Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_16-cv-00161/USCOURTS-caed-2_16-cv-00161-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 442
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Employment
Cause of Action: 28:1441 Petition for Removal - Employment Discrimination

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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP 

M. BRETT BURNS (SBN 256965) 

mbrettburns@hunton.com 

SUSAN S. JOO (SBN 260369) 

sjoo@hunton.com 

YVES NGUYEN (SBN SBN 281408) 

ynguyen@hunton.com 

575 Market Street, Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

Telephone: (415) 975-3700 

Facsimile: (415) 975-3701 

Attorneys for Defendant 

LOWE’S HIW, INC. 

Randal M. Barnum (SBN 111287) 

rmblaw@pacbell.net 

Carrie Croxall (SBN 190430) 

ccroxall@rmblaw.com 

Lindsay Batcha (SBN 264192) 

lbatcha@rmblaw.com

LAW OFFICES OF RANDAL M. BARNUM 

279 East H Street 

Benicia, CA 94510 

Telephone: (707) 745-3747 

Facsimile: (707) 745-4580 

Attorneys for Plaintiff 

AUGUSTINE RODRIGUEZ 

THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

AUGUSTINE RODRIGUEZ, an individual

Plaintiff, 

v. 

LOWE’S HIW, INC., LOWE’S HOME 

CENTERS, LLC., and DOES 1 through 50, 

inclusive. 

Defendants. 

 CASE NO.: 2:16-CV-00161-TLN-AC 

Hon. Troy L. Nunley 

[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 

ORDER 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 1 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

To expedite the flow of discovery material, facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over 

the confidentiality of information, adequately protect material entitled to be kept confidential, and 

ensure that protection is afforded only to material so entitled, it is STIPULATED as follows: 

1.0 Definitions. 

 1.1 Party: Any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, 

employees, and in-house counsel (and their support staff). 

 1.2 Disclosures or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of the 

medium or manner generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 

transcripts, documents or tangible things) that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses 

to discovery in this matter. 

 1.3 “Confidential” Information or Items: 

(i) Information that is a “trade secret” as that term is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1839; 

(ii) Confidential and proprietary business and/or financial information; 

(iii) Non-public information about any individual or individuals, including 

personnel records, records and information concerning employment related or other drug 

testing, evaluations, compensation levels, databases, surveys, statistical analysis, analyses of 

personnel practices, or other information incorporating or aggregating information pertaining 

to individuals; 

(iv) Medical information and records concerning Plaintiff and third parties; and/or 

(v) Information alleged in good faith by a Party to be subject to protection under 

the Federal Rules of Evidence and/or information that is confidential, of commercial value, 

and falling into one or more of the following categories: 

a. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC’s policies and procedures for operating its 

stores; 

b. Documents that reflect the implementation of Lowe’s Home Centers, 

LLC’s policies and procedures for operating its stores; 

c. Business plans, models, marketing analyses, sales and financial 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 2 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

statements; and 

d. Information that is protected against disclosure by a written 

confidential information agreement between a third party and Plaintiff or Defendants. 

1.4 Designating Party: A Party or non-party that designates its Disclosures or 

Discovery Material as “Confidential.” 

1.5 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosures or Discovery Material 

from a Designating Party. 

1.6 Protected Material: Any Disclosures or Discovery Material that is designated 

as “Confidential.” 

1.7 Outside Counsel: Attorneys who are not employees of a Party but who are 

retained to represent or advise a Party in this action. 

1.8 In-House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a Party. 

1.9 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel and In-House Counsel (as well 

as their support staffs). 

1.10 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 

pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its Counsel to serve as an expert 

witness or as a consultant in this litigation; and who is not a past or a current employee of a Party 

and who, at the time of retention, was not anticipated to become an employee of a Party. This 

definition includes a professional jury or trial consultant retained in connection with this litigation. 

1.11 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support 

services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, 

organizing, storing, retrieving data in any form or medium; etc.) and their employees and 

subcontractors. 

2.0 Scope. 

The protections conferred by this Protective Order cover not only Protected Material (as 

defined above), but also any information copied or extracted therefrom, as well as all copies, 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 3 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

excerpts, summaries, or compilations thereof, plus testimony, conversations, or presentations by 

parties or counsel to or in court or in other settings that would reveal Protected Material. 

3.0 Duration. 

Even after the termination of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 

Protective Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a 

Court orders otherwise. 

4.0 Designating Protected Material. 

4.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Disclosures or Discovery 

Material for Protection: Each Party or non-party that designates Disclosures or Discovery Material 

for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific Disclosures or 

Discovery Material that qualifies under the appropriate confidentiality standard. A Designating 

Party must take care to designate for protection only those parts of the Disclosures or Discovery 

Material, so that other portions of the Disclosures or Discovery Material for which protection is not 

warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Protective Order. 

If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that Disclosures or Discovery Material that that 

Party designated for protection does not qualify for protection at all, or does not qualify for the level 

of protection initially asserted, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other parties that it is 

withdrawing the improper designation. 

4.2 Manner and Timing of Designations: Except as otherwise provided in this 

Protective Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 4.2(a), below), or as otherwise stipulated or 

ordered, Disclosures or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Protective Order 

must be clearly so designated before such material is produced. Designation in conformity with this 

Protective Order requires: 

4.2(a) For Disclosures or Discovery Material in documentary form (apart 

from transcripts of depositions or other pretrial proceedings), that the Designating Party affix the 

legend “CONFIDENTIAL” prominently on each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 

portion or portions of a document or material on a page qualifies for protection, the Designating 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 4 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 

margins). 

A Party or non-party that makes original Disclosures or Discovery Material available for 

inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 

Disclosures or Discovery Material it seeks to have copied and produced. During the inspection and 

before the designation, all of the Disclosures or Discovery Material made available for inspection 

shall be deemed “Confidential.” After the inspecting Party has identified the Disclosures or 

Discovery Material it seeks to have copied and produced, the Designating Party must determine 

which, if any, Disclosures or Discovery Material, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under 

this Protective Order. Prior to producing the specified Disclosures or Discovery Material, the 

Designating Party must affix the appropriate “Confidential” legend prominently on each page as set 

forth above. 

4.2(b) For Disclosures or Discovery Material in the form of testimony given 

in deposition or in other pretrial proceedings, that the Party or non-party offering the testimony 

identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other proceeding, all protected 

testimony, and further specify any portions of the testimony that qualify as “Confidential” 

information. 

Any Party may also designate testimony that is entitled to protection by notifying all Parties 

in writing within twenty (20) days of receipt of the transcript, of the specific pages and lines of the 

transcript that should be treated as “Confidential” thereafter. Each Party shall attach a copy of such 

written notice or notices to the face of the transcript and each copy thereof in its possession, custody, 

or control. Unless otherwise indicated, all deposition transcripts shall be treated as “Confidential” 

for a period of twenty (20) days after the receipt of the transcript. This preliminary treatment, 

however, shall not limit a deponent’s right to review the transcript of his or her deposition under 

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(e)(1). 

Transcript pages containing Protected Material must be separately bound by the court 

reporter, who must prominently affix on each such page the legend “Confidential” as instructed by 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 5 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

the Party or non-party offering or sponsoring the witness or presenting the testimony. 

4.2(c) For Disclosures or Discovery Material produced other than in 

documentary or testimony form, and for any other tangible items, that the Designating Party affix in 

a prominent place on the exterior of the container in which or disk (or similar device) on which the 

information or item is stored the legend “Confidential.” If only portions of the information or item 

warrant protection, the Designating Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 

portions, specifying whether they qualify as “Confidential.” 

4.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate: An inadvertent failure to designate 

qualified information or items as “Confidential” does not, standing alone, waive the Designating 

Party’s right to secure protection under this Protective Order for such material. If any Disclosures or 

Discovery Material is appropriately designated as “Confidential” after the material was initially 

produced, the Receiving Party, on notification of the designation, must make reasonable efforts to 

assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Protective Order. 

4.4 Nonparty Designations During Deposition: During the deposition of any 

nonparty, the nonparty may designate any Disclosures or Discovery Material as “Confidential” so 

long as it is conducted in good faith. Further, any nonparty seeking to invoke any protection 

accorded by the Protective Order must either provide a copy of the “Agreement to Be Bound by 

Protective Order” (attached as Exhibit A) executed by the nonparty to all counsel of record for the 

Parties or so agree on the record during the deposition. 

5.0 Access To And Use Of Protected Material. 

5.1 Basic Principles: A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 

disclosed or produced by another Party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for 

prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be 

disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Protective 

Order. When the litigation has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions 

of Section 10 below. 

Protected Material must be maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a secure 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 6 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

manner that ensures that access is limited to persons authorized under this Protective Order. 

5.2 Disclosure of “Confidential” Information or Items: Unless otherwise ordered 

by the Court, or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 

information or item designated “Confidential” only to the following: 

5.2(a) The Receiving Party, who may share confidential information and 

items with its officers, directors, and employees (including In-House Counsel) to whom disclosure is 

reasonably necessary for this litigation; 

5.2(b) Outside Counsel in this litigation, as well as its employees to 

whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation; 

5.2(c) Experts (as defined in this Protective Order) of the Receiving Party 

to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Agreement 

to Be Bound by Protective Order” (attached as Exhibit A); 

5.2(d) The Court and its personnel; 

5.2(e) Court reporters, their staffs, and professional vendors to whom 

disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation; 

5.2(f) During their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom 

disclosure is reasonably calculated to lead to discovery of admissible evidence. Pages of transcribed 

deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that contain Protected Material must be separately 

bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this 

Protective Order. 

5.2(g) The author of or recipient of the Protected Material or the original 

source of the information. 

5.2(h) Professional vendors. 

5.2(i) The Parties to this litigation and their current directors, officers and 

employees to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation. 

5.2(j) Any mediators or arbitrators utilized in this litigation. 

5.2(k) Witnesses who are being prepared by counsel to give testimony at 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 7 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

a deposition or at trial, or who are being examined by counsel at a deposition or at trial. 

5.2(l) The Jury. 

6.0 Protected Material Subpoenaed Or Ordered Produced In Other Litigation. 

If a Receiving Party is served with a subpoena or a Court order issued in other litigation that 

would compel disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “Confidential,” the 

Receiving Party must immediately notify the Designating Party, in writing and in no event more than 

five (5) court days after receiving the subpoena or Court order. Such notification must include a 

copy of the subpoena or Court order. If Plaintiff is the Designating Party, notice shall be sent to 

counsel for Plaintiff at Law Office of Randal M. Barnum, 279 East H Street, Benicia, CA 94510. If 

Defendant Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC. is the Designating Party, notice shall be sent to Hunton & 

Williams LLP, 575 Market Street, Suite 3700, San Francisco, CA 94105. 

The Receiving Party also must immediately inform in writing the Party who caused the 

subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all the Protected Material covered by 

the subpoena or order is the subject of this Protective Order. In addition, the Receiving Party must 

deliver a copy of this Protective Order promptly to the Party in the other action that caused the 

subpoena or order to issue. 

The purpose of imposing these duties is to alert the interested parties to the existence of this 

Protective Order and to afford the Designating Party in this case an opportunity to try to protect its 

confidentiality interests in the Court from which the subpoena or order issued. The Designating 

Party shall bear the burdens and the expenses of seeking protection in that court of its Protected 

Material – and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 

Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from another Court. 

7.0 Unauthorized Disclosure Of Protected Material. 

If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 

Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Protective Order, the 

Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 

disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 8 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and 

(d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 

(attached as Exhibit A). 

8.0 Filing Protected Material.

In the event that counsel for any party desires to file with the Court any document which 

includes any Protected Material, an application to file such document(s) under seal shall be filed 

pursuant to the relevant Local Rules. This Section shall not apply to the Parties’ submission of 

exhibits in connection with a hearing or for trial, nor the handling of exhibits during the hearing or 

trial, without further order of the Court. 

9.0 Final Disposition. 

Unless otherwise ordered or agreed in writing by the Designating Party, after the final 

termination of this litigation, including any appeals, if a Designating Party requests in writing the 

return or destruction of any or all of its Protected Material to the Receiving Party, within thirty (30) 

days of such request, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification, under penalty of 

perjury, to the Designating Party that all Protected Material was returned or destroyed, including any 

copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or other forms of reproducing or capturing any of the 

Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Outside Counsel may retain an archival set of 

copies of Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 

remain subject to this Protective Order. 

10.0 Inadvertent Production of Privileged Documents. 

Inadvertent production of any document or information that a Party later claims should not 

have been produced because of a privilege, including but not limited to attorney-client or work 

product privilege (“Inadvertently Produced Privileged Document”), will not be deemed to waive any 

privilege. A Party may request the return of any Inadvertently Produced Privileged Document. A 

request for the return of an Inadvertently Produced Privileged Document shall identify the document 

inadvertently produced and the basis for withholding such document from production. If a Party 

requests the return, pursuant to this paragraph, of any Inadvertently Produced Privileged Document 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 9 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

then in the custody of another party, the possessing party shall within three (3) days return to the 

requesting Party the Inadvertently Produced Privileged Document and all copies thereof and shall 

not make use of such documents or information in this proceeding or otherwise. The Party returning 

such material may then move the Court for an order compelling production of the documents or 

information, but said party shall not assert as a ground for entering such an order the fact or 

circumstances of the inadvertent production. 

11.0 Miscellaneous. 

11.1 Right to Further Relief: Nothing in this Protective Order abridges the right of 

any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 

11.2 Right to Assert Other Objections: By stipulating to the entry of this Protective 

Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to producing any Disclosures or 

Discovery Material on any ground not addressed in this Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives 

any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the Disclosures or Discovery Material 

covered by this Protective Order. 

IT IS SO STIPULATED. 

DATED: May __, 2016 HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP 

By: _____________________________________ M. BRETT BURNS 

SUSAN J. JOO 

YVES NGUYEN 

Attorneys for Defendant 

Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC 

DATED: May __, 2016 LAW OFFICE OF RANDAL M. BARNUM

By: _____________________________________

RANDAL M. BARNUM 

JENNA AVILA 

Attorneys for Plaintiff 

Augustine Rodriguez 

(authorizing e-filing by Susan S. Joo)

 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 10 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED: May 26, 2016 

 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 11 of 12
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

Hunton & Williams LLP 

575 Market Street 

Suite 3700 

San Francisco, California 94105 

Exhibit A 

Agreement To Be Bound By Protective Order 

I, ___________________, do solemnly swear that I am fully familiar with the terms of the 

Protective Order entered in Augustine Rodriguez v. Lowe’s HIW, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:16-CV00161-TLN-AC, United States District Court of the Eastern District of California and hereby agree 

to comply with and be bound by the terms and conditions of the Protective Order unless and until 

modified by further order of the Parties or this Court. I hereby consent to the jurisdiction of said 

Court for purposes of enforcing this Protective Order. 

Signature: 

Printed Name: 

Dated: 

Case 2:16-cv-00161-TLN-AC Document 8 Filed 05/27/16 Page 12 of 12