Laureen Frausto v. City of West Covina

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: May 16, 2023
• Docket: 2:20-cv-05075
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

2 NOTE: CHA NGES MADE BY THE COURT 3

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8

9 LAUREEN FRAUSTO, an individual, Case No.: 2:20-cv-05075-JAK-JPR

10 Plaintiff, 11 vs. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 12 CITY OF WEST COVINA, a municipal 13 entity; CODY ISIDE, individually and in 14 his official capacity as a police officer for the West Covina Police Department; 15 MICHAEL TUANO, individually and in his official capacity as a police officer 16 for the West Covina Police Department; 17 STEPHEN MCLEAN, individually and in his official capacity as corporal for the 18 West Covina Police Department; ERIC 19 STREET, individually and in his official capacity as sergeant for the West Covina 20 Police Department; IAN PAPARRO, 21 individually and in his official capacity as a police officer for the West Covina 22 Police Department; CHRISTOPHER 23 QUEZADA, individually and his official capacity as a police officer for the West 24 Covina Police Department; and DOES 25 1-50, inclusive, individually and in their official capacity as police officers for the 26 West Covina Police Department, 27 1 TO THE HONORABLE COURT: 2 By and through their counsel of record in this action, Plaintiff LAUREEN 3 FRAUSTO ("Plaintiff"), and Defendants CITY OF WEST COVINA, CODY ISIDE, 4 MICHAEL TUANO, STEPHEN MCLEAN, ERIC STREET, IAN PAPARRO, and 5 CHRISTOPHER QUEZADA ("Defendants") – the parties – hereby stipulate for the 6 purpose of jointly requesting that the honorable Court enter a protective order 7 regarding the confidential documents in in this matter [and pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. 8 P. 5.2, 7, and 26; U.S. Dist. Ct., C.D. Cal., Local Rules 7-1; and any applicable 9 Orders of the Court] as follows: 10 11 1. INTRODUCTION 12 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 13 Discovery in this action may involve production of confidential, proprietary, 14 or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 15 use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 16 Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 17 following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order 18 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and 19 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 20 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the 21 applicable legal principles. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 22 12.3 below, that this Order does not entitle them to file Confidential Information 23 under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 24 and the standards that will be applied when a Party seeks permission from the Court 25 to file material under seal. 26 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 27 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), Defendants CITY OF 1 ERIC STREET, IAN PAPARRO, and CHRISTOPHER QUEZADA and Plaintiff 2 LAUREEN FRAUSTO (collectively "the Parties"), by their undersigned counsel, 3 agree to be bound to the terms of the following Protective Order. The Parties 4 represent that pre-trial discovery in this case is likely to include the production of 5 information and/or documents that are confidential and/or privileged including the 6 production of peace officer personnel file information and/or documents which 7 Defendants contend includes: (1) Personal data, including marital status, family 8 members, educational and employment history, home addresses, or similar 9 information; (2) Medical history; (3) Election of employee benefits; (4) Employee 10 advancement, appraisal, or discipline; and (5) Complaints, or investigations of 11 complaints, concerning an event or transaction in which a peace officer participated, 12 or which a peace officer perceived, and pertaining to the manner in which the peace 13 officer performed his or her duties including compelled statements by peace officers 14 except such information as is deemed “not confidential” pursuant to Penal Code 15 section 832.7. Defendants contend that such information is privileged as official 16 information. Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana, 936 F.2d 1027, 1033 (9th Cir. Cal. 17 1990); see also Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for N.D. Cal., 511 F.2d 192, 198 (9th 18 Cir.1975), aff'd, 426 U.S. 394, 96 S.Ct. 2119, 48 L.Ed.2d 725 (1976). Further, 19 discovery may require the production of certain West Covina Police Department 20 Policies and Procedures not available to the public and the public disclosure of 21 which Defendants contend could comprise officer safety, raise security issues, 22 and/or impede investigations. Peace officer personnel file information and/or 23 documents and security-sensitive policies and procedures are hereinafter referred to 24 as "Confidential Information". 25 Defendants contend that that public disclosure of such material poses a 26 substantial risk of embarrassment, oppression and/or physical harm to peace officers 27 whose Confidential Information is disclosed. Defendants contend that that the risk 1 the nature of their profession. Finally, the Defendants contend that the benefit of 2 public disclosure of Confidential Information is minimal while the potential 3 disadvantages are great. 4 This litigation is in the early stages of discovery. Plaintiff contends that some 5 of the documents and information that will be produced during the discovery 6 process contain confidential information. As such, Plaintiff contends the Federal 7 Rules of Civil Procedure govern privileges, and this protective order does not confer 8 blanket protections of privilege. Specifically, 'if a party withholds information that is 9 responsive to a discovery request by claiming that it is privileged or otherwise 10 protected from discovery, that party shall promptly prepare and provide a privilege 11 log that is sufficiently detailed and informative for the opposing party to assess 12 whether a document’s designation as privileged is justified. See Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 13 26(b)(5). The privilege log shall set forth the privilege relied upon and specify 14 separately for each document or for each category of similarly situated documents: 15 (a) the title and description of the document, including number of pages or Bates- 16 number range; (b) the subject matter addressed in the document; (c) the identity and 17 position of its author(s); (d) the identity and position of all addressees and 18 recipients; (e) the date the document was prepared and, if different, the date(s) on 19 which it was sent to or shared with persons other than its author(s); and (f) the 20 specific basis for the claim that the document is privileged and protected. 21 Communications involving counsel that post-date the filing of the complaint need 22 not be placed on a privilege log.'” 23 Accordingly, good cause exists for entry of this Protective Order to facilitate 24 pre-trial disclosure while assuring the safety of these sensitive disclosures. See Fed. 25 R. Civ. Proc. 26(c). 26 27 2. DEFINITIONS 1 2.1 Action: Laureen Frausto v. City of West Covina, et al., Case No.: 2:20- 2 cv-05075-JAK-JPR, pending before the United States District Court, Central District 3 of California. 4 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation 5 of information or items under this Order. 6 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 7 how it is generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 8 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and as specified above in the Good Cause 9 Statement. 10 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 11 their support staff). 12 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Nonparty that designates information or 13 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 15 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 16 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 17 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 18 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 19 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 20 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 21 an expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 22 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action. 23 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 24 counsel. 25 2.9 Nonparty: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 26 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 27 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 1 in this Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm that has 2 appeared on behalf of that Party, including support staff. 3 2.11 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 5 support staffs). 6 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or 7 Discovery Material in this Action. 8 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 9 support services (for example, photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing 10 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 11 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 12 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 15 Material from a Producing Party. 16 17 3. SCOPE 18 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 19 Protected Material (as defined above) but also any information copied or extracted 20 from Protected Material; all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 21 Material; and any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 22 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 23 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 24 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 25 26 4. DURATION 27 Once a case proceeds to trial, all the information that was designated as 1 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless the trial judge finds 2 compelling reasons to proceed otherwise. See Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of 3 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” 4 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 5 needed for merits-related documents). Accordingly, the terms of this Order do not 6 extend beyond the beginning of trial. 7 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 8 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise 9 in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition is the later of (1) 10 dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice, or (2) 11 final judgment after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 12 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any 13 motions or applications for extension of time under applicable law. 14 15 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 5.1 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for 17 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific 18 material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 19 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or 20 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 21 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 22 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 23 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 24 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 25 purpose (for example, to unnecessarily encumber the case-development process or to 26 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 27 Designating Party to sanctions. 1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items it 2 designated for protection do not qualify for that level of protection, that Designating 3 Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 4 designation. 5 5.2 Except as otherwise provided in this Order, Disclosure or Discovery 6 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly designated 7 before the material is disclosed or produced. 8 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 9 (a) for information in documentary form (for example, paper or electronic 10 documents but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 11 proceedings), the Producing Party must affix at a minimum the legend 12 “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion 13 or portions of the material on a page qualify for protection, the Producing Party must 14 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate 15 markings in the margins). 16 A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents available for inspection 17 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 18 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 19 before the designation, all material made available for inspection must be treated as 20 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents, it 21 wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 22 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 23 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” 24 legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of 25 the material on a page qualify for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 26 identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate markings in the 27 margins). 1 (b) for testimony given in depositions, the Designating Party must identify the 2 Disclosure or Discovery Material that is protected on the record, before the close of 3 the deposition. 4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 5 other tangible items, the Producing Party must affix in a prominent place on the 6 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrant 8 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, must identify the protected 9 portion(s). 10 5.3 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified 11 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to 12 secure protection under this Order for that material. On timely correction of a 13 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the 14 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 15 16 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 17 6.1 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of confidentiality at 18 any time consistent with the Court’s scheduling order. 19 6.2 The Challenging Party must initiate the dispute-resolution process (and, 20 if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37. 21 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such proceeding is on the Designating 22 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (for example, 23 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), may expose 24 the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 25 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties must continue to afford the 26 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 27 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 3 produced by another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this Action only for 4 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material 5 may be disclosed only to the categories of people and under the conditions described 6 in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply 7 with the provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 8 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 9 location and in a manner sufficiently secure to ensure that access is limited to the 10 people authorized under this Order. 11 7.2 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 12 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 13 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to the following people: 14 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 15 as employees of that Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary 16 to disclose the information for this Action; 17 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 18 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 19 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 20 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (d) the Court and its personnel; 23 (e) court reporters and their staff; 24 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 25 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 26 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for witnesses to whom 2 disclosure is reasonably necessary, provided that the deposing party requests that the 3 witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto and the witnesses will not be 4 permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the form, unless 5 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of 6 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 7 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 8 anyone except as permitted under this Order; and 9 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 10 mutually agreed on by any of the Parties engaged in settlement discussions or 11 appointed by the Court. 12 13 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 14 IN OTHER LITIGATION 15 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 16 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 17 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 18 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification must 19 include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 20 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 21 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 22 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification must include a copy of 23 this Order; and 24 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 25 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 26 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 27 the subpoena or court order should not produce any information designated in this 1 by the relevant court unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. 2 The Designating Party bears the burden and expense of seeking protection of its 3 Confidential Material, and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 4 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 5 directive from another court. 6 7 8 9. A NONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 9 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 10 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 11 Nonparty in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information is 12 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 13 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from seeking additional 14 protections. 15 (b) In the event that a Party is required by a valid discovery request to 16 produce a Nonparty’s Confidential Information in its possession and the Party is 17 subject to an agreement with the Nonparty not to produce the Nonparty’s Confidential 18 Information, then the Party must: 19 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Nonparty 20 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 21 with a Nonparty; 22 (2) promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of this Order, the relevant 23 discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information 24 requested; and 25 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 26 Nonparty, if requested. 27 (c) If the Nonparty fails to seek a protective order within 21 days of 1 the Nonparty’s Confidential Information responsive to the discovery request. If the 2 Nonparty timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party must not produce any 3 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 4 with the Nonparty before a ruling on the protective-order request. Absent a court 5 order to the contrary, the Nonparty must bear the burden and expense of seeking 6 protection of its Protected Material. 7 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 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately notify the Designating Party in writing 12 of the unauthorized disclosures, use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies 13 of the Protected Material, inform the person or people to whom unauthorized 14 disclosures were made of the terms of this Order, and ask that person or people to 15 execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto 16 as Exhibit A. 17 18 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 19 PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 21 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 22 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 23 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 24 25 12. MISCELLANEOUS 26 12.1 Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its 27 modification by the Court. 1 12.2 By stipulating to the entry of this Order, no Party waives any right it 2 otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on 3 any ground not addressed in this Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object 4 on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Order. 5 12.3 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply 6 with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may be filed under seal only pursuant 7 to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If 8 a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied, then the Receiving 9 Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the 10 Court. 11 12 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 13 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 14 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 15 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 16 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 17 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 18 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 19 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 20 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that identifies (by 21 category, when appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 22 and affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 23 compilations, summaries, or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 24 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 25 archival copy of all pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and hearing 26 transcripts; legal memoranda; correspondence; deposition and trial exhibits; expert 27 reports; attorney work product; and consultant and expert work product even if such 1 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Order as set forth in Section 4 2 (DURATION). 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 14. SANCTIONS 10 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 11 contempt, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or 12 other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 13 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 14 15 DATED: May 12, 2023 THE LAW OFFICES OF JOHN L. BURRIS 16 17 By: s/Julia N. Quesada JOHN L. BURRIS 18 DeWITT M. LACY 19 JULIA N. QUESADA LENA P. ANDREWS 20

21 Attorneys for Plaintiff, Laureen Frausto 22

23 DATED: May 12, 2023 JONES MAYER 24

25 By: s/Denise L. Rocawich 26 JAMES R. TOUCHSTONE DENIS L. ROCAWICH 27 City of West Covina, Cody Iside, Michael Tuano, Stephen McLean, 2 Eric Street, Ian Paparro, and 3 Christopher Quezada 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. fx Prenkate~ 6 || DATED: 5/16/2023 ] JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE

d 1) 1| 1? 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 2+ 2) 2) 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the U.S. District Court 7 for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert 8 case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all terms of this 9 Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment, including 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 U.S. District Court for the 15 Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 17 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full name] of 18 _______________________________________ [full address and telephone 19 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action 20 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________