Sarly et al v. American Family Connect Property and Casualty Insurance Company, No. 2:2023cv00048 - Document 18 (W.D. Wash. 2024)
Court Description: ORDER granting Plaintiff's 17 Motion for Protective Order. Signed by Judge Marsha J. Pechman. (SS)
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Sarly et al v. American Family Connect Property and Casualty Insurance Company 1 Doc. 18 THE HONORABLE MARSHA J. PECHMAN Trial Date: 10/21/2024 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 9 CARANA SARLY and MA SI ROH, 10 No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP Plaintiffs, 11 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER vs. 12 NOTE FOR MOTION CALENDAR: March 13 AMERICAN FAMILY CONNECT 15, 2024 14 PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, formerly known as IDS Property 15 Casualty Insurance Company, 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Defendant. 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS Defendant claims that Discovery in this action includes production of confidential, proprietary, or private information, including Defendant American Family’s claims handling manuals, claims job description, and claims guidelines requested in Plaintiff’s first set of Interrogatories and Requests for production, for which Defendant claims special protection is warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this agreement is consistent with LCR 26(c). This Stipulated Protective Order does not seek to confer blanket protection on all disclosures or responses to discovery. The protection it seeks herein affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 1 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273 Dockets.Justia.com 1 to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles, and it does not presumptively 2 entitle parties to file confidential information under seal. 3 2. “CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL 4 “Confidential” material shall include the following documents and tangible things 5 produced or otherwise exchanged: Defendant American Family’s claims handling manuals, 6 claims job description, and claims guidelines responsive to document requests in Plaintiff’s first 7 set of Interrogatories and Requests. 8 3. SCOPE 9 The protections conferred by this agreement cover not only confidential material (as 10 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from confidential material; (2) 11 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of confidential material; and (3) any testimony, 12 conversations, or presentations by parties or their counsel that might reveal confidential 13 material. 14 However, the protections conferred by this agreement do not cover information that is 15 in the public domain or becomes part of the public domain through trial or otherwise. 16 4. ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL 17 4.1 Basic Principles. Plaintiffs may use confidential material that is disclosed or 18 produced by another party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 19 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Confidential material may be disclosed only to 20 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this agreement. Confidential 21 material must be stored and maintained by a receiving party at a location and in a secure manner 22 that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this agreement. 23 4.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 24 ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the designating party, Plaintiffs may disclose 25 confidential material only to: 26 MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 2 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273 1 (a) Plaintiffs’ counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of 2 counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation; 3 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including in house counsel) of the 4 receiving party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, unless the parties 5 agree that a particular document or material produced is for Attorney’s Eyes Only and is so 6 designated; 7 (c) experts and consultants to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 8 this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 9 (Exhibit A); 10 (d) the court, court personnel, and court reporters and their staff; 11 (e) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 12 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 13 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the designating party or ordered by the court. Pages of 14 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal confidential material 15 must be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 16 permitted under this agreement; 17 (f) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 18 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 19 4.3 Filing Confidential Material. Before filing confidential material or discussing or 20 referencing such material in court filings, the filing party shall confer with the designating party, 21 in accordance with Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(A), to determine whether the designating party will 22 remove the confidential designation, whether the document can be redacted, or whether a 23 motion to seal or stipulation and proposed order is warranted. During the meet and confer 24 process, the designating party must identify the basis for sealing the specific confidential 25 information at issue, and the filing party shall include this basis in its motion to seal, along with 26 any objection to sealing the information at issue. Local Civil Rule 5(g) sets forth the procedures MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 3 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273 1 that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from 2 the court to file material under seal. A party who seeks to maintain the confidentiality of its 3 information must satisfy the requirements of Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(B), even if it is not the 4 party filing the motion to seal. Failure to satisfy this requirement will result in the motion to 5 seal being denied, in accordance with the strong presumption of public access to the Court’s 6 files. 7 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 9 Defendant, the party that designates information or items for protection under this agreement, 10 has taken care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 11 appropriate standards. Defendant will designate for protection only those parts of material, 12 documents, items, or oral or written communications that it believes in good faith qualify, so 13 that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection 14 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this agreement. 15 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 16 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 17 unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose unnecessary 18 expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the designating party to sanctions. 19 If it comes to Defendant’s attention that information or items that it designated for 20 protection do not qualify for protection, defendant will promptly notify all other parties that it 21 is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 22 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 23 agreement (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(b) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 24 ordered, disclosure or discovery material that qualifies for protection under this agreement must 25 be clearly so designated before or when the material is disclosed or produced. 26 MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 4 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273 1 (a) As information in documentary form, Defendant will affix the word 2 “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains confidential material. If only a portion or 3 portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the producing party also must clearly 4 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 5 (b) Testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial proceedings: the 6 parties and any participating non-parties must identify on the record, during the deposition or 7 other pretrial proceeding, all protected testimony, without prejudice to their right to so designate 8 other testimony after reviewing the transcript. Any party or non-party may, within fifteen days 9 after receiving the transcript of the deposition or other pretrial proceeding, designate portions 10 of the transcript, or exhibits thereto, as confidential. If a party or non-party desires to protect 11 confidential information at trial, the issue should be addressed during the pre-trial conference. 12 (c) Other tangible items: the producing party must affix in a prominent place 13 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the word 14 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, 15 the producing party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 16 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 17 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the designating party’s 18 right to secure protection under this agreement for such material. Upon timely correction of a 19 designation, the receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is 20 treated in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. 21 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 22 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any party or non-party may challenge a designation of 23 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a designating party’s confidentiality 24 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 25 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a party does not waive its right to 26 MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 5 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273 1 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 2 original designation is disclosed. 3 6.2 Meet and Confer. The parties must make every attempt to resolve any dispute 4 regarding confidential designations without court involvement. Any motion regarding 5 confidential designations or for a protective order must include a certification, in the motion or 6 in a declaration or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith meet and confer 7 conference with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action. 8 The certification must list the date, manner, and participants to the conference. A good faith 9 effort to confer requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference. 10 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 11 intervention, the designating party may file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under 12 Local Civil Rule 7 (and in compliance with Local Civil Rule 5(g), if applicable). The burden of 13 persuasion in any such motion shall be on the designating party. Frivolous challenges, and those 14 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 15 other parties) may expose the challenging party to sanctions. All parties shall continue to 16 maintain the material in question as confidential until the court rules on the challenge. 17 7. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 18 LITIGATION 19 If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 20 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as 21 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that party must: 22 (a) promptly notify the designating party in writing and include a copy of the 23 subpoena or court order; 24 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 25 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 26 subject to this agreement. Such notification shall include a copy of this agreement; and (c) MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 6 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273 1 cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the designating 2 party whose confidential material may be affected. 3 8. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 5 confidential material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this agreement, 6 the receiving party must immediately (a) notify in writing the designating party of the 7 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 8 protected material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were 9 made of all the terms of this agreement, and (d) request that such person or persons execute the 10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 11 9. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED 12 MATERIAL 13 When Defendant gives notice to receiving parties that inadvertently produced material 14 is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the receiving parties are 15 those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to 16 modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order or agreement that 17 provides for production without prior privilege review. The parties agree to the entry of a non18 waiver order under Fed. R. Evid. 502(d) as set forth herein. 19 10. NON TERMINATION AND RETURN OF DOCUMENTS 20 Within 60 days after the termination of this action, including all appeals, each receiving 21 party must return all confidential material to the producing party, including all copies, extracts 22 and summaries thereof. Alternatively, the parties may agree upon appropriate methods of 23 destruction. 24 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain one archival copy of all 25 documents filed with the court, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, correspondence, 26 MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 7 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273 1 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 2 work product, even if such materials contain confidential material. 3 The confidentiality obligations imposed by this agreement shall remain in effect until a 4 designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise. 5 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 6 3/15/2024 7 DATED: _______________________ /s/ Boris Davidovskiy, WSBA#50593 _______________________________ Attorneys for Plaintiffs 8 9 10 3/15/2024 DATED: _______________________ /s/ Brian Buron, WSBA#27206 _______________________________ Attorneys for Defendant 11 12 PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED 13 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), the production of 14 any documents in this proceeding, including Defendant American Family’s claims handling 15 manuals, claims job description, and claims guidelines, shall not, for the purposes of this 16 proceeding or any other federal or state proceeding, constitute a waiver by the producing party 17 of any privilege applicable to those documents, including the attorney-client privilege, attorney 18 work-product protection, or any other privilege or protection recognized by law. 19 20 DATED: March 20, 2024 21 23 A 24 MARSHA J. PECHMAN United States Senior District Judge 22 25 26 MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 8 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, ____________________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 ____________________________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty 5 of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on [date] 7 in the case of Sarly v. American Family Connect Property and Casualty Ins. Co., C23-48 MJP 8 (W.D. Wash.). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 9 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me 10 to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not 11 disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order 12 to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 14 Western District of Washington for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 15 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 16 Date: ___________________________ 17 City and State where sworn and signed: ___________________________ 18 Printed name: ___________________________ 19 Signature: ___________________________ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 MODEL STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Cause No. 2:23-cv-00048-MJP) – 9 bb/BB6830.358/4486835X 1000 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2050 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 FAX: (206) 623-9273
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