Kaylin Footman v. County of Sacramento, et al.

• Court: District Court, E.D. California
• Decided: October 8, 2025
• Docket: 2:24-cv-03203
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 KAYLIN FOOTMAN, Case No. 2:24-cv-03203-DC-CSK 9 Plaintiff, 10 V. ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED 11 PROTECTIVE ORDER COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, et al., 12 (ECF No. 20) Defendants. 13 14 15 The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order below (ECF No. 16 20), and finds it comports with the relevant authorities and the Court’s Local Rule. See 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following 18 clarification. 9 The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain 20 jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” 21 L.R. 141.1(f); see Bylin Heating Sys., Inc. v. Thermal Techs., Inc., 2012 WL 13237584, 22 at *2 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2012) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain

jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, 95 the Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed. Dated: October 7, 2025 cq - s : 27 GHI SOO KIM 3g || toot.3203.24 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

-|- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 LONGYEAR, LAVRA & CAHILL, LLP Van Longyear, CSB No.: 84189 2 Nicole M. Cahill, CSB No.: 287165 Eduardo Ruiz, CSB No.: 347316 3 555 University Avenue, Suite 280 Sacramento, CA 95825 4 Phone: 916-974-8500 Facsimile: 916-974-8510 5 Emails: longyear@longyearlaw.com cahill@longyearlaw.com 6 ruiz@longyearlaw.com

7 Attorneys for Defendants, County of Sacramento and Jim Cooper 8

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11

12 KAYLIN FOOTMAN, ) Case No.: 2:24-CV-03203-DC-CSK 13 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 14 ) v. ) 15 ) COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, JIM ) 16 COOPER, in his official and individual ) capacity as County of Sacramento Sheriff, ) 17 SACRAMENTO COUNTY EMERGENCY ) AND MEDICAL SERVICES, THE CITY OF ) 18 SACRAMENTO, KATHERINE LESTER, in ) her official capacity as Sacramento Police ) 19 Chief, OFFICER MULLEN, OFFICER ) FERNANDEO SAENZ, OFFICER JAMES ) 20 COFFMAN, JOHN DOES 1-10, ) ) 21 Defendants. ) ) 22 23 1. PURPOSES, GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT, AND LIMITATIONS 24 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action involve production of confidential, 25 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 26 use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation is warranted. Defendants County of 27 Sacramento and City of Sacramento have determined that certain documents that may be subject 28 to disclosure in this action contain information that is (a) confidential, sensitive, or potentially 1 invasive of an individual’s privacy interests; (b) not generally known; and (c) not normally 2 revealed to the public or third parties, or if disclosed to third parties, would require such third 3 parties to maintain the information in confidence. This confidential or private information warrants 4 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this 5 litigation. 6 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following 7 Stipulated Protective Order on the basis that the documents described herein and anticipated to be 8 subject to disclosure in this matter contain confidential and protected information that may only 9 be disclosed and/or produced subject to the following terms, unless timely challenged subject to 10 the provisions in Section 6, below. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 11 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from 12 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to 13 confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 14 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 11.3, below, that this Stipulated 15 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local Rule 141 16 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 17 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 18 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its entirety 19 will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If documents can be 20 redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or 21 otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file 22 documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not 23 feasible 24 2. DEFINITIONS 25 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information 26 or items under this Order. 27 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 28 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule 1 of Civil Procedure 26(c). 2 2.3 Counsel: Counsel of Record (as well as their support staff). 3 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 4 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 5 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium 6 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, 7 testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or 8 responses to discovery in this matter. 9 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the 10 litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a 11 consultant in this action. 12 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 13 entity not named as a Party to this action. 14 2.9 Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this action but are 15 retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action on behalf of 16 that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party. 17 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 18 consultants, retained experts, and Counsel (and their support staffs). 19 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material 20 in this action. 21 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services (e.g., 22 photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, 23 storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 24 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 27 Producing Party. 28 / / / 1 3. SCOPE 2 The documents eligible for protection under this Order include, but are not limited to: 3  Peace Officer personnel file documents and materials that concern, relate, or refer to 4 fitness for duty reports and evaluations, performance evaluations, complaints, 5 investigations of complaints, discipline, awards, commendations and recognition, 6 reassignments or position changes, employee personal data, and related records, 7 including but not limited to any record that may be defined as “Personnel Records,” 8 pursuant Cal. Penal Code § 832.8 not otherwise subject to disclosure under Gov. Code 9 §§ 7920.00, et seq., as codified in Cal. Penal Code § 832.7(b)(1)(A)(i-iv);Sheriff’s 10 Department internal investigation documents and materials including internal affairs 11 investigation files, citizen complaints, personnel file documents and data, incident 12 reports, log books, and other related records, not otherwise subject to disclosure under 13 Gov. Code §§ 7920.00, et seq;All video captured by law enforcement personnel, 14 including but not limited to, body worn camera and in car camera; 15  All medical and mental health records concerning Plaintiff, whether maintained by a 16 Defendant, or an independent medical or mental health services provider, including 17 records related to evaluations, referrals or treatment, not otherwise subject to public 18 disclosure; 19  Plaintiff’s employment records not otherwise subject to public disclosure; 20  Plaintiff’s financial records not otherwise subject to public disclosure. 21 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 22 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) 23 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 24 conversations, or 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 following 26 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a 27 Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as 28 a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public 1 record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to 2 the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained 3 the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any 4 use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 5 4. DURATION Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 6 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing 7 or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal 8 of all claims and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein 9 after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this 10 action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time 11 pursuant to applicable law. 12 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 14 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to 15 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 16 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or 17 oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents, 18 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 19 the ambit of this Order. 20 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 21 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 22 unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses 23 and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 24 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated 25 for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other 26 Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, 2 e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure 3 or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated 4 before the material is disclosed or produced. 5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 6 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 7 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party 8 affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion 9 or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 10 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). Electronic 11 documents produced in native format shall include a designation in the file name that confidential 12 information is included in the file, and the Producing Party shall provide a separate document 13 identifying each entry that qualifies for protection. 14 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection 15 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material 16 it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the 17 material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting 18 Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 19 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 20 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” 21 legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material 22 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 23 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 24 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that 25 the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other 26 proceeding, all protected testimony. 27 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 28 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the 1 container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” 2 If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to 3 the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 4 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 5 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 6 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 7 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated 8 in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 9 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 10 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 11 designation of confidentiality at any time. 12 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 13 resolution process under Local Rule 251, subsection (b). 14 6.3 Joint Statement. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint 15 statement pursuant to Local Rule 251, subsection (c). 16 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 17 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose 18 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to 19 sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, 20 all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 21 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 22 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 24 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 25 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to 26 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has 27 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 12 below (FINAL 28 DISPOSITION). 1 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in 2 a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 3 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by 4 the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 5 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 6 (a) the Receiving Party’s Counsel in this action, as well as employees, contractors 7 and volunteers (This is addressed in “2.10 Party:”) of said Counsel to whom it is reasonably 8 necessary to disclose the information for this litigation; 9 (b) the officers, directors, and employees of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 10 is reasonably necessary for this litigation; 11 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is 12 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 13 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 14 (d) the court and its personnel; 15 (e) court reporters and their staff; 16 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to 17 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the 18 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 19 (g) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 20 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 21 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of 22 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be 23 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 24 under this Stipulated Protective Order; 25 (h) the author or recipient of a document containing the information 26 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; and 27 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 28 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 2 OTHER LITIGATION 3 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 4 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party 5 must: 6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include 7 a copy of the subpoena or court order; 8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue 9 in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject 10 to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; 11 and 12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 13 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 14 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena 15 or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” 16 before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has 17 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and 18 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these 19 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to 20 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 21 9. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 23 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective 24 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the 25 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected 26 Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the 27 terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 28 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 1 10. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECT 2 MATERIAL 3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 4 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 5 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision 6 is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that 7 provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 8 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 9 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, 10 the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the 11 court. 12 11. MISCELLANEOUS 13 11.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek 14 its modification by the court in the future. 15 11.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order 16 no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 17 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 18 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 19 by this Protective Order. 20 11.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material 21 must comply with Local Civil Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant 22 to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s 23 request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may 24 file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 25 11.4 Non-Party’s Protected Material. The terms of this Order are applicable to information 26 produced by a 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 and relief 28 1 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non- 2 Party from seeking additional protections. 3 12. FINAL DISPOSITION 4 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, each 5 Receiving Party must, upon request, return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy 6 such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 7 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 8 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must, upon 9 request, submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, 10 to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) 11 all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party 12 has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing 13 or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 14 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 15 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work 16 product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. 17 Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 18 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 19 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 20 Dated: October 2, 2025 LONGYEAR, LAVRA & CAHILL, LLP 21

22 By: /s/ Eduardo Ruiz 23 VAN LONGYEAR NICOLE M. CAHILL 24 EDUARDO RUIZ 25 Attorneys for Defendants, County of Sacramento and 26 Jim Cooper

27 / / /

28 / / / Dated: September 26, 2025 DISABILITY LAW UNITED 1

2 By: /s/ Nneka Ewulonu [as authorized 9-26-25] 3 CYNTHIA L. RICE KATHERINE THORSTAD 4 NNEKA EWULONU 5 Attorneys for Plaintiff

6 Dated: September 25, 2025 SACRAMENTO CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

8 By: /s/ Scott P. Thorne [as authorized 9-25-25] SCOTT P. THORNE 9 Attorneys for City Defendants 10 11

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I understand that I am being given access to Confidential Information pursuant to the 4 Stipulated Protective Order entered in the action entitled Footman v. County of Sacramento, United 5 States District Court – Eastern District Case No.: 2:24-CV-03203-DC-CSK. I have been provided 6 with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions 7 said Order unless and until modified by further Order of this Court. I hereby consent to the 8 jurisdiction of said Court for purposes of enforcing this Order. 9 I declare under penalty of perjury under the law of the State of California that the 10 foregoing is true and correct. 11 Date: ______________________________________ 12 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 13 Printed name: _______________________________ 14 Signature: __________________________________ 15 16 17 18 19

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