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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

9 10 ERIKA LOURAINE JOHNSON AND ) Case No. 8:25-cv-00076-JWH-JDE

RAYMON TYLER JOHNSON, )

11 ) Plaintiffs, ) STIPULATION AND PROPOSED 12 ) PROTECTIVE ORDER vs. ) 13 ) ) FCA US, LLC; and DOES 1 through 14 10, inclusive, ) ) 15 ) Defendant. ) 16 ) 17 Based on the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 19) and for good cause shown, the 18 Court finds and orders as follows. 19 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 20 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 21 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 22 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 23 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 24 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 25 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 26 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 27 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 28 under the applicable legal principles. 1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 Documents and materials covered under the protective order contain 3 proprietary, financial, confidential, copyrighted, and sensitive information not 4 intended to be circulated among the general public. This includes copyrighted 5 vehicle information intended for purchase or to be used under license, sensitive 6 personally identifiable information, confidential business practices, and 7 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public. In many instances, 8 redaction is not possible as necessary information would be redacted, and in some 9 instances more information would be redacted than visible. 10 Special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other 11 than prosecution of this action is warranted. 12 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 13 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 14 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 15 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 16 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 17 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 18 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 19 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 20 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 21 22 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 23 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 24 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 25 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 26 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 27 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 28 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right 1 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non- 2 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See 3 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), 4 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar- 5 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 6 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 7 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 8 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to 9 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material 10 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by 11 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 12 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 13 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 14 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and 15 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be 16 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 17 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed 18 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling 19 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing 20 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 21 22 under seal must be provided by declaration. 23 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable 24 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be 25 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, 26 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the 27 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in 28 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 1 4. DEFINITIONS 2 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 3 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 4 designation of information or items under this Order. 5 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 6 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 7 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 8 the Good Cause Statement. 9 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 10 their support staff). 11 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 15 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 16 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 17 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 18 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 19 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 20 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 21 22 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 23 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 24 outside counsel. 25 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 26 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 27 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 28 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have 1 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 2 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 3 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 5 support staffs). 6 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 7 Discovery Material in this Action. 8 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 9 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 11 and their employees and subcontractors. 12 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 15 Material from a Producing Party. 16 5. SCOPE 17 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 18 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 19 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 20 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 21 22 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 23 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 24 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 25 Protected Material at trial. 26 6. DURATION 27 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 28 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 1 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively 2 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 3 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the 4 trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 5 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 6 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 7 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend 8 beyond the commencement of the trial. 9 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 11 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 12 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation 13 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating 14 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items 15 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the 16 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not 17 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 18 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 19 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 20 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 21 22 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 23 Designating Party to sanctions. 24 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 25 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 26 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 27 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 28 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 1 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 2 the material is disclosed or produced. 3 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 4 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 5 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 6 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 8 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 9 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 10 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 11 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 12 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 13 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 14 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 15 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 16 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine 17 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 18 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix 19 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If 20 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 21 22 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 23 appropriate markings in the margins). 24 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 25 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 26 the deposition all protected testimony. 27 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 28 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 1 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is 2 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the 3 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 4 shall identify the protected portion(s). 5 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 6 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 7 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 8 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 9 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 10 provisions of this Order. 11 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 12 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 13 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 14 Scheduling Order. 15 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 16 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 17 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 18 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 19 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 20 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 21 22 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 23 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 24 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 25 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 26 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 27 challenge. 28 1 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 3 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 4 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 5 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 6 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 7 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL 8

DISPOSITION).

9 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 10 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 11 authorized under this Order. 12 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 13 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 14 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 15 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 16 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 17 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 18 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 19 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 20 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 21 22 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 23 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 25 (d) the court and its personnel; 26 (e) court reporters and their staff; 27 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 28 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 1 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 2 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 3 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 4 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 5 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 6 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 7 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 9 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 10 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 11 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 12 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 13 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 14 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 15 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 16

PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

17 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 18 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 19 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 20 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 21 22 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 23 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 24 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 25 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 26 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 27 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 28 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 1 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 2 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 3 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 4 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 5 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 6 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 7 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 8 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 9 10 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO

BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

11 12 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 13 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 14 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected 15 by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions 16 should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 17 protections. 18 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 19 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 20 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 21 confidential information, then the Party shall: 22 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 23 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 24 agreement with a Non-Party; 25 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 26 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 27 specific description of the information requested; and 28 1 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 2 Non-Party, if requested. 3 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 4 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 5 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 6 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the 7 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that 8 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 9 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party 10 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its 11 Protected Material. 12 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 13 MATERIAL 14 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 15 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 16 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 17 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 18 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 19 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 20 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 21 22 “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 23 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR

OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

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25 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 26 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 27 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 28 Rule of Civil\ Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 1 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 2 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 3 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 4 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 5 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 6 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 7 14. MISCELLANEOUS 8 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 10 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 11 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 13 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 14 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 15 Order. 16 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 17 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 18 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 19 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under 20 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the 21 22 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 23 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 24 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 25 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must 26 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 27 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 28 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 1 || Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 2 || Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if 3 || not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that 4 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was > || returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any 6 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel 8 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 2 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). Is 16. MIOLATION

6 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 18 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED 19 je de 29 ||DATED: April 16, 2025

HN D. EARLY

United States Magistrate Judge 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 14

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EXHIBIT A

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

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5 I hereby acknowledged that I, ______________________________ [NAME], 6 ____________________________________________ [POSITION AND EMPLOYER], 7 am about to receive Confidential Materials supplied in connection with the proceeding, 8 8:25-cv-00076-JWH-JDE. I certify that I understand the Confidential Materials are 9 provided to me subject to the terms and restrictions of the Stipulation and Protective 10 Order filed in this Proceeding. I have been given a copy of this Stipulation and Protective 11 Order; I have read it, and I agree to be bound by its terms. 12 I understand that Confidential Materials, as defined in the Stipulation and 13 Protective Order, including any notes or other records that may be made regarding any 14 such materials, shall not be Disclosed to anyone except as expressly permitted by the 15 16 Stipulation and Protective Order. I will not copy or use, except solely for the purposes of 17 this Proceeding, any Confidential Materials obtained pursuant to this Protective Order, 18 except as provided therein or otherwise ordered by the Court in the Proceeding. 19 I further understand that I am to retain all copies of all Confidential Materials 20 provided to me in the Proceeding in a secure manner and that all copies of such Materials 21 are to remain in my personal custody until termination of my participation in the 22 Proceeding, whereupon the copies of such Materials will be returned to counsel who 23 provided me with such Materials. 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 I declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the State of California, that 2 the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this_____ day of _____, 20_____, at 3 _________________. 4

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DATED: _________________________ BY: _____________________________

6 Signature 7 _____________________________ 8 Title 9 _____________________________ 10 Address 11 _____________________________ 12 City, State, Zip 13 _____________________________ 14 Telephone Number 15

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