1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 RAYNENE LUNT, Case No. 2:24-cv-02082-JAM-CSK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MODIFIED STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 13 V. (ECF No. 12) WALMART, INC.., et al., 15 Defendants. 16 The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order below (ECF No. 17 12), and finds it comports with the relevant authorities and the Court’s Local Rule. See 18 L.R. 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following 19 clarification. 20 The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain 21 jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R. 22 141.1(f); see Bylin Heating Sys., Inc. v. Thermal Techs., Inc.,

, at *2 23 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2012) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain 24 jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, the 25 Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed. 26 Dated: April 4, 2025 27 pvp - s 28 4, lunt2082.24 CHI SOO KIM UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE T.

1 THARPE & HOWELL, LLP 15250 Ventura Boulevard, Ninth 2 Floor Sherman Oaks, California 91403 3 (818) 205-9955; (818) 205-9944 fax

4 STEPHANIE FORMAN, ESQ.; STATE BAR NO.: 195757 E-Mail: [email protected] 5 ANDREA BREUER, ESQ.; STATE BAR NO.: 161819 E-Mail: [email protected] 6 Attorneys for Defendant, 7 WALMART, INC.

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 RAYNENE LUNT, Case No. 2:24-CV-02082-JAM-CSK 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE 14 ORDER WALMART, INC., and DOES 1 to 15, 15

16 Defendants.

17 Complaint Filed: August 28, 2023

18 19 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 20 21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 22 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 23 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 24 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 25 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does 26 not 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 28 1 legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, 2 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 3 information under seal. 4 5 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 6 7 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 26(c)(1) states in pertinent part, that the 8 Court, upon a showing of good cause may “issue an order to protect a party from 9 annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 10 26(c)(1). In the instant matter, Defendant Walmart, Inc.’s Confidential Documents 11 contain proprietary and confidential trade secret information relating to Defendant 12 Walmart, Inc.’s business practices, policies and procedures, its safety protocol, and 13 information about its video surveillance system. Defendant Walmart, Inc.. 14 (“Defendant” or “Walmart”) derives independent economic value from maintaining 15 the confidentiality of the policies and procedures set forth in these Confidential 16 Documents. 17 Defendant is a leading national retailer with its first store opening in 1962. The 18 retail industry is very competitive. As a result of years of investing time and money 19 in research and investigation, Defendant developed the policies contained in the 20 Confidential Documents for the purposes of maintaining the security of its facilities, 21 providing quality customer service, and ensuring the safety of its employees, 22 customers, and other invitees. These policies and procedures, as memorialized in the 23 Confidential Documents, were created and generated by Walmart for Walmart, and 24 are used for the purposes of maintaining safety at its stores and creating efficient and 25 organized work environments for its employees. As a result, Defendant is able to 26 minimize the waste of any resources, which is a key factor in generating profitability 27 for its business. 28 Defendant derives economic value from maintaining the secrecy of its 1 Confidential Documents. If disclosed to the public, the trade secret information 2 contained in Defendant’s Confidential Documents would reveal Defendant’s internal 3 operations and could potentially be used by competitors as a means to compete for its 4 customers, interfere with its business plans and thereby gain unfair business 5 advantages. If Defendant’s safety protocol were revealed to the general public, it 6 would hinder Defendant’s ability to effectively resolve and minimize liability claims, 7 and its goal of protecting its customers and employees from theft and other crimes. 8 Unrestricted or unprotected disclosure of such information would result in prejudice 9 or harm to Defendant by revealing Walmart’s competitive confidential information, 10 which has been developed at the expense of Walmart and which represents valuable 11 tangible and intangible assets. Accordingly, the parties respectfully submit that there 12 is good cause for the entry of this Protective Order. 13 14 2. DEFINITIONS 15 2.1 Action: Raynene Lunt v. Walmart, Inc;. Does 1 to 15;, Case Number 16 2:24-CV-02082-JAM-CSK. 17 2.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 18 of information or items under this Order. 19 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of 20 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 21 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 22 Statement. 23 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 24 their support staff). 25 2.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or 26 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 27 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 28 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of 1 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 2 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 3 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 4 2.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 5 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 6 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 7 2.8 House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 8 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 9 counsel. 10 2.9 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 11 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 12 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party 13 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 14 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 15 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 16 2.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 17 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 18 support staffs). 19 2.12 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 20 Discovery Material in this Action. 21 2.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support 22 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 23 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 24 their employees and subcontractors. 25 2.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 26 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 27 2.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 28 from a Producing Party. 1 3. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 3 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 4 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 5 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 6 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial 8 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 9 10 4. DURATION 11 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 12 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise 13 in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be 14 the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without 15 prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all 16 appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits 17 for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 18 19 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 21 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 22 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 23 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 24 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 25 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, 26 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 27 within the ambit of this Order. 28 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 1 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 2 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 3 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 4 Party to sanctions. 5 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 6 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 7 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 8 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 9 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 10 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 11 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 12 produced. 13 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 14 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 15 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 16 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 17 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 18 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 19 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 20 markings in the margins). 21 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 22 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 23 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before 24 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 25 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 26 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 27 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 28 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 1 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 2 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 3 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 4 markings in the margins). 5 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 6 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 7 deposition all protected testimony. 8 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 9 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 10 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 11 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 12 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 13 protected portion(s). 14 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 15 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 16 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 17 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts 18 to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 19 20 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 21 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 22 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 23 Scheduling Order. 24 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall meet and confer with the 25 non-challenging party. 26 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 27 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 28 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 1 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 2 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 3 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 4 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 5 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 9 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 10 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 11 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 12 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 13 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 14 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 15 authorized under 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 18 Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 19 (a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 20 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 21 disclose the information for this Action; 22 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 23 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 disclosure 25 is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment 26 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (d) the court and its personnel; 28 (e) court reporters and their staff; 1 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors 2 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 3 “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 1 hereto; and (2) they will 9 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed 11 by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition 12 testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately 13 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 14 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 15 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 16 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 17 18 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 19 IN OTHER LITIGATION 20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 21 that 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 shall 24 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 25 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 26 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 28 Stipulated Protective Order; and 1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 2 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 4 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 5 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 6 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 7 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 8 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 9 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 10 directive from another court. 11 12 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 13 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 14 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 15 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 16 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 17 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 18 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 19 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 20 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 21 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 22 information, then the Party shall: 23 (1) Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 24 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 25 with a Non-Party; 26 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 27 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 28 specific description of the information requested; and 1 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 2 Party, if requested. 3 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 4 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 5 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 6 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce 7 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 8 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court 9 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 10 protection in this court of its Protected Material. 11 12 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 14 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 15 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 16 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 17 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 18 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 19 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 20 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 21 22 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 23 PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 25 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 26 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 27 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 28 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 1 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 2 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 3 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 4 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to 5 the court. 6 7 12. MISCELLANEOUS 8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 11 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Material may only be filed under seal pursuant 16 to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a 17 Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the 18 Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise 19 instructed by the court. 20 21 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 23 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 24 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 25 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 26 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 27 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party 28 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person 1 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by 2 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 3 and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 4 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 5 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 6 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 7 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, 8 attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials 9 contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute 10 Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 11 (DURATION). 12 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 13 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 14 sanctions. 15 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD: 16 LAW OFFICES OF ROBERT F. 17 BRENNAN, P.C. 18 19 DATED: March __, 2025 /s/ ___Robert F. Brennan_______________ ROBERT F. BRENNAN 20 Attorneys for Plaintiff, 21 RAYNENE LUNT

22 MOORAD, CLARK & STEWART 23

24 DATED: March __, 2025 /s/ ___Adam Stewart_______________ _ 25 ADAM STEWART Attorneys for Plaintiff, 26 RAYNENE LUNT 27

28 1 THARPE & HOWELL, LLP

2 DATED: March __, 2025 /s/ __Andrea Breuer_____________ _ 3 STEPHANIE FORMAN ANDREA BREUER 4 Attorneys for Defendant, 5 WALMART, INC.

6

7 Andrea Breuer, the filer of this document, attests that all other signatories listed above, and on whose behalf this filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have authorized the 8 filing, pursuant to L.R. 131(e).

9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2

3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California 7 on [date] in the case of Raynene Lunt v. Walmart, Inc;. Does 1 to 15;, Case Number 8 2:24-CV-02082-JAM-CSK.. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms 9 of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to 10 so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that 12 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 13 compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the 14 jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California 15 for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if 16 such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint 17 __________________________ [print or type full name] of 18 ______________________________________ [print or type full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 Printed name: _______________________________ 25 26 Signature: __________________________________

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