Vladimir Royter v. Costco Wholesale Corporation

District Court, C.D. California·Decided September 19, 2024·No. 2:24-cv-06484·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA — WESTERN DIVISION 11 $12 VLADIMIR ROYTER, Case No. 2:24-cv-06484-FLA-PVCx Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CORPORATION and DOES 1 t0 50, 16 Defendant(s). 17 18 19 1. INTRODUCTION 20 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 71 Discovery in this action may involve production of confidential, proprietary, or 22 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use □□ 23 any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 24 Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 2 following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does nx 26 ! confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the 27 protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 28

1 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable leg 2 principles. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3 below, that thi 3 Order does not entitle them to file Confidential Information under seal; Civil Local Ru 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be 5 applied when a Party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 6 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 7 This action arises from alleged injuries sustained by Plaintiff VLADIMIR g || ROYTER (“Vladimir”) due to an incident in a Costco retail store. Vladimir was g || attempting to move a box containing a mattress when he tore his biceps tendon. 190 Vladimir alleges negligence and premises liability causes of action. ll Evidence or potential evidence that will be disclosed in discovery is expected to 8 12 || include confidential and proprietary information and documents regarding business 13 practices pertaining to safety, products sold in Costco, and other matters which are 14 generally unavailable to the public and could be exploited by actors (e.g. criminals and 3 15 || Scammers) who have no interest in or need for evidence produced in this case for their 16 Own unlawful purposes. Likewise, evidence shall include surveillance footage which 1 17 also generally unavailable to the public. This footage invokes the same concerns as th 1g || other information discussed above, and potentially implicates third party privacy 19 ] concerns as well. 20 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 91 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect 92 information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are 93 permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the 94 conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends 25 of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the 26 intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical 97 reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been 28 -2-

maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should 7 not be part of the public record of this case. 3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit, which originated in the Superior Court 5 of the State of California and was removed to Federal Court by Defendant COSTCO 6 WHOLESALE CORPORATION (“Defendant” or “Costco”) on diversity jurisdiction 7 grounds. g 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation of g || information or items under this Order. 10 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 11 generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 8 12 || Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and as specified above in the Good Cause 13 Statement. 14 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 3 15 || Support staff). 16 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Nonparty that designates information or ttems 17 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 19 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among 29 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generatec 21 in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 23 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 94 expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 25 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action. Hous 26 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 7 2.9 Nonparty: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other 2g || legal entity not named as a Party to this action. -3-

1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a Party to 7 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party and have appeared in this 3 Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf of that Party, including support staff. 5 2.11 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 7 support staffs). 8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or Discover g || Material in this Action. 10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 11 services (for example, photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 8 12 || demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) □□□□ 13 their employees and subcontractors. 14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 15 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material fro: 17 a Producing Party. 18 3. SCOPE 19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 29 Material (as defined above) but also any information copied or extracted from Protecte 91 Material; all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and a 97 testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal 93 Protected Material. 24 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 25 Judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 4. DURATION 7 Once a case proceeds to trial, all the information that was designated as ag || confidential or maintained under this Order becomes public and will be presumptively 4.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Vladimir Royter v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, (C.D. Cal. 2024).

Vladimir Royter v. Costco Wholesale Corporation (Vladimir Royter v. Costco Wholesale Corporation) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.