Ruelaz v. Leprino Foods Company

Opinion

FERNANDO TAFOYA, SBN 146893 2 fernandotafoya1984@gmail.com ALI NEHME, SBN 236360 3 nehme29@sbcglobal.net 1228 P Street, Suite 101 4 Fresno, California 93721 Telephone: (559)495-1900 Facsimile: (559) 495-1903 5 Attorneys for Plaintiff

SANDRA L. RAPPAPORT, SBN 172990 8 srappaport@hansonbridgett.com 9 LUCERO CORDOVA ARELLANES, SBN 351634 lcordovaarellanes@hansonbridgett.com 10 425 Market Street, 26th Floor San Francisco, California 94105 11 Telephone: (415) 777-3200 Facsimile: (415) 541-9366 12

13 Attorneys for Defendant LEPRINO FOODS COMPANY 14

16 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, FRESNO DIVISION 17

18 ISAAC RUELAZ, Case No. 1:24-cv-01017-BAM 19 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 20 v. Action Filed: July 26, 2024 21 Trial Date: December 8, 2026 22 LEPRINO FOODS COMPANY, DOES 1 THROUGH 50, 23 Defendants. 24

25 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 26 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of 27 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 1 the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective 2 Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 3 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 4 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under 5 the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, 6 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; 7 Civil Local Rule 141 and 141.1 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards 8 that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 9 2. DEFINITIONS 10 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 11 information or items under this Order. 12 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 13 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of 14 Civil Procedure 26(c). 15 2.3 Consulting Attorneys: attorneys who are retained by a Party to consult with Outside 16 Counsel of Record regarding this action. 17 2.4 Contract Attorneys: attorneys who are contracted by a Party to work with Outside 18 Counsel of Record to represent or advise a Party to this action. 19 2.5 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well 20 as their support staff). 21 2.6 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 22 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 23 2.7 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium 24 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 25 transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to 26 discovery in this matter. 27 2.8 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to 1 consultant in this action. 2 2.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. House 3 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 4 2.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 5 entity not named as a Party to this action. 6 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this action 7 but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action on 8 behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party. 9 2.12 Party: any party to this action, including the named Plaintiffs and named Defendants, 10 and including all of its officers, directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside 11 Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 12 2.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 13 Material in this action. 14 2.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services 15 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, 16 storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 17 2.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 19 2.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 20 Producing Party. 21 3. SCOPE 22 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 23 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all 24 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 25 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 26 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following 27 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving 1 publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record 2 through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the 3 disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the 4 information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use 5 of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 6 4. DURATION 7 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 8 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order 9 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and 10 defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion 11 and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the 12 time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 13 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 14 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 15 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to 16 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 17 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or 18 oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents, 19 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 20 the ambit of this Order. 21 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown 22 to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily 23 encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens 24 on other parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 25 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 26 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties 27 that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 1 (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, 2 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 3 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 4 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 5 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 6 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing 7 Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a 8 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 9 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). A 10 Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection need not 11 designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material it would 12 like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made 13 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 14 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 15 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the 16 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page 17 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for 18 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 19 appropriate markings in the margins). 20 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that 21 the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other 22 proceeding, all protected testimony. 23 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 24 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the 25 container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to 27 the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 1 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 2 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 3 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated 4 in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 5 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 7 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality 8 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 9 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to 10 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 11 original designation is disclosed. 12 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 13 by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each 14 challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written notice must 15 recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph 16 of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must 17 begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication 18 are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging 19 Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper and 20 must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the 21 circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen 22 designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it 23 has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that the Designating Party is 24 unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely manner. 25 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 26 intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under Civil 27 Local Rule 251 within 21 days of the initial notice of challenge or within 14 days of the parties 1 such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has 2 complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by 3 the Designating Party to make such a motion including the required declaration within 21 days (or 4 14 days, if applicable) shall automatically waive the confidentiality designation for each challenged 5 designation. In addition, the Challenging Party may file a motion challenging a confidentiality 6 designation at any time if there is good cause for doing so, including a challenge to the designation 7 of a deposition transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to this provision 8 must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the 9 meet and confer requirements imposed by the preceding paragraph. 10 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 11 Party. Frivolous challenges or designations, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass 12 or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging or 13 Designating Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived the confidentiality 14 designation by failing to file a motion to retain confidentiality as described above, all parties shall 15 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the 16 Producing Party’s designation until the court rules on the challenge. 17 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 19 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 20 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to 21 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has 22 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 24 / / / 25 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in 26 a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 27 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered 1 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 2 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as 3 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the 4 information for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 5 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A; 6 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 7 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed 8 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 10 is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 11 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (d) Contract Attorneys and Consulting Attorneys (as defined in this Order) to 13 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the 14 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 15 (e) the court and its personnel; 16 (f) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock 17 jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and 18 who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 19 (g) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 20 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 21 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of 22 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be 23 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under 24 this Stipulated Protective Order. 25 (h) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 26 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 27 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 1 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 2 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party 3 must: 4 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 5 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 6 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 7 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 8 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective 9 Order; and 10 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 11 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 12 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena 13 or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” 14 before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has 15 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and 16 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these 17 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to 18 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 19 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS 21 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 22 Party in this action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non- 23 Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this 24 Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking 25 additional protections. 26 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 27 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement 1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 2 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non- 3 Party; 4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 5 Protective Order in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 6 description of the information requested; and 7 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 8 Party. 9 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court 10 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 11 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non- 12 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its 13 possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 14 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden 15 and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 16 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 18 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, 19 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 20 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) 21 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this 22 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to 23 Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 24 / / / 25 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED 27 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 1 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision 2 is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that 3 provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) 4 and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 5 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may 6 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 7 12. MISCELLANEOUS 8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to 9 seek its modification by the court in the future. 10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order 11 no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 12 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 13 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by 14 this Protective Order. 15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the Designating Party 16 or a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in the 17 public record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 18 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed 19 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at 20 issue. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141, a sealing order will issue only upon a request establishing 21 that the Protected Material at issue is privileged, protectable as a trade secret, or otherwise entitled 22 to protection under the law. If a Receiving Party's request to file Protected Material under seal 23 pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the 24 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 25 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 26 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, each 27 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. 1 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether 2 the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 3 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) 4 by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material 5 that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 6 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 7 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy 8 of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 9 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant 10 and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 11 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set 12 forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 14 DATED: April 1, 2025 HANSON BRIDGETT LLP

16 By: /S/ Lucero Cordova Arellanes SANDRA L. RAPPAPORT Attorneys for Defendant 19 DATED: April 1, 2025 TAFOYA &ASSOCIATES 20

21 By: /S/ Ali Nehme ALI NEHME 23 Attorneys for Plaintiff ISAAC RUELAZ 24

25 EXHIBIT A 26 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 27 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print or 1 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern 2 District of California on [date] in the case of Isaac Ruelaz v. Leprino Foods Company, et al., Case 3 No. 1:24-cv-01017-BAM. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 4 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to 5 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in 6 any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 7 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 8 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern District 9 of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such 10 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 11 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 12 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] 13 as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings 14 related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 15 16 Date:______________________________________ 17 City and State where sworn and signed:_________________________________ 18 19 Printed name:_______________________________ 20 21 Signature:__________________________________ 22 23 24 25 26 27 2 Having considered the parties’ stipulated protective order, and finding good cause, the 3 Court adopts the stipulated protective order (Doc. 25). 4 The parties are advised that pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States District Court, 5 Eastern District of California, any documents subject to the protective order to be filed under seal 6 must be accompanied by a written request which complies with Local Rule 141 prior to sealing. 7 The party making a request to file documents under seal shall be required to show good cause for 8 documents attached to a non-dispositive motion or compelling reasons for documents attached to a 9 dispositive motion. Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-78 (9th Cir. 2009). 10 Within five (5) days of any approved document filed under seal, the party shall file a redacted 11 copy of the sealed document. The redactions shall be narrowly tailored to protect only the 12 information that is confidential or was deemed confidential. 13 Additionally, the parties shall consider resolving any dispute arising under the stipulated 14 protective order according to the Court’s informal discovery dispute procedure.

16 Dated: April 1, 2025 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ 17 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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