1 anassihi@shb.com 2 SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P. 555 Mission Street, Suite 2300 3 San Francisco, CA 94105 4 TEL: (415) 544-1900 | FAX: (415) 391-0281

5 BRADY R. O’BRYAN (SBN 335729) bobryan@shb.com 6 SARAH GARBUZOV (SBN 345909) NOTE: CHANGES MADE BY THE COURT sgarbuzov@shb.com 7

SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P.

8 5 Park Plaza, Suite 1600 Irvine, CA 92614 9 TEL: (949) 475-1500 | FAX: (949) 475-0016

10 Attorneys for Defendant 11 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.

12

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

13

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

14 GUILLERMINA PENALOZA, an 15 individual, Case No.: 2:25-cv-04453-DMG-JPR

16 Plaintiff,

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

17 v. ORDER

18 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., a

Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 19 through 10, inclusive,

20 Defendant. 21 22 1. INTRODUCTION 23 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve 24 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special 25 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting 26 this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and 27 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties 28 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or 1 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 2 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 3 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The Parties further acknowledge, as 4 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle 5 them to file Confidential Information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 6 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a Party 7 seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 8 1.2 Good Cause Statement. 9 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 10 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 11 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 12 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 13 confidential and proprietary materials and information may consist of, among other 14 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding 15 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or 16 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third 17 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 18 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court 19 rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 20 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 21 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 22 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such 23 material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the 24 end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 25 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information 26 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 27 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 28 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 1 record of this case. 2 2. DEFINITIONS 3 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, Case no. 2:25-cv-04453-DMG- 4 JPR. 5 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 6 of information or items under this Order. 7 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 8 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 9 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 10 Cause Statement. 11 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 12 support staff). 13 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 14 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 15 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 17 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 18 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 19 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 20 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 21 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 22 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 23 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 24 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 25 counsel. 26 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 27 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 28 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a Party 1 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party to this Action and have 2 appeared in this Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm that 3 has appeared on behalf of that Party, including support staff. 4 2.11 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 5 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 6 support staffs). 7 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 8 Discovery Material in this Action. 9 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 10 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 11 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 12 and their employees and subcontractors. 13 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 14 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 15 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 16 from a Producing Party. 17 3. SCOPE 18 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 19 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 20 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 21 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 22 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. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 25 4. DURATION 26 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced 27 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this 28 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members 1 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific 2 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the 3 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 4 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 5 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 6 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend 7 beyond the commencement of the trial. 8 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 5.1 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for 10 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific 11 material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. To the extent practicable, the 12 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 13 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other 14 portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection 15 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 16 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 17 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 18 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 19 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 20 to sanctions. 21 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 22 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 23 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 24 5.2 Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph 25 of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or 26 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 27 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 28 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 1 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 2 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 3 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend 4 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 5 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 6 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 7 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 8 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 9 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 10 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 11 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 12 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 13 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 14 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 15 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 16 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions 17 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 18 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 19 margins). 20 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 21 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition. 22 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 23 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 24 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 26 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 27 portion(s). 28 5.3 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified 1 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to 2 secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 3 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the 4 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 5 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6 6.1 Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of confidentiality 7 at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 8 6.2 The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process under 9 Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly comply with the 10 procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3. 11 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 12 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 13 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 14 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 15 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 16 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 17 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 18 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 7.1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 20 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for 21 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material 22 may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described 23 in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply 24 with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 25 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 26 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 27 authorized under this Order. 28 7.2 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 1 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 2 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to the following people: 3 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 4 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 5 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 6 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 7 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 8 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 9 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 11 (d) the Court and its personnel; 12 (e) court reporters and their staff; 13 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 14 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 15 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 16 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 17 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 18 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 19 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 20 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 21 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 22 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 23 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 24 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 25 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 26 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 27 28 1 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 2 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions or 3 appointed by the Court. 4 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 5 OTHER LITIGATION 6 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 7 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 8 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 9 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 10 include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 11 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 12 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 13 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 14 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 16 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 17 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 18 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 19 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the relevant court unless the Party 20 has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear 21 the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material 22 and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 23 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 24 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 25 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 26 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 27 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 28 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 1 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 2 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 3 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 4 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 5 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 6 information, then the Party shall: 7 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 8 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 9 with a Non-Party; 10 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 11 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 12 specific description of the information requested; and 13 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 14 Party, if requested. 15 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 21 16 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 17 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 18 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce 19 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 20 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court 21 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 22 protection in this Court of its Protected Material. 23 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 25 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 26 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 27 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 28 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 1 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 2 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 3 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 5 PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 8 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 9 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 10 12. MISCELLANEOUS 11 12.1 Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its 12 modification by the Court in the future. 13 12.2 By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, no Party waives any 14 right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or 15 item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 16 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the 17 material covered by this Protective Order. 18 12.3 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply 19 with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant 20 to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a 21 Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the 22 Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise 23 instructed by the Court. 24 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 25 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by 26 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the 27 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected 28 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other 1 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected 2 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 3 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 4 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline tha (1) identifies (by category, where 5 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms 6 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 7 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 8 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 9 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 10 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, 11 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 12 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 13 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 14 14. SANCTIONS 15 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 16 contempt, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or 17 other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 18 19 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

20 21 DATED: August 1, 2025 QUILL & ARROW, LLP 22 _/s/Andrew Jung______________ 23 Danja Stocca Andrew Jung 24 Alexander Marius Brauns Attorneys for Plaintiff 25

GUILLERMINA PENALOZA

26 DATED: August 14, 2025 SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P. 27 /s/ Sarah Garbuzov 28 AMIR NASSIHI 1 BRADY O’BRYAN

SARAH GARBUZOV

2 Attorney for Defendant

NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.

; FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. frowblate~ > || DATED: 8/15/2025 ple United States Magistrate Judge 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on ____________ [date] in the 8 case of Guillermina Penaloza v. Nissan North America, Inc., Case No. 2:25-cv- 9 04453-DMG-JPR. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 10 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 11 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 12 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that 13 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 14 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 19 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 24 Date: ______________________________________ 25 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28