Mahshid Khoshkhoo v. RiverSource Life Insurance Company; Does 1-10

Opinion

1 MISTY A. MURRAY (SBN 196870) Misty.Murray@maynardnexsen.com 2 KAREN T. TSUI (SBN 305869) KTsui@maynardnexsen.com 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 650 4 Los Angeles, CA 90067 Telephone: 310.596.4500 5 6 Attorneys for Defendant RiverSource Life Insurance Company 7 10 11 MAHSHID KHOSHKHOO, Case No. 2:25-cv-09572-MCS-RAO 12 Plaintiff, (Hon. Rozella A. Oliver) 13 vs. COMPANY; DOES 1-10, ORDER1 15 Defendants. 16 Discovery Cutoff: August 24, 2026 17 Motion Cutoff: October 5, 2026 Trial Date: January 19, 2027 18 Complaint Filed: August 28, 2025 19

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27 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is substantially based on the model protective order provided under Magistrate Judge Rozella A. Oliver’s Procedures with some 28 1 1.A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary 3 or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 4 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, 5 the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 6 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 7 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 8 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 9 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 10 1.B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 11 This action is likely to involve production of information that is confidential, 12 sensitive, proprietary, trade secret, commercial, financial and/or business information, 13 used by Defendant RiverSource Life Insurance Company (“Defendant”) in connection 14 with its business, specifically the processing of disability claims. These materials are not 15 available to the public, are not disseminated outside Defendant’s offices, and are only 16 provided to those employees, agents or third-party administrators who need access to the 17 materials in order to perform their duties for Defendant. Defendant contends that if these 18 materials are not kept confidential, there is a substantial probability that Defendant would 19 suffer prejudice to the extent that competitors would gain a competitive advantage if the 20 contents of the materials are made public. 21 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 22 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect 23 information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are 24 permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct 25 of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, 26 a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the 27 parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that 28 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a 1 confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the 2 public record of this case. 3 1.C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 4 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 5 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 6 seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 7 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 8 material under seal. 9 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 10 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good 11 cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County 12 of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006); Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 13 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 14 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause 15 showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper 16 evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected 17 Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure 18 or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the submission of 19 competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under 20 seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good 21 cause. 22 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 23 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 24 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos 25 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type 26 of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal in 27 connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must articulate 28 compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested 1 sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 2 under seal must be provided by declaration. 3 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its 4 entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 5 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the 6 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document shall be filed. 7 Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include 8 an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 9 10 2. DEFINITIONS 11 2.1 Action: Mahshid Khoshkhoo v. RiverSource Life Insurance Company, United 12 States District Court Central District of California Case No. 2:25-cv-09572-MCS-RAO. 13 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 14 information or items under this Order. 15 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 16 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 17 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 18 Statement. 19 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 20 support staff). 21 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items 22 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 23 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 24 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other 25 things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or generated in 26 disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 27 28 1 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent 2 to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert 3 witness or as a consultant in this Action. 4 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House 5 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 6 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or other 7 legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 8 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 9 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared 10 in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared 11 on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 12 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 13 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 14 support staffs). 15 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 16 Material in this Action. 17 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 18 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 19 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 20 their employees and subcontractors. 21 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 22 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 23 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from 24 a Producing Party. 25 26 3. SCOPE 27 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 28 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 1 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 2 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 3 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall 4 be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of 5 Protected Material at trial. 6 7 4. DURATION 8 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 9 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as 10 an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of 11 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 12 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See 13 Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 14 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 15 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective 16 order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 17 18 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each 20 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order 21 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 22 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those 23 parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so that 24 other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which protection 25 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 26 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that 27 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 28 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 1 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 2 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 3 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 4 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 5 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 6 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 7 ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order 8 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 9 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 10 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 11 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 12 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 13 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 14 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 15 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 16 margins). 17 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 18 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 19 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 20 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 21 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 22 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 23 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 24 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 25 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 26 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., 27 by making appropriate markings in the margins). 28 1 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies the 2 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 3 protected testimony. 4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 5 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior 6 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 8 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 9 (d) the Producing Party may designate and produce Protected Material as 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” prior to the Court’s entry of this Stipulated Protective Order, and 11 the Receiving Party shall treat any Protected Material so designated and produced as 12 confidential in accordance with the terms of this Order regardless of whether the Order 13 is signed. 14 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 15 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 16 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 17 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 18 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 19 20 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 21 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 22 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 23 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 24 process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 25 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 26 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., 27 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 28 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 1 the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question 2 the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until 3 the Court rules on the challenge. 4 5 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 7 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action 8 only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected 9 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 10 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must 11 comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 12 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 13 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 14 authorized under this Order. 15 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 16 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 17 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 18 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 19 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 20 disclose the information for this Action; 21 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 22 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 23 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 24 is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 25 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 26 (d) the court and its personnel; 27 (e) court reporters and their staff; 28 1 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to 2 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 4 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian 5 or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 6 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action 7 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that 8 the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted 9 to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and 10 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party 11 or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 12 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 13 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 14 Order; and 15 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 16 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 17 18 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 21 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 23 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 24 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 25 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue 26 in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 27 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated 28 Protective Order; and 1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 2 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 4 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as 5 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or 6 order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 7 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 8 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 9 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive 10 from another court. 11 12 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 14 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party 15 in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by 16 Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 17 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting 18 a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 19 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a 20 Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 21 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, 22 then the Party shall: 23 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 24 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 25 agreement with a Non-Party; 26 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 27 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 28 specific description of the information requested; and 1 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 2 Party, if requested. 3 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days 4 of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce 5 the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non- 6 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 7 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 8 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 9 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 10 court of its Protected Material. 11 12 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 14 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 15 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 16 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 17 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 18 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 19 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 20 that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 21 22 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 24 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 25 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the 26 obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 27 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be 28 established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege 1 review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach 2 an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by 3 the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their 4 agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 5 6 12. MISCELLANEOUS 7 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person 8 to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 9 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective 10 Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or 11 producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 12 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in 13 evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 14 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected 15 Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed 16 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected 17 Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by 18 the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 19 otherwise instructed by the court. 20 21 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days 23 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 24 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 25 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 26 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 27 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit 28 a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 1 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 2 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that 3 the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or 4 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding 5 this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion 6 papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, 7 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and 8 expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such 9 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 10 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 11 12 14. VIOLATION 13 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 14 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 15 17

18 DATED: April 28, 2026 MAYNARD NEXSEN LLP

19 By: /s/ Karen T. Tsui MISTY A. MURRAY Attorneys for Defendant 21 RiverSource Life Insurance Company

22 DATED: April 28, 2026 DONAHUE & HORROW, LLP

23 By: /s/ Scott E. Calvert MICHAEL B. HORROW 24 SCOTT E. CALVERT Attorneys for Plaintiff 25 Mahshid Khoshkhoo

26 Filer’s Attestation: Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i) regarding signatures, Karen T. Tsui hereby attests that concurrence in the filing of this document and its 27 content has been obtained by all signatories listed.

28 1 2 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. . Rapetis, OL DATED: May 1, 2026 Cr. HON. ROZELLA A. OLIVER 5 United States Magistrate Judge 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I 6 have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued 7 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the 8 case of ___________ Mahshid Khoshkhoo v. RiverSource Life Insurance Company, Case 9 No. 2:25-cv-09572-MCS-RAO. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms 10 of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 11 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 12 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is 13 subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 14 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 16 Court for the Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 17 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 18 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this 21 action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28