2

3

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

4

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

5

6 NICK GAIGE, on behalf of himself Case No. 2:24-CV-06099-AH-AJR and all others similarly situated, 7 [PROPOSED] STIPULATED 8 Plaintiff, PROTECTIVE ORDER vs. 9

10 EXER HOLDING COMPANY, LLC 11 Defendant. 12

13 1. GENERAL 14 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve 15 16 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special 17 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting 18 this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and 19 20 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties 21 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or 22 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 23 24 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 25 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as 26 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle 27 28 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 2 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 3 1.2 Good Cause Statement. This action is likely to involve trade secrets, 4 5 customer data, patient data, and other valuable research, development, commercial, 6 financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection from 7 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action 8 9 is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, 10 among other things, confidential business or financial information, information 11 regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential research, 12 13 development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy 14 rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or 15 16 which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal 17 statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the 18 flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality 19 20 of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to 21 keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses 22 of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 23 24 at the 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 28 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 2 record of this case. 3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 5 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, captioned Nick Gaige, on behalf of 6 himself and all others similarly situated, v. Exer Holding Company, LLC, and 7 assigned Case No. 2:24-CV-06099-AH-AJR. 8 9 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 10 of information or items under this Order. 11 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 12 13 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 14 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 15 16 Cause Statement. 17 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 18 support staff). 19 20 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 21 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 23 24 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 25 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 26 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 27 28 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 3 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 4 5 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 6 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 7 counsel. 8 9 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 10 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 11 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 12 13 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 14 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 15 16 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff. 17 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 18 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 19 20 support staffs). 21 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 22 Discovery Material in this Action. 23 24 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 25 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 26 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 27 28 and their employees and subcontractors. 2 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 3 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 4 5 from a Producing Party. 6 3. SCOPE 7 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 8 9 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 10 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 11 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 12 13 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any use of Protected Material 14 at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern 15 16 the use of Protected Material at trial. 17 4. DURATION 18 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced 19 20 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this 21 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members 22 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific 23 24 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the 25 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 26 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 27 28 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 2 beyond the commencement of the trial. 3 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 5 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 6 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 7 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 8 9 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 10 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that 11 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications 12 13 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 14 this Order. 15 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 20 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 21 to sanctions. 22 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 23 24 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 25 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 26 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 27 28 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 2 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 3 produced. 4 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 9 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 11 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 12 13 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 14 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 15 16 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 17 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 18 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 19 20 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 21 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 22 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 23 24 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 25 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 26 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions 27 28 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 2 margins). 3 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 4 5 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition. 6 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 7 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 8 9 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 10 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 11 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 12 13 portion(s). 14 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 15 16 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 17 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 18 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 19 20 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 21 Order. 22 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 23 24 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 25 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 26 Scheduling Order. 27 28 2 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly 3 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3. 4 5 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 6 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 7 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 8 9 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 10 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 11 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled 12 13 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 14 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 16 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 17 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 18 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 19 20 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 21 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 22 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 23 24 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location 25 and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized 26 under this Order. 27 28 2 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 3 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 4 5 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 6 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 7 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 8 9 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 10 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 11 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 12 13 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 14 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 15 16 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (d) the Court and its personnel; 18 (e) court reporters and their staff; 19 20 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 21 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 22 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 23 24 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 25 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 26 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 27 28 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 2 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 4 5 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 6 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 7 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 8 9 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 10 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 11 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 12 13 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 14

PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

15 16 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 17 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 19 20 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 21 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 22 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 23 24 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 25 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 26 this Stipulated Protective Order; and (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable 27 28 2 may be affected. 3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 4 5 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 6 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 7 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 8 9 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 10 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 11 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 12 13 directive from another court. 14 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 15 16 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 18 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 19 20 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 21 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 22 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 23 24 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 25 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 26 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 27 28 information, then the Party shall: 2 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 3 with a Non-Party; 4 5 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 6 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 7 specific description of the information requested; and 8 9 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 10 Party, if requested. 11 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14 12 13 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 14 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 15 16 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce 17 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 18 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court 19 20 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 21 protection in this Court of its Protected Material. 22 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 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 28 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 2 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 3 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 4 5 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 6 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 7

PROTECTED MATERIAL

8 9 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 10 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 11 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 12 13 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 14 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 15 16 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 17 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 18 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 19 20 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 21 to the Court. 22 12. MISCELLANEOUS 23 24 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 25 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 26 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 27 28 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 2 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 3 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 4 5 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 6 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 7 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 8 9 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under 10 seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, 11 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 12 13 otherwise instructed by the Court. 14 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 15 16 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by 17 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the 18 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected 19 20 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other 21 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected 22 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 23 24 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 25 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 26 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms 27 28 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 2 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 3 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 4 5 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, 6 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 7 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 8 9 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 10 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER 11 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 12 13 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 14 sanctions. 15 16 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 17 18 DATED: October 7, 2025 WOOD, SMITH, HENNING & BERMAN, LLP

19

20 By: /s/ Jacob P.Wilson 21

CHRISTOPHER J. SEUSING

22 (Admitted Pro Hac Vice)

JACOB P. WILSON

23 Attorneys for Defendant, EXER HOLDING 24 COMPANY, LLC

25

26 27 28 | || DATED: October 7, 2025 ALMEIDA LAW GROUP LLC 2 3 4 By: /s/ Matthew J. Langley

MATTHEW J. LANGLEY

5 Attorneys for Plaintiff, NICK GAIGE 6

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

9 DATED: 10/08/2025 10 COE A. JOEL RICHLIN 1 United’States Magistrate Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

40094215.1:12373-0015 17

2 EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3

4 I, _____________________________, of _________________, declare under 5 penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated 6 Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central 7 District of California on ____________ in the case of Nick Gaige, on behalf of himself 8 and all others similarly situated, v. Exer Holding Company, LLC, assigned Case No. 9 2:24-CV-06099-AH-AJR. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of 10 this 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 __________________________of 19 _______________________________________ as my California agent for service 20 of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement 21 of this Stipulated Protective Order. 22

23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26

27 Signature: __________________________________ 28