1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 ANA ROGEL, ) Case No. 8:25-cv-01936-DOC-JDE ) 11 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 12 ) ) 13 v. ) ) 14 )

SPROUTS FARMERS MARKET, )

15 LLC; and DOES 1 TO 100, inclusive, ) ) 16 ) Defendants. ) 17 18 Based on the Parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 9-1) and for good cause shown, the 19 Court finds and orders as follows. 20 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 22 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 23 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 24 warranted. Accordingly, the Court enters the following Stipulated Protective Order. 25 The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 26 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public 27 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled 28 to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 3 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 4 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 5 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 6 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 7 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding 8 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or 9 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third 10 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 11 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 12 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 13 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 14 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 15 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 16 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 17 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 18 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 19 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 20 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 21 22 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 23 record of this case. 24 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 25 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 26 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 27 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 28 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 1 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right 2 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non- 3 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See 4 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), 5 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar- 6 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 7 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 8 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 9 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to 10 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material 11 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by 12 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 13 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 14 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 15 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 16 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 17 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For 18 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 19 under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, 20 supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. 21 22 Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal 23 must be provided by declaration. 24 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 25 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 26 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only 27 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall 28 1 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 2 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 3 4. DEFINITIONS 4 4.1 Action: Case No. 8:25-cv-01936-DOC-JDE 5 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 6 designation of information or items under this Order. 7 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 8 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 9 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 10 the Good Cause Statement. 11 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 12 their support staff). 13 4.5 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 4.6 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 19 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 20 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 21 22 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 23 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 24 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 25 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 26 outside counsel. 27 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 28 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 1 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 2 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have 3 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 4 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 5 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 7 support staffs). 8 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 9 Discovery Material in this Action. 10 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 11 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 13 and their employees and subcontractors. 14 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 17 Material from a Producing Party. 18 5. SCOPE 19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 20 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 21 22 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 23 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by 24 Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 25 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 26 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 27 Protected Material at trial. 28 / / / 1 6. DURATION 2 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 3 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 4 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 5 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 6 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 7 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” 8 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 9 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 10 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 11 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 12 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 13 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 14 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to 15 specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating 16 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items 17 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 18 documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 19 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 20 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 21 22 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 23 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 24 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 25 Party to sanctions. 26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 27 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 28 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 1 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 2 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 3 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 4 the material is disclosed or produced. 5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 6 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 7 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 8 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 9 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 10 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 11 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 12 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 13 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 14 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 15 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 16 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 17 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 18 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 19 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 20 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 21 22 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 23 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 24 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 25 in the margins). 26 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 27 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 28 deposition all protected testimony. 1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 2 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 3 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 4 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 5 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 6 portion(s). 7 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 8 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 9 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 10 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 11 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 12 Order. 13 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 14 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 15 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 16 Scheduling Order. 17 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 18 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 19 20 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint 21 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 22 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 23 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 24 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 25 26 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 27 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 28 1 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 2 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 3 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 5 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 6 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 7 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 8 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 9 10 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL 11 DISPOSITION). 12 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 13 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 14 authorized under this Order. 15 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 16 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 17 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 18 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 19 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 20 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 21 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 22 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 23 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 24 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 25 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 26 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (d) the court and its personnel; 28 1 (e) court reporters and their staff; 2 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 3 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 4 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 5 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 6 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 7 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 8 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 9 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 10 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 11 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 12 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 13 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 14 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 15 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 16 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 17 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 18 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 19

PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 21 22 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 23 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 24 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 25 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 26 27 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 28 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 1 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 2 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 3 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 4 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 5 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 6 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 7 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 8 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. 9 10 The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in 11 that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be 12 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey 13 a lawful directive from another court. 14 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 15 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

16 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 17 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 18 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 19 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 20 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 21 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 22 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 23 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 24 confidential information, then the Party shall: 25 26 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 27 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 28 with a Non-Party; 1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 2 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 3 specific description of the information requested; and 4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 5 Party, if requested. 6 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 7 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 8 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 9 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 10 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to 11 the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the 12 court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 13 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 14 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 16 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 18 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 19 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person 20 or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this 21 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an 22 Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 23 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 24 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 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 protection, 27 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil\ 28 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 1 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 2 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 3 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 4 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 5 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 6 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 this 13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 15 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 16 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 17 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 18 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal 19 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 20 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 21 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 23 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 24 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 25 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 26 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 27 28 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 1 || Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 2 || person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies 3 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 4 || destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, > || abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any © |! of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 7 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 8 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 10 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 16. MIOLATION

Is Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures

6 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 17 18 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 20 || DATED: September 23, 2025 21

23 N D. EARLY United States Magistrate Judge 25 26 27 28 14