Bruce A. Aronson v. FCA US, LLC

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: May 18, 2020
• Docket: 2:19-cv-09386
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 4 BRUCE A. ARONSON and SECURE Case No.2:19-cv-09386-JFW-JPR 5 TECH 6 Plaintiffs, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 7 ORDER1 8 v.

9 FCA US LLC; RYDELL CHRYSLER 10 DODGE JEEP RAM and DOES 1 NOTE: CHANGES MADE BY THE COURT through 10, inclusive 11

12 Defendants.

14 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 15 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 16 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 17 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 18 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 19 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 20 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 21 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 22 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 23 under the applicable legal principles. 24 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT This action is likely to involve 25 documents pertaining to trade secrets or other confidential research, development, 26 or commercial business information, the disclosure of which might cause 27 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is based substantially on the model protective order provided 1 competitive harm, that is contained in Protected Documents, and which have not 2 been disclosed or made available to the public. Confidential information may 3 include, but is not limited to (1) engineering documents, including design drawings 4 and other technical engineering related specifications, (2) test documents, analysis, 5 and testing procedures; (3) manufacturing specifications and procedures, including 6 communications with and process documents pertaining to FCA US LLC’s suppliers 7 and supplier relationships; (4) internal business or financial information; (5) 8 confidential Customer information and personal identifying information; and (6) any 9 other similar proprietary, confidential, private information, commercially sensitive 10 business information, or competitive intelligence, including but not limited to trade 11 secrets. “Customer” shall mean any person or entity that purchases or otherwise comes to possess FCA US, LLC’s product and/or uses or possesses products/services 12 13 offered or sold by San Fernando Motor Company dba Rydell Chrysler Dodge Jeep 14 Ram. 15 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER 16 SEAL 17 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 18 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 19 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 20 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 21 to file material under seal. 22 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 23 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 24 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City 25 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. 26 Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony 27 Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or 1 compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be 2 made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The 3 parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as 4 CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by 5 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 6 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 7 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 8 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and 9 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be 10 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 11 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed 12 or introduced under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party 13 seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts 14 and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence 15 supporting the application to file documents under seal must be provided by 16 declaration. 17 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable 18 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be 19 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, 20 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the 21 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in 22 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 23 2. DEFINITIONS 24 2.1 Action: Bruce A. Aronson, et al. v. FCA US LLC, et al., Central District 25 of California Case No. 2:19-cv-09386-JFW-JPR. 26 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 27 designation of information or items under this Order. 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 1 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 2 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 3 the Good Cause Statement. 4 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 5 their support staff). 6 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 7 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 8 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 9 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 10 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 11 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 12 or generated in 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 15 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 16 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 17 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 18 counsel. 19 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 20 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 21 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 22 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action 23 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law 24 firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 25 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 26 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 27 support staffs). 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 1 Discovery Material in this Action. 2 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 3 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 4 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 5 and their employees and subcontractors. 6 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 7 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 8 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 9 Material from a Producing Party. 10 3. SCOPE 11 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 12 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 13 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 14 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 15 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 16 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 17 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 18 4. DURATION 19 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 20 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 21 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively 22 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 23 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the 24 trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 25 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 26 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 27 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 3 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 4 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 5 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 6 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 7 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 8 items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 9 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 10 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 11 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 12 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 13 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 14 Designating Party to sanctions. 15 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 16 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 17 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 18 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 19 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 20 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 21 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 22 produced. 23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 25 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 26 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 1 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 2 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 4 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 5 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 6 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 7 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 8 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine 9 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 10 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix 11 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If 12 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 13 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 14 appropriate markings in the margins). 15 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 16 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 17 the deposition all protected testimony. 18 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 19 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 20 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 21 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 22 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify 23 the protected portion(s). 24 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 25 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 26 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 27 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 1 provisions of this Order. 2 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 3 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 4 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 5 Scheduling Order. 6 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 7 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 8 6.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 9 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 10 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be 11 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 12 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 13 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 14 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 15 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 16 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 17 challenge. 18 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 7.1 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 21 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 22 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 23 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 24 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 25 DISPOSITION). 26 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 27 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 1 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 2 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 3 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 4 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 5 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 6 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 7 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 8 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 9 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 10 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 11 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 12 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 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 17 signed 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 22 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 23 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 25 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 26 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 27 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 1 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 2 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions or 3 appointed by the Court. 4 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 5 IN OTHER LITIGATION 6 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 7 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 8 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 9 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 10 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 11 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 12 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 13 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 14 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 16 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 17 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served 18 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in 19 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which 20 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 21 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 22 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 23 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 24 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 25 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 26 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 27 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 1 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 2 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 3 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 4 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 5 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 6 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 7 confidential information, then the Party shall: 8 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 9 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 10 agreement with a Non-Party; 11 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 12 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 13 specific description of the information requested; and 14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 15 Non-Party, if requested. 16 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 17 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 18 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 19 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 20 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject 21 to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the 22 court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 23 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 24 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 26 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 27 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 1 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 2 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 3 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 4 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit 5 A. 6 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 7 PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 9 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 10 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 11 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 12 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 13 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 14 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 15 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 16 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 17 stipulated protective order submitted to the court provided the Court so allows. 18 12. MISCELLANEOUS 19 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 20 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 21 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 22 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 23 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 24 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 25 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 26 Order. 27 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 1 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 2 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 3 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 4 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 6 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 7 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must 8 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 9 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 10 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 11 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 12 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if 13 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that 14 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 15 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any 16 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 17 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel 18 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, 19 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition 20 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 21 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 22 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 23 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// /// 1 /// 2 14. VIOLATION 3 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 4 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 5 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 6 7 STRATEGIC LAW PRACTICES, APC 8 Dated: By:______________________________ 9 Karen Wallace 10 Attorneys for Plaintiffs BRUCE A. ARONSON 11 and SECURE TECH 12

13 Dated: GORDON & REES SCULLY MANSUKHANI LLP 14

15 By:_____________________________ 16 Spencer P. Hugret 17 Amy Maclear Vernice Louie 18 Attorneys for Defendants 19 FCA US LLC and SAN FERNANDO MOTOR COMPANY DBA RYDELL 20 CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM 21 ERRONEOUSLY SUED AS RYDELL CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM 22

27 ° FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 ! DATED: May 18, 2020 (> 5 HON. JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH 6 United States Magistrate Judge 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 15

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, [print or type full name], of [print or type full address], 4 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 5 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for 6 the Central District of California on [______]in the case of Bruce A. Aronson, et al. 7 v. FCA US LLC, et al., Central District of California Case No. 2:19-cv-09386-JFW- 8 JPR. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 9 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 10 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 12 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance 13 with 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 enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of 17 this action. 18 I hereby appoint [print 19 or type full name] of [print 20 or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of 21 process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of 22 this Stipulated Protective Order. 23 Date: 24 City and State where sworn and signed: 25 Printed name: 26 27 Signature: