AMMANUEL MUZGEBE, an individual v. CONSOLIDATED DISPOSAL SERVICE, LLC

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: October 30, 2025
• Docket: 2:25-cv-06138
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 Kara A. Cole, Bar No. 306515 kcole@littler.com 2 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 501 W. Broadway, Suite 900 3 San Diego, California 92101.3577 Telephone: 619.232.0441 4 Facsimile: 619.232.4302 5 Alexis M. Schwab, Bar No. 341397 aschwab@littler.com 6 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 18565 Jamboree Road 7 Suite 800 Irvine, California 92612 8 Telephone: 949.705.3000 Facsimile: 949.724.1201 9 10 Attorneys For Defendant CONSOLIDATED DISPOSAL SERVICE, 11 LLC 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 13 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, WESTERN DIVISION 14 15 AMMANUEL MUZGEBE, an individual, Case No. 2:25−cv−06138−KS ___________ 16 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND PROPOSED PROTECTIVE ORDER 17 v. 18 CONSOLIDATED DISPOSAL SERVICE, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability 19 Company, and DOES 1 through 20, Complaint Filed: June 4, 2025 (Superior inclusive, Court of Los Angeles Case No. 20 25STCV16220) Defendants. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 I. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary 3 or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 4 for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the 5 parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 6 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 7 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 8 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 9 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 10 II. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 11 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and other 12 valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary 13 information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any 14 purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and 15 proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business 16 or financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other 17 confidential research, development, or commercial information (including information 18 implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to 19 the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state 20 or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite 21 the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality 22 of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 23 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such 24 material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end 25 of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 26 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated 27 as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith 28 belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good 1 cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 2 III. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 3 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 4 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 5 seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 6 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material 7 under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 8 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good 9 cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County of 10 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 11 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 12 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and 13 a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support 14 and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks 15 to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as 16 CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by 17 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 18 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 19 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 20 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 21 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos 22 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type 23 of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the party 24 seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and 25 legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 26 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 27 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its 28 entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 1 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the 2 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. 3 Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include an 4 explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 5 IV. DEFINITIONS 6 4.1 Action: Ammanuel Muzgebe v. Consolidated Disposal Service, LLC, et al., 7 Case No. 2:25-CV-06138-KS. 8 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 9 information or items under this Order. 10 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 11 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 12 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 13 Statement. 14 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 15 support staff). 16 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items 17 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 19 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other 20 things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in 21 disclosures or responses to discovery. 22 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 23 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 24 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 25 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House 26 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 27 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or other 28 legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 1 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 2 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in this 3 Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf 4 of that party, and includes support staff. 5 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 7 support staffs). 8 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 9 Material in this Action. 10 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 11 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 13 their employees and subcontractors. 14 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 15 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from 17 a Producing Party. 18 V. SCOPE 19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 20 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 21 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 22 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 23 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 24 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial 25 judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of Protected 26 Material at trial. 27 VI. DURATION 28 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as CONFIDENTIAL 1 or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as an exhibit at trial 2 becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, 3 including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to 4 proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 5 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 6 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of 7 court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the 8 commencement of the trial. 9 VII. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 7.1 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 that 15 other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which protection 16 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 the case development process or to impose unnecessary 20 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 21 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 22 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 23 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 24 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 25 Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that 26 qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material 27 is disclosed or produced. 28 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 1 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 2 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), 3 that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 4 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 5 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 6 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 7 margins). 8 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 9 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 10 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 11 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 13 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 14 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 15 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 16 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 17 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by 18 making appropriate markings in the margins). 19 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 20 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 21 protected testimony. 22 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 23 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 24 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 26 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 27 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 28 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 1 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 2 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 3 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 4 VIII. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 5 8.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 6 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 7 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 8 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 9 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint 10 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 11 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 12 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 13 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 14 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the 15 confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the 16 level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the 17 Court rules on the challenge. 18 IX. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 20 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action 21 only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected 22 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 23 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must 24 comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 25 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location 26 and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under 27 this Order. 28 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 1 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 2 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 3 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 4 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary 5 to disclose the information for this Action; 6 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 7 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 8 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 9 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) [TO BE NEGOTIATED 11 AND PREPARED BY PARTIES AND ATTACHED TO STIPULATION AND 12 PROPOSED ORDER]; 13 (d) the court and its personnel; 14 (e) court reporters and their staff; 15 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 16 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 17 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 18 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 19 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 20 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 21 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 22 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not 23 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 24 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 25 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 26 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 27 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 28 Order; and 1 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 2 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 3 X. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 4 IN OTHER LITIGATION 5 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 6 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 7 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 8 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 9 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 10 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 11 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 12 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 13 Stipulated Protective Order; and 14 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 15 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating 16 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order 17 shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before 18 a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party 19 has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the 20 burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and 21 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving 22 Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 23 XI. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 24 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 25 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 26 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 27 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 28 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 1 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 2 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 3 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject 4 to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 5 information, then the Party shall: 6 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 7 NonParty that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 8 agreement with a Non-Party; 9 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 10 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 11 specific description of the information requested; and 12 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 13 Non-Party, if requested. 14 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 15 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 16 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If 17 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 18 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 19 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 20 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 21 court of its Protected Material. 22 XII. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 24 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 25 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 26 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 27 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 28 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 1 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” 2 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 3 XIII. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 4 PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 6 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of 7 the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil\ Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 8 This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e- 9 discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to 10 Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the 11 effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 12 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 13 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 14 XIV. MISCELLANEOUS 15 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person 16 to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 17 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective 18 Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or 19 producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 20 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in 21 evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 22 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected 23 Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed 24 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected 25 Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, 26 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise 27 instructed by the court. 28 1 XV. FINAL DISPOSITION 2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 days 3 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 4 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 5 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 6 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 7 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit 8 a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 9 Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 10 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that 11 the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any 12 other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this 13 provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, 14 trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition 15 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work 16 product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that 17 contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth 18 in Section 6 (DURATION). 19 XVI. VIOLATION 20 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 21 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 22 23 24 25 26 /// 27 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 28 1 DATED: October 22, 2025 H&A LAW OFFICE, PC 3 By:__/s/ Suren Agadzhanov 4 Suren Agadzhanov 5 Karen Hakobyan 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff 7 AMMANUEL MUZGEBE 8 9}}/DATED: October 22, 2025 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 10 11 By:__/s/ Alexis M. Schwab Kara A. Cole 12 Alexis M. Schwab 13 Attorneys For Defendant CONSOLIDATED DISPOSAL 215 SERVICE, LLC 16 17 SIGNATURE ATTESTATION 18 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2), I hereby attest that all signatories listed above, 19 ||and on whose behalf this filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have 49 || authorized the filing. 21}}DATED: October 22, 2025 /s/ Alexis M. Schwab Alexis M. Schwab 22 23 54 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 35 DATED: _ October 30, 2025

27 KAREN L. STEVENSON 28 CHIEF MAGISTRATE JUDGE a