURATION 18 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 19 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will be 20 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 21 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made 22 to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 23

(9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 24 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 25 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order 26 do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 27 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 1 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order 2 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 3 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those 4 parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that 5 other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection 6 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 7 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that 8 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 9 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 10 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 11 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 12 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 13 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 14 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 15 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 16 ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order 17 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 18 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 19 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 20 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), 21 that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 22 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 23 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party 24 also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 25 in the margins). 26 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 27 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 1 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 2 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 3 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 4 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 5 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 6 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 7 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 8 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 9 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 10 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 11 protected testimony. 12 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 13 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 14 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 15 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 16 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 17 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 18 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating 19 Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely 20 correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure 21 that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 22 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 23 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 24 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 25 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 26 process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 27 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 1 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 2 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the 3 confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the 4 level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the 5 Court rules on the challenge. 6 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 8 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action 9 only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected 10 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 11 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must 12 comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 13 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location 14 and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under 15 this Order. 16 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 17 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 18 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 19 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 20 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary 21 to disclose the information for this Action; 22 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 23 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 24 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 25 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 26 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (d) the court and its personnel; 1 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 2 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 3 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 4 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 5 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 6 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 7 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 8 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not 9 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 10 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 11 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 12 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 13 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 14 Order; and 15 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 16 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions or appointed 17 by the Court. 18 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 19 OTHER LITIGATION 20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 21 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 23 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 24 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 25 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 26 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 27 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 2 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 4 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as 5 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order 6 issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating 7 Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its 8 confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing 9 or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another 10 court. 11 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 12 IN THIS LITIGATION 13 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 14 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 15 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 16 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 17 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 18 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 19 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject 20 to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 21 information, then the Party shall: 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 2 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 3 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 request(s), and a reasonably specific 6 description of the information requested; and 7 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 8 Non-Party, if requested. 9 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order within 14 days of 10 receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the 11 Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party 12 timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in 13 its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party 14 before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party 15 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected 16 Material. 17 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 19 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 20 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 21 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all 22 unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom 23 unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such 24 person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is 25 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 26 27 1 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 2 PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 4 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of 5 the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 6 This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e- 7 discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to 8 Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the 9 effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 10 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 11 stipulated protective order submitted to the court provided the Court so allows. 12 12. MISCELLANEOUS 13 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person 14 to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 15 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective 16 Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or 17 producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 18 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in 19 evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 20 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected 21 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed 22 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected 23 Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the 24 court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 25 otherwise instructed by the court. 26 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 27 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days 1 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 2 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 3 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 4 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit 5 a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 6 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 7 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that 8 the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any 9 other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this 10 provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, 11 trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition 12 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work 13 product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that 14 contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth 15 in Section 4 (DURATION). 16 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures 17 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 18 19 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 20 21 DATED: March 28, 2025 22 /s/ Abraham Sandoval 23 Abraham Sandoval Attorneys for Plaintiff Maria Isabel Sandoval 24

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27 1 DATED: March 28, 2025 2 || /s/ Joseph W. Tursi 3 | AUSA Joseph WoTursi 4 Attorneys or Defendant United States of

5 6 7 8 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 10 || DATED: April 1, 2025 | fm Prenblate~ 12 || Honorable JeanP. Rosenbluth = =—————™ 3 United States Magistrate Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 13

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 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 issued by 6 the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case 7 of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the number and initials assigned 8 to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 9 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply 10 could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 11 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to 12 this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with 13 the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 15 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 17 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 18 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone 19 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or 20 any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 Date: ______________________________ 22 23 City and State where sworn and signed: ___________________________________ 24 Printed name: _____________________________________________ 25 26 Signature: ________________________________________________ 27