Toni McBride v. Michel Moore

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: July 12, 2023
• Docket: 2:23-cv-02904
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 Caleb E. Mason, Esq. (State Bar No. 246653) WERKSMAN JACKSON & QUINN, LLP 2 888 West Sixth Street, Fourth Floor 3 Los Angeles, California 90017 4 cmason@werksmanjackson.com Telephone: (213) 688-0460 5 NOTE: CHANGES MADE BY THE COURT Facsimile: (213) 624-1942 6 Attorney for Plaintiff 7 Toni McBride 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 LAPD OFFICER TONI MCBRIDE, ) Case No.: 2:23-cv-02904-RGK-JPR 13 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION FOR PROTECTIVE 14 ) ORDER 15 v. ) ) Judge: Hon. R. Gary Klausner 16 CHIEF OF POLICE MICHEL MOORE; ) Magistrate Judge: Hon. Jean P. Rosenbluth 17 LOS ANGELES POLICE ) 18 D EPARTMENT, ) ) C omplaint Filed: April 20, 2023 19 Defendants. ) 20 ) ) 21 ) 22

23 TO THE HONORABLE COURT AND TO DEFENDANTS AND THEIR 24 ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: 25 Plaintiff LAPD Officer Toni McBride (hereinafter “Plaintiff”) and 26 Defendants CHIEF OF POLICE MICHAEL MOORE and LOS ANGELES 27 POLICE DEPARTMENT (hereinafter “Defendants”) hereby stipulate, through 28 their respective counsel of record, to the following: 1 1. A. PURPOSE AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 3 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate and petition the Court to 6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 10 under the applicable legal principles. 11 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 12 The Plaintiff in this matter is a Police Officer in the Los Angeles Police 13 Department. This action is likely to involve the production of personnel files and 14 internal investigation materials, and other administrative materials and similar 15 information. Such materials and information may consist of, among other things, 16 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 17 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 18 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 19 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality and 20 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to 21 keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonably necessary 22 uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their 23 handling at the end of litigation, and serve the ends of justice; a protective order for 24 such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that 25 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that 26 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that is has been maintained in 27 a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be 28 part of the public record of this case. 1 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER 2 SEAL 3 The parties agree that any pleadings, motions, briefs, declarations, 4 stipulations, exhibits or other written submissions to the Court in this litigation 5 which contain or incorporate Confidential Material shall either be redacted as to 6 the Confidential portions, or lodged with an application and/or joint stipulation to 7 file the papers or portion thereof containing Confidential Material, under seal. 8 The parties agree that they will meet and confer regarding the necessity of 9 seeking an order from the Court filing under seal any pleadings, motions, briefs, 10 declarations, stipulations, exhibits or other documents and/or materials at least five 11 (5) days prior to filing any application and/or joint stipulation to file under seal. 12 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that 13 this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 14 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must 15 be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission 16 from the court to file material under seal. 17 2. DEFINITIONS 18 2.1 Action: the above-captioned lawsuit of LAPD Officer Toni McBride v. 19 Chief of Police Michel Moore, et al., USDC Case No. 2:23-cv-02904-RKG- 20 JPR. 21 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 22 information or items under this Order. 23 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 24 how it is generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 25 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified 26 above in the Good Cause Statement. 27 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 28 support staff). 1 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 2 items in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 3 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 4 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained 5 (including among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), 6 that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in 7 this matter. 8 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 9 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to 10 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 11 2.8 Final Disposition: when this Action has been fully and completely 12 terminated by way of settlement, dismissal, trial, appeal and/or remand to 13 state court. 14 2.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action. 15 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 16 outside counsel. 17 2.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 18 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 19 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 20 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action 21 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated 22 with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes 23 support staff. 24 2.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 25 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record 26 (and their support staffs). 27 2.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 28 Discovery Material in this Action. 1 2.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 2 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 3 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 4 medium and their employees and subcontractors. 5 2.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 6 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 7 2.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 8 from a Producing Party. 9 3. SCOPE 10 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 11 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 12 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 13 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations or 14 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 15 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 16 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial 17 4. DURATION 18 Once a trial commences in this Action, information that was designated as 19 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order and that is 20 introduced or admitted as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be 21 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 22 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are 23 made to the trial judge in advance of trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of 24 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” 25 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 26 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 27 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial 28 as to the CONFIDENTIAL information and materials introduced or admitted as an 1 exhibit at trial. 2 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 4 Protection. 5 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 6 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material 7 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 8 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or 9 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 10 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 11 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 12 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 13 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 14 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 15 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 16 Designating Party to sanctions. 17 18 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 19 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 20 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 21 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 22 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 23 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 24 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 25 produced. 26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 27 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 28 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or 1 trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the 2 legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), 3 to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or 4 portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 5 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 6 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 7 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 8 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 9 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 10 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 11 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 12 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine 13 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 14 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix 15 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If 16 17 only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 18 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 depositions, that the Designating Party identify 21 all protected testimony in the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, 22 before the close of the deposition. 23 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 24 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 25 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 26 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 27 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify 28 the protected portion(s). 1 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 2 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 3 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 4 material. 5 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 6 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 7 provisions of this Order. 8 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 9 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 10 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 11 Scheduling Order. 12 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 13 resolution process in full compliance with Local Rule 37. 14 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 15 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 16 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 17 18 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 19 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 20 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 21 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 22 challenge. 23 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 25 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 26 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 27 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 28 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 1 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 2 DISPOSITION). 3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 4 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 5 authorized under this Order. 6 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 7 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 8 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 9 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 10 (a) all parties to the case, including individual parties Plaintiff Toni McBride 11 and Defendant Michel Moore; any counsel of record on the case and associates and 12 employees thereof 13 (b) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 14 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 15 necessary to disclose the information for this Action. For avoidance of doubt, it is 16 17 expressly agreed that the Receiving Party himself, herself, or itself may review 18 Confidential materials. 19 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 20 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (d) the court and its personnel; 23 (e) court reporters and their staff; 24 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 25 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 26 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 28 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 2 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 3 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 4 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 6 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 7 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 8 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 9 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 10 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 11 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions or 12 appointed by the Court. 13 7.3 The parties, and counsel and their staff and associates are not required to 14 separately sign the Agreement to Be Bound. Counsel making the disclosure to any 15 other qualified person described herein shall obtain an executed Agreement from 16 17 that person and retain the original executed copy of the Nondisclosure Agreement 18 until sixty (60) days after this litigation has become final. Counsel for the 19 Receiving Party shall maintain all signed nondisclosure Agreements and shall 20 produce same upon reasonable written notice from opposing counsel. If an issue 21 arises regarding a purported unauthorized disclosure of Confidential Information, 22 upon noticed motion by the Designated Party, counsel for the Receiving Party may 23 be required to file the signed Nondisclosure Agreements, as well as a list of the 24 disclosed materials, in camera with the Court having jurisdiction of the Stipulation. 25 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 26 PRODCUED IN OTHER LITIGATION 27 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 28 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 1 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 2 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 3 include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 4 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 5 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 6 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy 7 of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 8 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 9 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 10 The Party served with the subpoena or court order shall notify the 11 Designating Party of the subpoena before producing Protected Material, so that the 12 Designating Party may file a motion to quash if it chooses. Having so notified the 13 Designating Party, the Party served with the subpoena is not prohibited from 14 complying. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or 15 encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disregard a lawfully issued 16 17 subpoena or court order. 18 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 19 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 20 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 21 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 22 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 23 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 24 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 25 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 26 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 27 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 28 confidential information, then the Party shall: 1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 2 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 3 with a Non-Party; 4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 5 Order in this Action, 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, if requested. 9 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 10 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 11 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 12 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 13 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 14 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 15 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 16 17 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 18 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 20 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 21 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 22 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 23 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 24 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 25 of this order, and (D) request such person or person to execute the 26 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit 27 A. 28 1 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 2 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 4 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 5 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 6 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 7 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 8 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 9 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 10 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 11 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 12 stipulated protective order submitted to the court provided the Court so allows. 13 12. MISCELLANEOUS 14 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 15 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 16 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 17 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 18 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 19 20 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 21 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 22 Order. 23 24 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 25 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material 26 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 27 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 28 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 1 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 2 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 3 After the FINAL DISPOSITION of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4 2.8, within 30 days of a written request by Designating Party, each Receiving Party 5 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party. As used in this 6 subdivision, “all Protected Materials” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 7 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 8 Material. The Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing 9 Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 30 day 10 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected 11 Material that was returned and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained 12 any copies, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing 13 any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled 14 to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and 15 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial 16 exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work 17 product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. 18 /// 19 /// 20 /// 21 /// 22 /// 23 /// 24 /// 25 26 14. VIOLATION 27 A willful violation of this Order may be addressed as deemed appropriate 28 by the Court. 1 2 || IT IS SO STIPULATED: 3 4 DATED: July 10, 2023 Respectfully submitted, 5 CALEB E. MASON 6 Werksman, Jackson & Quinn, LLP 7 By: /s/ Cateé Mason 8 Attorney for Plaintiff, TONI MCBRIDE 9 10 || DATED: July 10, 2023 Respectfully submitted, 11 HYDEE FELDSTEIN SOTO, City Attorney D DENISE C. MILLS, Chief Deputy City Attorney SCOTT MARCUS, Senior Assistant City Attorney 13 ANETA FREEMAN, Managing Assistant City 14 Attorney 15 KEIMER E. RAYMOND, Deputy City Attorney 16 By: /s/ Heimer €. Raymond V7 Attorney for Defendants, LOS ANGELES POLICE 18 DEPARTMENT and CHIEF MICHEL MOORE 19 , uv 20 DATED: July 12, 2023 By: 1 Magistrate Judge Hon. Jean P. Rosenbluth 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

15 STIPULATION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER AND [PROPOSED] ORDER

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22 23 24 EXHIBIT A 25 26 NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT 27

28 1 I, _____________________________ do solemnly swear that I am fully 2 familiar with the terms of the Protective Order entered in Toni McBride v. Los 3 Angeles Police Department; Chief of Police Michel Moore, United States District 4 Court for the Central District of California, Central Division, Case No. 2:23-cv- 5 02904-RGK-JPR, and hereby agree to comply with and be bound by the terms and 6 conditions of said Order. I hereby consent to the jurisdiction of the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California for purposes of enforcing this 8 Order. 9 10 Dated: Signed: 11

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