A.S. v. Point Quest

• Court: District Court, E.D. California
• Decided: April 15, 2024
• Docket: 2:23-cv-02029
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 LAW OFFICES OF WALKUP, MELODIA, KELLY & SCHOENBERGER 2 A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 650 CALIFORNIA STREET, 26TH FLOOR 3 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94108-2615 T: (415) 981-7210 · F: (415) 391-6965 4 KHALDOUN A. BAGHDADI (State Bar #190111) kbaghdadi@walkuplawoffice.com 5 VALERIE N. ROSE (State Bar #272566) vrose@walkuplawoffice.com 6 KATHERINE CONNOLLY (State Bar #343524) kconnolly@walkuplawoffice.com 7 ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF A.S., A MINOR, BY AND THROUGH HER 8 GUARDIAN AD LITEM SHAWN SPRINGER

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11

12 A.S., a minor, by and through her Case No. 2:23-cv-02029-TLN-CSK Guardian ad Litem SHAWN 13 SPRINGER, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 14 Plaintiff,

15 v. Hon. Troy L. Nunley Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim 16 POINT QUEST, VACAVILLE UNIFIED

SCHOOL DISTRICT, ANASTASIA

17 BOOMER, HANNAH SMITH and

DOES 1-30, inclusive, 18 Defendants. 19

20 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 21 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production 22 of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from 23 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation 24 may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court 25 to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 26 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery 27 and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 1 applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 2 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file 3 confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rules 141 and 141.1 set forth the 4 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a 5 party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 6 2. DEFINITIONS 7 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 8 designation of information or items under this Order. 9 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 10 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 11 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and includes, but is not 12 limited to, parties’ personnel records and other records referencing employment or 13 job performance, parties’ student records, and parties’ medical records. 14 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House 15 Counsel (as well as their support staff). 16 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 17 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 19 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 20 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 21 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 22 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 23 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 24 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 25 an expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 26 2.7 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. 27 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 1 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 2 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 3 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 4 to this action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have 5 appeared in this action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 6 has appeared on behalf of that party. 7 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, 8 employees, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 9 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 10 Discovery Material in this action. 11 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 12 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 13 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 14 and their employees and subcontractors. 15 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 16 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 17 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 18 from a Producing Party. 19 3. SCOPE 20 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 21 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 22 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 23 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 24 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 25 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the 26 following information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of 27 disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its 1 this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; 2 and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or 3 obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the 4 information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating 5 Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate 6 agreement or order. 7 4. DURATION 8 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 9 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees 10 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be 11 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this action, with 12 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and 13 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, 14 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time 15 pursuant to applicable law. 16 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 18 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 19 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 20 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 21 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 22 communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents, 23 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 24 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 25 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 26 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 27 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to 1 Party to sanctions. 2 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 3 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 4 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 5 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 6 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 7 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 8 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 9 produced. 10 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 11 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 12 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that 13 the Producing Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains 14 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for 15 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 16 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 17 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for 18 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 19 indicated which material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection 20 and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 21 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 22 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 23 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 24 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” 25 legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of 26 the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 27 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 1 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, 2 that the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, 3 hearing, or other proceeding, all protected testimony. 4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 5 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 6 exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the 7 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item 8 warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 9 protected portion(s). 10 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 11 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 12 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 13 Upon timely correction of a designation, which is considered within twenty (20) days 14 of the inadvertent failure to designate, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 15 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 16 Order. 17 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 18 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 19 designation of confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a 20 Designating Party’s confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, 21 substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic burdens, or a significant disruption or 22 delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality 23 designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the original 24 designation is disclosed. 25 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 26 resolution process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging 27 and describing the basis for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a 1 confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph of the 2 Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith 3 and must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other 4 forms of communication are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of 5 notice. In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that 6 the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party 7 an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, 8 and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen 9 designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge 10 process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that 11 the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a 12 timely manner. 13 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without 14 court intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain 15 confidentiality under Civil Local Rule 230 (and in compliance with Civil Local Rules 16 141 and 141.1, if applicable) within 21 days of the initial notice of challenge or within 17 14 days of the parties agreeing that the meet and confer process will not resolve their 18 dispute, whichever is earlier. Each such motion must be accompanied by a competent 19 declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet and confer 20 requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by the Designating Party 21 to make such a motion including the required declaration within 21 days (or 14 days, 22 if applicable) shall automatically waive the confidentiality designation for each 23 challenged designation. In addition, the Challenging Party may file a motion 24 challenging a confidentiality designation at any time if there is good cause for doing 25 so, including a challenge to the designation of a deposition transcript or any portions 26 thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to this provision must be accompanied by a 27 competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet and 1 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 2 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 3 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 4 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 5 the confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion to retain confidentiality as 6 described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level 7 of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the 8 court rules on the challenge. 9 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 11 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 12 case only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such 13 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 14 conditions described in this Order. 15 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 16 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 17 authorized under this Order. 18 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 19 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 20 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” 21 only to: 22 (a) Attorneys of record herein (including House Counsel and Outside Counsel 23 of Record), as well as employees of said attorneys of record to whom it is reasonably 24 necessary to disclose the information for this litigation; 25 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 26 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation; 27 (c) Insurance and self-insurance program administrators and adjustors and 1 (d) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 2 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation; 3 (e) Mediators agreed to by the parties; 4 (f) the court and its personnel; 5 (g) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock 6 jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 7 litigation; 8 (h) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 9 reasonably necessary, unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered 10 by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that 11 reveal Protected Material must be separately bound by the court reporter and may 12 not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 13 Order; and 14 (i) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 15 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 16 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 17 IN OTHER LITIGATION 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 notification shall 22 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 23 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 24 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 25 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 26 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 27 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 1 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 2 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 3 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 4 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 5 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 6 protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these provisions 7 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to 8 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 9 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 10 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 11 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 12 Party in this action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 13 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 14 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 15 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 16 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 17 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 18 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 19 confidential information, then the Party shall: 20 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 21 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 22 with a Non-Party; 23 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 24 Protective Order in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 25 specific description of the information requested; and 26 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 27 Party. 1 court within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 2 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to 3 the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 4 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to 5 the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the 6 court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 7 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 8 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 10 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 11 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 12 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 13 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 14 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 15 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 16 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 17 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 18 PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 20 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 21 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 22 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 23 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 24 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 25 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 26 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 27 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 1 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 3 person to seek its modification by the court in the future. 4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 5 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the 10 Designating Party or a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested 11 persons, a Party may not file in the public record in this action any Protected 12 Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply 13 with Local Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a 14 court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. 15 Pursuant to Local Rule 141, a sealing order will issue only upon a request 16 establishing that the Protected Material at issue is privileged, protectable as a trade 17 secret, or otherwise entitled to protection under the law. If a Receiving Party's 18 request to file Protected Material under seal pursuant to Local Rule 141 is denied by 19 the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record 20 pursuant to Local Rule 141 unless otherwise instructed by the court. 21 22 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 23 24 25 26 27 1|| Dated: April 10, 2024 WALKUP, MELODIA, KELLY & SCHOENBERGER 2 Uwiy By: 4 KHALDOUN A. BAGHDADI 5 VALERIE N. ROSE KATHERINE CONNOLLY 6 Attorneys for PLAINTIFF A.S., A MINOR, BY AND THROUGH HER 7 GUARDIAN AD LITEM SHAWN SPRINGER 9 Dated: April 10, 2024 JOHNSON, SCHACHTER & LEWIS 10 I By: /s/ Kristen M. Caprino 12 KRISTEN M. CAPRINO JASON M. SHERMAN 13 Attorneys for DEFENDANTS 14 VACAVILLE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT and ANASTASIA BOOMER 15 16 17 || Dated: April 10, 2024 FREEMAN MATHIS & GARY, LLP 18 19 By: /s/ Craig A. Tomlins 20 CRAIG A. TOMLINS 21 Attorney for DEFENDANTS POINT QUEST and HANNAH SMITH 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

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 5 under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 6 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for 7 the Eastern District of California in the case of A.S. v. Point Quest et al. Case No. 8 2:23-cv-02029-TLN-CSK. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of 9 this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 10 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. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 15 for the Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 termination of this action. 18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _________________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone 20 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action 21 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 22 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 1 ORDER 2 The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order. (ECF No. 38.) 3 || The stipulation comports with the relevant authorities and the court’s applicable local rule. See L.R. 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the 5 || following clarification. The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, g ||it “will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order 7 filed in that action.” L.R. 141.1(£); see also, e.g., MD Helicopters, Inc. v. Aerometals, 8 Inc., 2017 WL 495778 (E.D. Cal., Feb. 03, 2017) (noting that courts in the district 9 generally do not retain jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after 10 closure of the case). Thus, the Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective 1 order once the case is closed. 12 Dated: April 15, 2024 13 cy - € : Chan Spo \LA_ CHI SOO KIM 15 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 16 || 3-48-2029 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28