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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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10 SHERYL PULVER, an individual, Case No. 2:25-cv-01226-JAK-PVC 11

12 Plaintiff, S O T R I D P E U R L A TED PROTECTIVE 13 vs.

14 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., a Corporation and DOES 1 through 15 10, inclusive,

16 Defendant. 17

18 1. INTRODUCTION 19 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 20 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 21 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 22 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 23 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 24 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does 25 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 26 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 27 1 legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, 2 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 3 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be 4 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from 5 the court to file material under seal. 6 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 7 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 8 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 9 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 10 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 11 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, 12 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential 13 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial 14 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), 15 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged 16 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case 17 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to 18 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, 19 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 20 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 21 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 22 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 23 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 24 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 25 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public 26 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this 27 case. 1 2. DEFINITIONS 2 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, Case no. 2:25-cv-01226-JAK-PVC. 3 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 4 of information or items under this Order. 5 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 6 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 7 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 8 Cause Statement 9 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 10 support staff). 11 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 15 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 16 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 17 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 18 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 19 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 20 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 21 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 22 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 23 counsel. 24 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 25 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 26 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 27 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 1 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 2 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 3 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 5 support staffs). 6 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 7 Discovery Material in this Action. 8 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 9 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 11 and their employees and subcontractors. 12 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 15 from a Producing Party. 16 3. SCOPE 17 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 18 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 19 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 20 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 21 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 22 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 23 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 24 25 4. DURATION 26 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 27 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will 1 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 2 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are 3 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of 4 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” 5 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 6 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 7 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 8 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 10 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 11 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 12 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 13 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that 14 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications 15 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 16 this Order. 17 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 18 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 19 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 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 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 24 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 25 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 26 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 27 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 1 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 2 produced. 3 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 4 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 5 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 6 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 7 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 8 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 9 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 10 markings in the margins). 11 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 12 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 13 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection 14 and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be 15 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 16 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 17 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 18 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 19 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of 20 the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 21 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 22 margins). 23 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 24 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 25 protected testimony. 26 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 27 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior 1 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 2 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 3 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 4 portion(s). 5 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 6 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 7 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 8 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 9 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 10 Order. 11 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 12 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 13 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 14 Scheduling Order. 15 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 16 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 17 et seq. 18 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 19 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 20 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 21 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 22 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will continue to afford the 23 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 24 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 25 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 27 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 1 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 2 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 3 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 4 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 5 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 6 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 7 authorized under this Order. 8 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 9 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 10 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 11 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 12 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 13 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary 14 to disclose the information for this Action; 15 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 16 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 17 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 18 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 19 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 20 (d) the Court and its personnel; 21 (e) court reporters and their staff; 22 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 23 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 24 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 25 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 26 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 27 1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 2 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 3 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will 4 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 6 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 7 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 8 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 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 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 13 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 14 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 15 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 16 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will 18 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 20 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 21 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of 22 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 24 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 25 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 26 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this action 27 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 1 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 2 Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 3 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 4 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 5 directive from another court. 6 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 7 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 8 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 9 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 10 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 11 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 12 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 13 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 14 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 15 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 16 confidential information, then the Party will: 17 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 18 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 19 with a Non-Party; 20 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 21 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 22 specific description of the information requested; and 23 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 24 Party, if requested. 25 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 26 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 27 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 1 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will not produce 2 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 3 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court 4 order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking 5 protection in this court of its Protected Material. 6 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 8 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 9 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 10 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 11 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 12 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 13 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 14 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 15 16 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 17 PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 19 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 20 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 21 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 22 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 23 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 24 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 25 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 26 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 27 to the court. 1 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 3 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 5 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 10 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 11 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 12 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is 13 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 14 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 15 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 16 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 17 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 18 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 19 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 20 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 21 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party 22 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person 23 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by 24 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 25 and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 26 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 27 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 1 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 2 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 3 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 4 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 5 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 6 Section 4 (DURATION). 7 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 8 contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 9 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.

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FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS

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SO ORDERED.

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14 DATED: October 31, 2025 __________________________________ United States Magistrate Judge 16

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18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 4 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 5 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 6 District Court for the Central District of California on _________ [date] in the case 7 of Sheryl Pulver v. Nissan North America, Inc., Case No. 2:25-cv-01226-JAK- 8 PVC. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 9 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 10 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 11 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject 12 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance 13 with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 18 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order. 22 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________