Ninfa Flores, et al. v. County of Los Angeles, et al.

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: October 8, 2025
• Docket: 2:25-cv-03072
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 NINFA FLORES, et al. Case No. 2:25-cv-03072-FLA 12 Plaintiffs, (SSCx) [Consolidated with Case 13 v. No. 2:25-cv-06943-FLA (SSCx)]

14 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, et al. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 15 Defendant(s). ORDER1 16

17 1. INTRODUCTION 18 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to 19 involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for 20 which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any 21 purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 22 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to 23 24 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties 25

26 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is substantially based on the model 27 protective order provided under Magistrate Judge Stephanie S. 1 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 2 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 3 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or 4 items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 5 legal principles. 6 1.2 Good Cause Statement. Defendants contend that there is 7 good cause and a particularized need for a protective order to preserve 8 the interests of confidentiality and privacy in peace officer personnel file 9 records and associated investigative or confidential records for the 10 following reasons. 11 First, Defendants contend that peace officers have a federal 12 privilege of privacy in their personnel file records: a reasonable 13 expectation of privacy therein that is underscored, specified, and 14 arguably heightened by the Pitchess protective procedure of California 15 law. See Sanchez v. Santa Ana Police Dept., 936 F.2d 1027, 1033–34 (9th 16 Cir. 1990); Hallon v. City of Stockton, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14665, *2-3, 17 12-13 (E.D. Cal. 2012) (concluding that “while “[f]ederal law applies to 18 privilege based discovery disputes involving federal claims,” the “state 19 privilege law which is consistent with its federal equivalent significantly 20 assists in applying [federal] privilege law to discovery disputes”); Soto v. 21 22 City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 613 n. 4, 616 (N.D. Cal. 1995) (peace 23 officers have constitutionally-based “privacy rights [that] are not 24 inconsequential” in their police personnel records); cf. Cal. Penal Code §§ 25 832.7, 832.8; Cal. Evid. Code §§ 1040-1047. Defendants further contend 26 that uncontrolled disclosure of such personnel file information can 27 1 threaten the safety of non-party witnesses, officers, and their 2 families/associates. 3 Second, Defendants contend that municipalities and law 4 enforcement agencies have federal deliberative-executive process 5 privilege, federal official information privilege, federal law enforcement 6 privilege, and federal attorney-client privilege (and/or attorney work 7 product protection) interests in the personnel files of their peace officers 8 – particularly as to those portions of peace officer personnel files that 9 contain critical self-analysis, internal deliberation/decision-making or 10 evaluation/analysis, or communications for the purposes of obtaining or 11 rendering legal advice or analysis – potentially including but not limited 12 to evaluative/analytical portions of Internal Affairs type records or 13 reports, evaluative/analytical portions of supervisory records or reports, 14 and/or reports prepared at the direction of counsel, or for the purpose of 15 obtaining or rendering legal advice. See Sanchez, 936 F.2d at 1033–34; 16 Maricopa Audubon Soc’y v. United States Forest Serv., 108 F.3d 1089, 17 1092–95 (9th Cir. 1997); Soto, 162 F.R.D. at 613 & n4; Kelly v. City of 18 San Jose, 114 F.R.D. 654, 668–71 (N.D. Cal. 1987); Tuite v. Henry, 181 19 F.R.D. 175, 176–77 (D. D.C. 1998); Hamstreet v. Duncan, 2007 U.S. Dist. 20 LEXIS 89702 (D. Or. 2007); Admiral Ins. Co. v. United States Dist. Ct., 21 22 881 F.2d 1486, 1492, 1495 (9th Cir. 1988). Defendants further contend 23 that such personnel file records are restricted from disclosure by the 24 public entity’s custodian of records pursuant to applicable California law 25 and that uncontrolled release is likely to result in needless intrusion of 26 officer privacy; impairment in the collection of third-party witness 27 information and statements and related legitimate law enforcement 1 investigations/interests; and a chilling of open and honest discussion 2 regarding and/or investigation into alleged misconduct that can erode a 3 public entity’s ability to identify and/or implement any remedial 4 measures that may be required. 5 Third, Defendants contend that, since peace officers do not have the 6 same rights as other private citizens to avoid giving compelled 7 statements, it is contrary to the fundamental principles of fairness to 8 permit uncontrolled release of officers’ compelled statements. See 9 generally Lybarger v. City of Los Angeles, 40 Cal.3d 822, 828–30 (1985); 10 cf. U.S. Const., amend V. 11 Accordingly, Defendants contend that, without a protective order 12 preventing such, production of confidential records in the case can and 13 will likely substantially impair and harm defendant public entity’s 14 interests in candid self-critical analysis, frank internal deliberations, 15 obtaining candid information from witnesses, preserving the safety of 16 witnesses, preserving the safety of peace officers and peace officers’ 17 families and associates, protecting the privacy officers of peace officers, 18 and preventing pending investigations from being detrimentally 19 undermined by publication of private, sensitive, or confidential 20 information – as can and often does result in litigation. 21 22 Plaintiffs do not agree with and do not stipulate to Defendants’ 23 contentions stated above. Plaintiffs agree, however, that there is good 24 cause for a Protective Order so as to preserve the respective interests of 25 the parties. Plaintiffs recognize that, absent this Stipulated Protective 26 Order, the parties' respective privilege interests may be impaired or 27 harmed, and that this Stipulated Protective Order may mitigate such 1 harm by permitting the parties to facilitate discovery with reduced risk 2 that confidential information will become matters of public record. 3 The parties jointly contend that there is typically a particularized 4 need for protection as to any medical or psychotherapeutic records and 5 autopsy photographs, because of the privacy interests at stake therein. 6 Plaintiff L.M.E. is a minor, and there may be a need to protect certain 7 records pertaining to them. Because of these sensitive interests, a Court 8 Order should address these documents rather than a private agreement 9 between the parties. 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 In-House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to 6 this Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of 7 Record or any other outside counsel. 8 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, 9 association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 10 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees 11 of a party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to 12 this Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or 13 are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, 14 and includes support staff. 15 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 16 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel 17 of Record (and their support staffs). 18 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces 19 Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action. 20 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide 21 22 litigation- support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, 23 preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or 24 retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and 25 subcontractors. 26 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that 27 is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 1 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 2 Material from a Producing Party. 3 3. SCOPE 4 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not 5 only Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information 6 copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, 7 summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any 8 testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel 9 that might reveal Protected Material. 10 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the 11 orders of the trial judge. This Stipulated Protective Order does not 12 govern the use of Protected Material at trial. Additionally, as to the 13 filing of dispositive motions, the Parties agree to waive sealing of 14 exhibits as long as all Parties are in agreement such documents may be 15 available to the public. 16 4. TRIAL AND DURATION 17 18 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality 19 obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a 20 Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise 21 directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal 22 of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) 23 final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, 24 rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time 25 limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant 26 to applicable law. 27 1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 3 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 4 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such 5 designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 6 standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only 7 those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 8 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 9 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not 10 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 11 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 12 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been 13 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case 14 development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 15 other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 16 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or 17 18 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that 19 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 20 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 21 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 22 provided in this Stipulated Protective Order (see, e.g., second paragraph 23 of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure 24 or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Stipulated 25 Protective Order must be clearly so designated before the material is 26 disclosed or produced. 27 1 Designation in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order 2 requires: 3 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 4 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or 5 trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the 6 legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected 7 material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 8 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify 9 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 10 margins). 11 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 12 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the 13 inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied 14 and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of 15 the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 16 CONFIDENTIAL. After the inspecting Party has identified the 17 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 18 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection 19 under this Stipulated Protective Order. Then, before producing the 20 21 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 22 “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected 23 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 24 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify 25 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 26 margins). 27 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 1 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the 2 close of the deposition all protected testimony. 3 (c) for information produced in some form other than 4 documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party 5 affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers 6 in which the information is stored the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend. If only 7 a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the 8 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 9 portion(s). 10 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 11 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, 12 standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection 13 under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 14 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure 15 that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order. 17 18 19 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 20 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may 21 challenge a designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent 22 with the court’s Scheduling Order. 23 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the 24 dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. and with 25 Section 2 of Judge Christensen’s Civil Procedures titled “Brief Pre- 26 27 1 Discovery Motion Conference.”2 2 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 3 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those 4 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary 5 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging 6 Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 7 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to 8 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 9 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the court rules on 10 the challenge. 11 6.4 Withdrawal of “CONFIDENTIAL” Designation. At its 12 discretion, a Designating Party may remove Protected Material from 13 some or all of the protections and provisions of this Stipulated Protective 14 Order at any time by any of the following methods: 15 6.5 (a) Express Written Withdrawal. A Designating Party 16 may withdraw a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation made to any specified 17 Protected Material from some or all of the protections of this Stipulated 18 Protective Order by an express withdrawal in writing signed by the 19 Designating Party or Designating Party’s counsel (but not including 20 staff of such counsel) that specifies and itemizes the Disclosure or 21 22 Discovery Material previously designated as Protected Material that 23 shall not longer be subject to some or all of the provisions of this 24 Stipulated Protective Order. Such express withdrawal shall be effective 25 when transmitted or served upon the Receiving Party. If a Designating 26

27 2 Judge Christensen’s Procedures are available at 1 Party is withdrawing Protected Material from only some of the 2 provisions/protections of this Stipulated Protective Order, the 3 Designating Party must state which specific provisions are no longer to 4 be enforced as to the specified material for which confidentiality 5 protection hereunder is withdrawn: otherwise, such withdrawal shall be 6 construed as a withdrawal of such material from all of the 7 protections/provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order; 8 6.6 (b) Express Withdrawal on the Record. A Designating 9 Party may withdraw a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation made to any 10 specified Protected Material from all of the provisions/protections of this 11 Stipulated Protective Order by verbally consenting in court proceedings 12 on the record to such withdrawal – provided that such withdrawal 13 specifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material previously designated as 14 Protected Material shall no longer be subject to any of the provisions of 15 this Stipulation and Order; 16 6.7 (c) Implicit Withdrawal by Publication or Failure to 17 Oppose Challenge. A Designating Party shall be construed to have 18 withdrawn a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation made to any specified 19 Protected Material from all of the provisions/protections of this 20 Stipulated Protective Order by either (1) making such Protected 21 22 Material part of the public record – including but not limited to 23 attaching such as exhibits to any filing with the court without moving, 24 prior to such filing, for the court to seal such records; or (2) failing to 25 timely oppose a Challenging Party’s motion to remove a 26 “CONFIDENTIAL” designation to specified Protected Material. 27 1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected 3 Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non- 4 Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or 5 attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be 6 disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 7 described in this Order. When the Action reaches a Final Disposition, a 8 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below. 9 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving 10 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is 11 limited to the persons authorized under this Stipulated Protective 12 Order. 13 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. 14 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the 15 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or 16 item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only: 17 18 (a) to the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 19 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom 20 it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 21 (b) to the officers, directors, and employees (including House 22 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably 23 necessary for this Action; 24 (c) to Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 25 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 26 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (d) to the court and its personnel; 1 (e) to court reporters and their staff; 2 (f) to professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 3 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 4 this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement 5 to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 6 (g) to the author or recipient of a document containing the 7 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or 8 knew the information; 9 (h) during their depositions, to witnesses, and attorneys for 10 witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, 11 provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the 12 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); and (2) the 13 witness will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 14 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 15 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or 16 ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or 17 exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately 18 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 19 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (i) to any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 21 22 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in 23 settlement discussions. 24 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 25 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 26 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in 27 other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items 1 designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 2 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 3 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 4 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the 5 subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the 6 material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective 7 Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated 8 Protective Order; and 9 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to 10 be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be 11 affected. 12 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the 13 Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any 14 information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a 15 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, 16 unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 17 18 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 19 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these 20 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 21 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another 22 court. 23 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 24 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 25 9.1 Application. The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order 26 are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and 27 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non- 1 Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 2 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 3 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 4 protections. 5 9.2 Notification. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid 6 discovery request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in 7 its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non- 8 Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the 9 Party shall: 10 (a) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 11 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 12 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 13 (b) make the information requested available for inspection by 14 the Non-Party, if requested. 15 (c) Make the information requested available for inspection by 16 the Non-Party, if requested. 17 9.3 Conditions of Production. If the Non-Party fails to seek a 18 protective order from this court within 14 days of receiving the notice 19 and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the 20 Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 21 22 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party 23 shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is 24 subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 25 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the 26 Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in 27 this court of its Protected Material. 1 2 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 3 MATERIAL 4 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it 5 has disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance 6 not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving 7 Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of 8 the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all 9 unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 10 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of 11 this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 12 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A). 13 14 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 15 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that 17 certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege 18 or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set 19 forth in Rule 26(b)(5)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This 20 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be 21 established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without 22 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Rules 502(d) and (e) of the Federal 23 Rules of Evidence, insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the 24 effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the 25 attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may 26 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order 27 submitted to the court. 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 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 21 After the Final Disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 22 4, within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each 23 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing 24 Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all 25 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 26 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 27 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or 1 destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to 2 the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 3 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by 4 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 5 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not 6 retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other 7 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 8 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel is entitled to retain an archival 9 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 10 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial 11 exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and 12 expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. 13 Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 14 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4. 15 14. VIOLATION 16 17 Any violation of this Stipulated Protective Order may be punished 18 by any and all appropriate measures including, without limitation, 19 contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 20 21 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 DATED: October 6, 2025 LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & 5 SMITH Lip 3 4 /s/ Aaron E. Kircher TONY M. SAIN 5 TORI L.N. BAKKEN 6 ABIGAIL J.R. MCLAUGHLIN AARON E. KIRCHER 7 Attorneys for Defendant, 8 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 9 10 DATED: October 6, 2025 CONLOGUE LAW, LLP 11 12 /s/ Kevin S. Conlogue B KEVIN S. CONLOGUE Attorney for Plaintiff, 14 NINFA FLORES 15 16 DATED: October 6, 2025 THE COCHRAN LAW FIRM 17 CALIFORNIA 18 19 /s/ Brian T. Dunn 50 BRIAN T. DUNN Attorney for Plaintiff, 21 L.M.E. 22 23 24 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. Z— 27 STEPHANIE 8S. CHRISTENSEN 28 United States Magistrate Judge 163907581.1 20

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