1 2 3 4 5 6 ' UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

GARY WALL, an individual, Case No. 2:25-cv-01265-HDV (JCx) Plaintiff, ASSIGNED FOR ALL PURPOSES TO THE 12 Vs. Hon. HERNAN D. VERA

14 || EXPRESS CORPORATION, a PROTECTIVE ORDER 3 Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 ° ° [CHANGES MADE BY COURT 16 Defendants. TO PARAGRAPHS 3, 8, 9.3] 17 18 19 20 |} 1. INTRODUCTION 21 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to 22 || involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for 23 |! which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any 24 purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 25 SS 27 28

1 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to 2 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties 3 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 4 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 5 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or 6 items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 7 legal principles. 8 1.2 Good Cause Statement. This action is likely to involve 9 extensive production of highly confidential medical information and 10 other valuable commercial, financial, and/or proprietary information for 11 which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any 12 purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 13 confidential and proprietary information includes information otherwise 14 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or 15 otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court 16 rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 17 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over 18 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information 19 the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties 20 are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation 21 22 for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 23 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 24 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that 25 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons 26 and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has 27 been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good 1 1.3 Acknowledgment of Procedure for Filing Under Seal. The 2 parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 3 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 4 information under seal; Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that 5 must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 6 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 7 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access 8 to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with 9 non-dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing 10 under seal. See Kamakana v. City and Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 11 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips ex rel. Ests. of Byrd v. Gen. Motors 12 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony 13 Elecs., Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated 14 protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 15 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and 16 legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that 17 a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of 18 Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 19 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, 20 establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 21 22 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 23 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion 24 or trial, then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing 25 must be shown, and the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve 26 the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 27 605 F.3d 665, 677–79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type of 1 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 2 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific 3 facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, 4 competent evidence supporting the application to file documents under 5 seal must be provided by declaration. 6 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise 7 protectable in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential 8 portions can be redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted 9 version for public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or 10 otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any 11 application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 12 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 13 2. DEFINITIONS 14 2.1 Action: Wall v. FedEx Corporation et al. 2:25-cv-01265-HDV. 15 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 16 designation of information or items under this Order. 17 18 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information 19 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible 20 things that qualify for protection under Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of 21 Civil Procedure, and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 22 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as 23 well as their support staff). 24 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates 25 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to 26 discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 27 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, 1 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or 2 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and 3 tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or 4 responses to discovery in this matter. 5 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in 6 a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or 7 its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 8 2.8 Final Disposition: the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and 9 defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment 10 herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 11 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for 12 filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to 13 applicable law. 14 2.9 In-House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to 15 this Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of 16 Record or any other outside counsel. 17 2.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, 18 association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 19 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees 20 of a party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to 21 22 this Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or 23 are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, 24 and includes support staff. 25 2.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 26 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel 27 of Record (and their support staffs). 1 || Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action. 2 2.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide 3 || litigation- support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, 4 || preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or 5 || retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and 6 || subcontractors. 7 2.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that 8 is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 7 2.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery ‘0 Material from a Producing Party. 1] 3. SCOPE 13 14 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not 15 || only Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information 16 || copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, 17 || summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any 1g || testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel 19 || that might reveal Protected Material other than during a court hearing 20 || or at trial. 21 Any use of Protected Material during a court hearing/trial shall 22 || be governed by the orders of the presiding judge. This Stipulated 23 || Protective Order does not govern the use of Protected Material during a 24 || court hearing or at trial. 2> 114, TRIAL AND DURATION 26 The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order apply through Final 27 || Disposition of the Action. 28 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

1 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this Stipulated Protective 2 Order and used or introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and 3 will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including 4 the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 5 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of 6 the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180–81 (distinguishing “good 7 cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from 8 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part 9 of court record). Accordingly, for such materials, the terms of this 10 Stipulated Protective Order do not extend beyond the commencement of 11 the trial. 12 Even after Final Disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality 13 obligations imposed by this Stipulated Protective Order shall remain in 14 effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court 15 order otherwise directs. 16 17 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 19 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 20 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 21 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such 22 designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 23 standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only 24 those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 25 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 26 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not 27 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 1 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 2 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been 3 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case 4 development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 5 other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 6 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or 7 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that 8 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 9 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 10 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 11 provided in this Stipulated Protective Order (see, e.g., second paragraph 12 of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure 13 or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Stipulated 14 Protective Order must be clearly so designated before the material is 15 disclosed or produced. 16 Designation in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order 17 18 requires: 19 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 20 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or 21 trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the 22 legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected 23 material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 24 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify 25 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 26 margins). 27 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 1 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the 2 inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied 3 and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of 4 the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 5 CONFIDENTIAL. After the inspecting Party has identified the 6 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 7 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection 8 under this Stipulated Protective Order. Then, before producing the 9 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected 11 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 12 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify 13 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 14 margins). 15 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 16 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the 17 close of the deposition all protected testimony. 18 (c) for information produced in some form other than 19 documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party 20 affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers 21 22 in which the information is stored the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend. If only 23 a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the 24 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 25 portion(s). 26 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 27 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, 1 standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection 2 under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 3 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure 4 that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 5 Stipulated Protective Order. 6 7 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 8 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may 9 challenge a designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent 10 with the court’s Scheduling Order. 11 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the 12 dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 13 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 14 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those 15 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary 16 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging 17 18 Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 19 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to 20 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 21 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the court rules on 22 the challenge. 23 24 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected 26 Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non- 27 Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or 1 attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be 2 disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 3 described in this Order. When the Action reaches a Final Disposition, a 4 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below. 5 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving 6 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is 7 limited to the persons authorized under this Stipulated Protective 8 Order. 9 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. 10 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the 11 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or 12 item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only: 13 (a) to the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 14 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom 15 it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 16 (b) to the officers, directors, and employees (including House 17 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably 18 necessary for this Action; 19 (c) to Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 20 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 21 22 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 23 (d) to the court and its personnel; 24 (e) to court reporters and their staff; 25 (f) to professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 26 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 27 this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement 1 (g) to the author or recipient of a document containing the 2 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or 3 knew the information; 4 (h) during their depositions, to witnesses, and attorneys for 5 witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, 6 provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the 7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); and (2) the 8 witness will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 9 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 10 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or 11 ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or 12 exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately 13 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 14 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 15 (i) to any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 16 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in 17 settlement discussions. 18 19 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 20

PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

21 22 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in 23 other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items 24 designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 25 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 26 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 27 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the 1 || subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the 2 || material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective 3 || Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated 4 || Protective Order; and 5 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to 6 || be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be 7 affected. 8 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any '0 information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a " determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission or unless otherwise required by the law or court order. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that

6 court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should

be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this 18 Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 19 99 || 9. A-NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 1 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 22 9.1 Application. The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order 23 || are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and 24 || designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non- 25 || Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 26 || and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 27 || construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 28 || protections.

1 9.2 Notification. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid 2 || discovery request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in 3 || its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non- 4 || Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the 5 || Party shall: 6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 7 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 8 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; ? (b) make the information requested available for inspection by 10 the Non-Party, if requested. 9.3 Conditions of Production. If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of receiving the notice ° and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the " Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. . If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is

8 subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 19 determination by the court unless otherwise required by the law or court 20 order. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the >, || burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected 22 || Material. 23 || 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 24 MATERIAL 25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it 26 || has disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance 27 not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving 28

1 Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of 2 the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all 3 unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 4 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of 5 this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 6 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A). 7 8 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 9

OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

12

14 DATED: September 25, 2025 _

15 Cindy Park 16 Attorney for Defendants FedEx Corporation; Federal Express V7 Corporation 18 19

IT IS SO ORDERED AS MODIFIED.

21 DATED: October 17, 2025 22 /s/ 23 Honorable Jacqueline Chooljian

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND ° I, [print or type full name], of [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the

Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States

District Court for the Central District of California on October 17, 9 2025, in the case of Wall v. FedEx Corporation et al. . 2:25-cv-01265- 10 HDV (JCx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge D that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 13 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose 14 in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 15 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 16 || compliance with the provisions of this Order. 17 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States 18 District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of 19 enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such 20 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I 21 hereby appoint [print or type full name] 22 of [print or type full address and telephone number] as 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 my California agent for service of process in connection with this action 2 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 3 Order. 4 5 Date: ___________________________ 6 City and State where sworn and 7 signed: ___________________________ 8 Printed name: ___________________________ 9 Signature: ___________________________ 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27