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6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 TRACY HILL, individually and on Case No. 2:24-cv-10414-JPR 12 behalf of others similarly situated,

PROTECTIVE ORDER

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14 Plaintiff, v. Magistrate Judge John D. Early 15

16 Action Filed: Dec. 3, 2024

PRETTY LITTER, INC.,

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18 Defendant. 19 20 Based on the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 19) and for good cause shown, the 21 Court finds and orders as follows. 22 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 23 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 24 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 25 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 26 warranted. This Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or 27 responses to discovery and the protection it affords from public disclosure and use 28 1 extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 2 treatment under the applicable legal principles. 3 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 4 Plaintiff and Defendant jointly submit that good cause exists to enter a 5 stipulated protective order. Discovery will likely include non-public personally 6 identifying information (PII), such as names, contact details, dates of birth, and 7 financial account information, protected by law. Without safeguards, disclosure 8 risks identity theft, financial harm, and unwarranted invasions of privacy. A 9 protective order will enable efficient discovery while mitigating these risks through 10 confidentiality designations, secure handling, and limits on use and disclosure. 11 Because this is a putative class action, discovery may involve information about 12 absent putative class members. To preserve the integrity of the Rule 23 process and 13 avoid confusion, coercion, and prejudice, Confidential Information may not be 14 used to contact or be disclosed to any putative class member unless and until a 15 class including that person is certified. The proposed protections are narrowly 16 tailored: they regulate the use, disclosure, and filing of Protected Material without 17 restricting legitimate discovery, preserve public access consistent with law, and 18 provide standard procedures to challenge designations and for redaction or sealing 19 where appropriate. Consistent with the distinct standards governing trial, any use 20 of Protected Material at trial will be addressed by separate agreement or order. For 21 these reasons, good cause exists to enter the stipulated protective order. 22 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 23 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 24 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 25 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 26 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 27 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right 28 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non- 1 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See 2 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), 3 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar- 4 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 5 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 6 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 7 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to 8 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material 9 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by 10 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 11 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 12 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 13 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and 14 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be 15 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 16 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed 17 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling 18 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing 19 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 20 under seal must be provided by declaration. 21 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable 22 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be 23 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, 24 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the 25 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in 26 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 27 4. DEFINITIONS 28 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 1 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 2 designation of information or items under this Order. 3 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 4 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 5 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 6 the Good Cause Statement. 7 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 8 their support staff). 9 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 10 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 11 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 12 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 13 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 14 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 15 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 16 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 17 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 18 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 19 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 20 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 21 outside counsel. 22 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 23 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 24 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 25 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have 26 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 27 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 28 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 1 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 2 support staffs). 3 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 4 Discovery Material in this Action. 5 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 6 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 7 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 8 and their employees and subcontractors. 9 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 10 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 11 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 12 Material from a Producing Party. 13 5. SCOPE 14 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 15 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 16 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 17 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 18 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 19 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 20 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 21 Protected Material at trial. 22 6. DURATION 23 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 24 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 25 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively 26 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 27 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the 28 trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 1 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 2 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 3 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend 4 beyond the commencement of the trial. 5 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 7 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 8 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation 9 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating 10 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items 11 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the 12 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not 13 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 14 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 15 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 16 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 17 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 18 Designating Party to sanctions. 19 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 20 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 21 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 22 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 23 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 24 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 25 the material is disclosed or produced. 26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 27 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 28 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 1 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 2 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 3 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 4 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 5 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 6 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 7 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 8 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 9 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 10 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 11 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine 12 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 13 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix 14 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If 15 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 16 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 17 appropriate markings in the margins). 18 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 19 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 20 the deposition all protected testimony. 21 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 22 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 23 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is 24 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the 25 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 26 shall identify the protected portion(s). 27 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 28 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 1 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 2 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 3 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 4 provisions of this Order. 5 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 7 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 8 Scheduling Order. 9 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 10 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 11 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 12 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 13 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 14 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 15 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 16 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 17 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 18 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 19 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 20 challenge. 21 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 23 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 24 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 25 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 26 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 27 28 1 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL 2 DISPOSITION). 3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 4 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 5 authorized under this Order. 6 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 7 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 8 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 9 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 10 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 11 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 12 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 13 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 14 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 15 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 16 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 18 (d) the court and its personnel; 19 (e) court reporters and their staff; 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 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 24 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 25 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 26 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 27 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 28 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 1 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 2 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 3 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 4 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 5 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 6 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 7 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 8 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 9 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 10 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 11 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 12 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 13 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 14 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 15 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 16 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 17 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 18 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 19 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 20 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 21 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 22 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 23 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 24 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 25 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 26 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 27 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 28 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 1 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 2 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 4 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 5 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected 6 by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions 7 should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 8 protections. 9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 10 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 11 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 12 confidential information, then the Party shall: 13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 14 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 15 agreement with a Non-Party; 16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 17 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 18 specific description of the information requested; and 19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 20 Non-Party, if requested. 21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 22 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 23 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 24 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the 25 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that 26 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a ruling by 27 the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden 28 and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 1 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 3 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 4 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 5 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 6 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 7 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 8 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 9 “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 10 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 11 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 12 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 13 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 14 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 15 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 16 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 17 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 18 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 19 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 20 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 21 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 22 14. MISCELLANEOUS 23 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 24 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 25 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 26 Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or 27 producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Order. 28 1 Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of 2 any of the material covered by this Order. 3 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 4 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 5 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 6 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under 7 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the 8 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 9 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 10 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 11 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must 12 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 13 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 14 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 15 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 16 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if 17 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that 18 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 19 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any 20 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 21 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel 22 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, 23 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition 24 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 25 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 26 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 27 Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 28 / / /

I 16. VIOLATION

2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 3 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 4 > || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 DATED: October 30, 2025 Lf 10 HN D. EARLY 11 United States Magistrate Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 14

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EXHIBIT A

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 7 in the case of Tracey Hill v. Pretty Litter, Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-10414-JPR. I agree 8 to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order 9 and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to 10 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will 11 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated 12 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 13 provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United 14 States District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of 15 enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement 16 17 proceedings occur after termination of this action. 18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type 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 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28