Lavelle Maurice Jackson v. AutoZoners, LLC

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3

4 LAVELLE MAURICE JACKSON Case No. 5:25-cv-00524-SB-SSC 5 Plaintiff(s),

6 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

7 AUTOZONERS, LLC, et al. ORDER1

8 Defendant(s).

10 11 1. INTRODUCTION 12 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to 13 involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for 14 which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any 15 purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 16 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to 17 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties 18 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 19 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 20 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or 21 items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 22 legal principles. 23 1.2 Good Cause Statement. 24 25 26 27 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is substantially based on the model protective order provided under Magistrate Judge Stephanie S. 1 This action is likely to involve personal medical, employment, tax, 2 financial, and proprietary training records and information of parties 3 and third parties for which special protection from public disclosure and 4 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is 5 warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information 6 consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial 7 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or 8 personal medical, employment, financial, and tax information (including 9 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information 10 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged 11 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 12 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the 13 flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over 14 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information 15 the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties 16 are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation 17 for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 18 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 19 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that 20 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons 21 22 and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has 23 been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good 24 cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 25 1.3 Acknowledgment of Procedure for Filing Under Seal. The 26 parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 27 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 1 must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 2 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 3 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access 4 to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with 5 non-dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing 6 under seal. See Kamakana v. City and Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 7 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips ex rel. Ests. of Byrd v. Gen. Motors 8 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony 9 Elecs., Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated 10 protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 11 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and 12 legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that 13 a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of 14 Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 15 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, 16 establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 17 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 18 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion 19 or trial, then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing 20 must be shown, and the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve 21 22 the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 23 605 F.3d 665, 677–79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type of 24 information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under 25 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 26 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific 27 facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, 1 seal must be provided by declaration. 2 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise 3 protectable in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential 4 portions can be redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted 5 version for public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or 6 otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any 7 application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 8 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 9

10 2. DEFINITIONS 11 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit 12 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 13 designation of information or items under this Order. 14 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information 15 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible 16 things that qualify for protection under Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of 17 18 Civil Procedure, and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 19 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as 20 well as their support staff). 21 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates 22 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to 23 discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 24 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, 25 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or 26 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and 27 tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or 1 responses to discovery in this matter. 2 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in 3 a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or 4 its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 5 2.8 Final Disposition: the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and 6 defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment 7 herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 8 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for 9 filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to 10 applicable law. 11 2.9 In-House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to 12 this Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of 13 Record or any other outside counsel. 14 2.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, 15 association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 16 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees 17 of a party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to 18 this Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or 19 are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, 20 and includes support staff. 21 22 2.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 23 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel 24 of Record (and their support staffs). 25 2.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces 26 Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action. 27 2.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide 1 preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or 2 retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and 3 subcontractors. 4 2.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that 5 is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 6 2.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 7 Material from a Producing Party. 8

9 3. SCOPE 10 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not 11 only Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information 12 copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, 13 summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any 14 testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel 15 that might reveal Protected Material. 16 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the 17 18 orders of the trial judge. This Stipulated Protective Order does not 19 govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 20 21 4. TRIAL AND DURATION 22 The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order apply through Final 23 Disposition of the Action. 24 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 25 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this Stipulated Protective 26 Order and used or introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and 27 1 the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 2 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of 3 the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180–81 (distinguishing “good 4 cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from 5 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part 6 of court record). Accordingly, for such materials, the terms of this 7 Stipulated Protective Order do not extend beyond the commencement of 8 the trial. 9 Even after Final Disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality 10 obligations imposed by this Stipulated Protective Order shall remain in 11 effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court 12 order otherwise directs. 13

14 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 16 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 17 18 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such 19 designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 20 standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only 21 those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 22 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 23 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not 24 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 25 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 26 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been 27 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case 1 development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 2 other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 3 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or 4 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that 5 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 6 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 7 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 8 provided in this Stipulated Protective Order (see, e.g., second paragraph 9 of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure 10 or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Stipulated 11 Protective Order must be clearly so designated before the material is 12 disclosed or produced. 13 Designation in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order 14 requires: 15 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 16 17 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or 18 trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the 19 legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected 20 material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 21 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify 22 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 23 margins). 24 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 25 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the 26 inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied 27 and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of 1 the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 2 CONFIDENTIAL. After the inspecting Party has identified the 3 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 4 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection 5 under this Stipulated Protective Order. Then, before producing the 6 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected 8 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 9 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify 10 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 11 margins). 12 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 13 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the 14 close of the deposition all protected testimony. 15 (c) for information produced in some form other than 16 documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party 17 affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers 18 in which the information is stored the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend. If only 19 a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the 20 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 21 22 portion(s). 23 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 24 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, 25 standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection 26 under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 27 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure 1 that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 2 Stipulated Protective Order. 3 4 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 5 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may 6 challenge a designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent 7 with the court’s Scheduling Order. 8 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the 9 dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. and with 10 Section 2 of Judge Christensen’s Civil Procedures titled “Brief Pre- 11 Discovery Motion Conference.”2 12 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 13 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those 14 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary 15 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging 16 Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 17 18 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to 19 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 20 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the court rules on 21 the challenge. 22 23 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected 25 Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non- 26

27 2 Judge Christensen’s Procedures are available at 1 Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or 2 attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be 3 disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 4 described in this Order. When the Action reaches a Final Disposition, a 5 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below. 6 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving 7 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is 8 limited to the persons authorized under this Stipulated Protective 9 Order. 10 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. 11 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the 12 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or 13 item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only: 14 (a) to the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 15 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom 16 it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 17 (b) to the officers, directors, and employees (including House 18 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably 19 necessary for this Action; 20 (c) to Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 21 22 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 23 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (d) to the court and its personnel; 25 (e) to court reporters and their staff; 26 (f) to professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 27 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 1 to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 2 (g) to the author or recipient of a document containing the 3 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or 4 knew the information; 5 (h) during their depositions, to witnesses, and attorneys for 6 witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, 7 provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the 8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); and (2) the 9 witness will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 10 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 11 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or 12 ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or 13 exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately 14 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 15 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 16 (i) to any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 17 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in 18 settlement discussions. 19

20 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 21 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 22 23 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in 24 other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items 25 designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 26 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 27 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the 2 subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the 3 material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective 4 Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated 5 Protective Order; and 6 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to 7 be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be 8 affected. 9 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the 10 Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any 11 information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a 12 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, 13 unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 14 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 15 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these 16 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 17 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another 18 court. 19

20 21 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 22 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 23 9.1 Application. The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order 24 are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and 25 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non- 26 Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 27 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 1 protections. 2 9.2 Notification. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid 3 discovery request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in 4 its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non- 5 Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the 6 Party shall: 7 (a) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 8 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 9 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 10 (b) make the information requested available for inspection by 11 the Non-Party, if requested. 12 9.3 Conditions of Production. If the Non-Party fails to seek a 13 protective order from this court within 14 days of receiving the notice 14 and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the 15 Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 16 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party 17 shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is 18 subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 19 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the 20 Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in 21 22 this court of its Protected Material. 23 24 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 25 MATERIAL 26 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it 27 has disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance 1 not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving 2 Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of 3 the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all 4 unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 5 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of 6 this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A). 8

9 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 10 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that 12 certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege 13 14 or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set 15 forth in Rule 26(b)(5)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This 16 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be 17 established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without 18 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Rules 502(d) and (e) of the Federal 19 Rules of Evidence, insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the 20 effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the 21 attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may 22 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order 23 submitted to the court. 24

25 26 27 1 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Stipulated 3 Protective Order abridges the right of any person to seek its 4 modification by the court in the future. 5 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry 6 of this Stipulated Protective Order no Party waives any right it 7 otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 8 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 9 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 10 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this 11 Stipulated Protective Order. 12 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under 13 seal any Protected Material must comply with Local Rule 79-5. 14 Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court 15 order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. 16 If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the 17 18 court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 19 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 20 21 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 After the Final Disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 23 4, within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each 24 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing 25 Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all 26 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 27 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 1 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or 2 destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to 3 the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 4 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by 5 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 6 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not 7 retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other 8 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 9 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel is entitled to retain an archival 10 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 11 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial 12 exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and 13 expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. 14 Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 15 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4. 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 || 14. VIOLATION 2 Any violation of this Stipulated Protective Order may be punished 3 || by any and all appropriate measures including, without limitation, 4 || contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 5 6 || IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 7 * || DATED: June 6, 2025 /S/ Ali Sachani ° Attorney(s) for Plaintiff(s) 10 1] DATED: June 6, 2025 /S/ Michael Hoffman 3 Attorney(s) for Defendant(s) 14 15 16 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. parep. June 16: 2025 J _——~ 19 STEPHANIE S. CHRISTENSEN 50 United States Magistrate Judge 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2

3 I, ________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under 5 penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 6 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the 8 case of Jackson v. AutoZoners, LLC. I agree to comply with and to be 9 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I 10 understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me 11 to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 12 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item 13 14 that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or 15 entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States 17 District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of 18 enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such 19 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I 20 hereby appoint ________________________ [print or type full name] 21 of _________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 my California agent for service of process in connection with this action 2 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 3 Order. 4 5 Date: ___________________________ 6 City and State where sworn and 7 signed: ___________________________ 8 Printed name: ___________________________ 9 Signature: ___________________________ 10

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