Jordan Williams v. The Boeing Company

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: September 30, 2025
• Docket: 2:25-cv-02222
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

] || J. Bernard Alexander II] California Bar No. 128307 Alexander 2 || Morrison + FEHR LLP 3 J. Bernard Alexander, III (SBN 128307) balexander@amfllp.com 4 || 1900 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 900 Los Angeles, CA 90067 5 || (310) 394-0888 6 (310) 394 -0811 (facsimile) 7 || R. Scott Oswald Esq. Pro Hac Vice Tae Hoon Yang Esq. Pro Hac Vice 8 || Ashley M. Koerner Esq. Pro Hace Vice Soswald@employmentlawgroup.com 9 tyang@employmentlawgroup.com 10 akoerner@employmentlawgroup.com The Employment Law Group, P.C. 11 || 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 1110 Washington, D.C. 20006 12 | (202) 415-2948 13 |} (202) 261-2835 (facsimile) 14 || Attorneys for Plaintiff Jordan Williams 15 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL 17 DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 18 19 JORDAN WILLIAMS, 0 Case No. 2:25—cv—02222—RGK-—BFM Plaintiff, STIPULATED 21 PROTECTIVE ORDER Vv. 22 23 || THE BOEING COMPANY, 24 Defendant. 25 26 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 27 28 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER Case No. 2:25-cv-0222-RGK-BFM

1 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 2 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 3 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation 4 5 maybe warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the 6 Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties 7 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 8 9 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from 10 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that 11 12 are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 13

14 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 15 16 17 This action is likely to involve proprietary business information and 18 individual personal information for which special protection from public 19 20 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is 21 warranted. Such confidential materials and proprietary information consist of, 22 among other things, the personal information of current and former employees 23 24 of the defendant, who are former colleagues of the plaintiff, including 25 information implicating privacy rights of third parties, information otherwise 26 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise 27 28 1 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case 2 decisions, or common law. This includes personal demographic information, 3 and employee personal work performance information for the purpose of 4 5 establishing comparator evidence. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 6 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality 7 of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled 8 9 to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable 10 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to 11 address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a 12 13 protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of 14 the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical 15 reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has 16 17 been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause 18 why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 19

20 21 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING 22 PROCEDURE 23 24 25 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that 26 this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 27 28 1 information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that 2 must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks 3 permission from the court to file material under seal. There is a strong 4 5 presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and 6 records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause 7 must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 8 9 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. 10 Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony 11 Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated 12 13 protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good 14 cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 15 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party 16 17 seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or 18 Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission 19 of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought to 20 21 be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 22 protectable—constitute good cause. 23 24 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 25 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, 26 and the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to 27 28 1 be protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th 2 Cir. 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to 3 be filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate 4 5 compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for 6 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the 7 application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 8 9 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise 10 protectable in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential 11 portions can be redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted 12 13 version for public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or 14 otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any 15 application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should 16 17 include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 18 4. DEFINITIONS 19 20 4.1 Action: Jordan Williams v. The Boeing Company. 21 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges 22 the designation of information or items under this Order. 23 24 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information 25 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things 26 27 28 1 that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and 2 as specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 3 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as 4 5 well as their support staff). 6 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates 7 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to 8 9 discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 10 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or 11 information, regardless of the medium or manner in which it is 12 13 generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, 14 testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 15 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 16 17 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or 18 experience in a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been 19 retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as 20 21 a consultant in this Action. 22 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 23 24 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any 25 other outside counsel. 26 27 28 1 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, 2 corporation, association or other legal entity not named as a Party 3 to this action. 4 5 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of 6 a party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and 7 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a 8 9 law firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 10 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 11 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel 12 13 of Record (and their support staffs). 14 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure 15 or Discovery Material in this Action. 16 17 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 18 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing 19 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in 20 21 any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 22 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that 23 24 is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 25 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 26 Material from a Producing Party. 27 28 1 5. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 4 5 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 6 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 7 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 8 9 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of 10 the trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the 11 use of Protected Material at trial. 12 13 6. DURATION 14 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 15 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 16 17 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively 18 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 19 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to 20 21 the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 22 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 23 24 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents 25 are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not 26 extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 27 28 1 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 3 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information 4 5 or items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such 6 designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. 7 The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of 8 9 material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so 10 that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for 11 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit 12 13 of this Order. 14 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. 15 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made 16 17 for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development 18 process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 19 expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 20 21 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or 22 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that 23 24 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 25 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 26 27 28 1 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 2 provided in this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of 3 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be 4 5 clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 7 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or 8 9 electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other 10 pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, 11 the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), 12 13 to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion of the 14 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 15 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 16 17 markings in the margins). 18 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 19 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting 20 21 Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. 22 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made 23 24 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the 25 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, 26 the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, 27 28 1 qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 2 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” 3 to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the 4 5 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 7 in the margins). 8 9 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 10 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the 11 close of the deposition all protected testimony. 12 13 (c) for information produced in some form other than 14 documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party 15 affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in 16 17 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a 18 portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing 19 Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 20 21 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 22 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, 23 24 standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection 25 under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, 26 27 28 1 the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material 2 is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 3

4 5 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6 8.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 7 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 8 9 Scheduling Order. 10 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 11 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 12 13 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 14 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 15 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be 16 17 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 18 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens 19 on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 20 21 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all 22 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection 23 24 to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court 25 rules on the challenge. 26

27 28 1 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that 3 is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with 4 5 this Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. 6 Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and 7 under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been 8 9 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 10 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 11 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party 12 13 at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the 14 persons authorized under this Order. 15 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 16 17 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating 18 Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 19 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 20 21 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 22 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of 23 24 Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the 25 information for this Action; 26 27 28 1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House 2 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary 3 for this Action; 4 5 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 6 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 7 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) 8 9 (d) the court and its personnel; 10 (e) court reporters and their staff; 11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 12 13 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 14 Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 15 Bound” (Exhibit A); 16 17 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the 18 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or 19 knew the information; 20 21 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, 22 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the 23 24 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A 25 hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 26 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 27 28 1 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. 2 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 3 Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not 4 5 be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 6 Order; and 7 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting 8 9 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 10 discussions. 11 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 12 13 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 14 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other 15 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this 16 17 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 18 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 19 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or 20 21 court order; 22 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena 23 24 or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered 25 by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification 26 shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 27 28 1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 2 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If 3 the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 4 5 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 6 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which 7 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating 8 9 Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of 10 seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these 11 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving 12 13 Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 14 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 15 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 16 17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced 18 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as 19 “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non- 20 21 Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 22 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 23 24 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party 25 from seeking additional protections. 26 27 28 1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery 2 request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, 3 and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the 4 5 Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 6 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 7 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 8 9 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 10 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 11 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 12 13 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 15 Non-Party, if requested. 16 17 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 18 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 19 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information 20 21 responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective 22 order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession 23 24 or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party 25 before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the 26 27 28 1 Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court 2 of its Protected Material. 3 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 4 5 MATERIAL 6 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 7 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not 8 9 authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must 10 immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 11 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 12 13 Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized 14 disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such 15 person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be 16 17 Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 18 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 19 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 21 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 22 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 23 24 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in 25 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to 26 modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that 27 28 1 provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal 2 Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on 3 the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the 4 5 attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may 6 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the 7 court. 8 9 14. MISCELLANEOUS 10 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of 11 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 12 13 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 14 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object 15 to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not 16 17 addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any 18 right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 19 by this Protective Order. 20 21 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 22 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected 23 24 Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the 25 sealing of the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected 26 27 28 1 Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file 2 the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 3 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 4 5 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, 6 within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving 7 Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such 8 9 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all 10 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing 11 or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is 12 13 returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification 14 to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 15 Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, 16 17 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 18 and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 19 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of 20 21 the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 22 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and 23 24 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial 25 exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 26 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such 27 28 1 || archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to 2 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 3 4 16. VIOLATION 5 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 6 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 7 g sanctions. IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 10 11 2 DATED:September 30, 2025 By:/s/ Ashley M. Koerner J. Bernard Alexander, III 13 R. Scott Oswald, Esq. (Pro Hac Vice) 14 Tae Hoon Yang, Esq. (Pro Hac Vice) Ashley M. Koerner, Esq. (Pro Hac Vice) 15 Attorneys for Plaintiff 16 17 1g || DATED: September 26, 2025 By: /s/ Timothy M. Keegan 19 Attorney for Defendant

20 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 21 22 23 | DATED: September 30, 2025 24 ee Hon. Brianna Fuller Mircheff 25 United States Magistrate Judge 26 27 28 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 21 Case No. 2:25-cv-0222-RGK-BFM