1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 DEJA BUSH, Case No.: 8:25-cv-01562-JWH JDE

11 Plaintiff,

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

12 ORDER v. 13

CITY OF ANAHEIM; DETECTIVE

14 LESLIE VARGAS, in her individual

capacity; OFFICER JUAN FRIAS, 15 in his individual capacity; and DOES 16 1 through 30, inclusive,

17 Defendants.

18 19 Based on the Parties Stipulation (Dkt. 21) and for good cause shown, the 20 Court finds and orders as follows. 21 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 22 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 23 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 24 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may 25 be warranted. This Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or 26 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure 27 and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to 28 confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 This action will involve confidential and sensitive information regarding 3 Plaintiff, Defendants, and other members of the public who made calls for 4 service to the Anaheim Police Department. Defendants are both officers with the 5 Anaheim Police Department. It is anticipated records will be sought concerning 6 their personnel files which will contain private information. Further, records in 7 this case will contain addresses, phone numbers, and other personal identifying 8 information of parties and members of the public that would necessitate 9 significant redactions if a protective order is not granted. 10 Accordingly, to streamline discovery, expedite the flow of information, to 11 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery 12 materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 13 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 14 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their 15 handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a Protective 16 Order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties 17 that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that 18 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in 19 a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be 20 part of the public record of this case. 21 3. UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 22 As set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this Order does not entitle the 23 parties to file confidential information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth 24 the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a 25 party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. There is a strong 26 presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and 27 records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause 28 1 of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 2 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 3 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require 4 good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons 5 with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect 6 to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere 7 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 8 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the 9 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 10 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 11 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 12 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and 13 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be 14 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 15 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed 16 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling 17 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested 18 sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file 19 documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 20 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable 21 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be 22 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public 23 viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable 24 portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file 25 documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of why 26 redaction is not feasible. 27 / / / 28 1 4. DEFINITIONS 2 4.1 Action: Deja Bush v. City of Anaheim, et al., Case no. 8:25-cv- 3 01562-JWH-JDE 4 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 5 designation of information or items under this Order. 6 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless 7 of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 8 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 9 the Good Cause Statement. 10 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 11 their support staff). 12 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information 13 or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 15 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, 16 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or 17 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible 18 things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 19 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a 20 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel 21 to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 22 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 23 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 24 outside counsel. 25 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association 26 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 27 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 28 1 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 2 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 3 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and 5 their support staffs). 6 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 7 Discovery Material in this Action. 8 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 9 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits 10 or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 11 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 12 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 15 Material from a Producing Party. 16 5. 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 19 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 20 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 21 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 22 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of 23 the trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the 24 use of Protected Material at trial. 25 6. DURATION 26 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 27 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 28 1 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 2 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to 3 the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 4 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 5 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents 6 are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not 7 extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 8 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 10 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 11 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation 12 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 13 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 14 documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so that other 15 portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which 16 protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this 17 Order. 18 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. 19 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for 20 an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development 21 process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 22 expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 23 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that 24 it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party 25 must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 26 designation. 27 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided 28 1 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 2 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 3 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 4 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 5 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 6 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 8 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies 9 for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 10 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 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 13 has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the 14 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for 15 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 16 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 17 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 18 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party 19 must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected 20 Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 21 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by 22 making appropriate markings in the margins). 23 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 24 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 25 the deposition all protected testimony. 26 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 27 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 28 1 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the 2 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 3 shall identify the protected portion(s). 4 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 5 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, 6 waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 7 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must 8 make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with 9 the provisions of this Order. 10 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 11 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 12 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 13 Scheduling Order. 14 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 15 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 16 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 17 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 18 8.4 The Designating Party bears the burden of persuasion in any such 19 challenge. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 20 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose 21 the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 22 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 23 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the 24 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 25 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 9.1 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 28 1 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 2 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 3 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL 4 DISPOSITION). 5 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at 6 a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the 7 persons authorized under this Order. 8 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 9 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, 10 a 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, 13 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 14 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 15 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 16 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 17 Action; 18 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 19 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 20 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 21 (d) the court and its personnel; 22 (e) court reporters and their staff; 23 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 24 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action 25 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 26 (Exhibit A); 27 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information 28 1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, 2 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the 3 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A 4 hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 5 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 6 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. 7 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 8 Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be 9 disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; 10 and 11 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting 12 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 13 discussions. 14 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

15

16 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other 17 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this 18 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 19 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 20 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 21 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 22 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by 23 the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 24 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 25 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 26 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If 27 the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 28 1 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which 2 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating 3 Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of 4 seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these 5 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party 6 in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 7 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO

BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

8

9 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced 10 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 11 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is 12 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 13 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking 14 additional protections. 15 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 16 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 17 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 18 confidential information, then the Party shall: 19 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 20 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 21 agreement with a Non-Party; 22 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 23 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 24 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 25 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 26 Non-Party, if requested. 27 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 28 1 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information 2 responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective 3 order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or 4 control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before 5 a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party 6 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its 7 Protected Material. 8 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED

MATERIAL

9

10 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 11 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 12 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 13 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 14 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) 15 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all 16 the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 17 “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 18 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR

OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

19

20 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 21 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 22 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 23 Rule of Civil\ Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 24 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 25 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 26 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of 27 disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 28 1 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement 2 in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 3 14. MISCELLANEOUS 4 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of 5 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 6 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 7 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 8 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 9 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 10 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 11 Order. 12 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 13 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 14 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of 15 the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 16 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the 17 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 18 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 19 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 20 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must 21 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 22 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 23 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of 24 the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, 25 the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party 26 (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day 27 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected 28 1 | has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other 2 || format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding 3 || this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, 4 || motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 5 || correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work 6 | product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain 7 || Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected 8 || Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 9 || (DURATION). 10 16. VIOLATION 11 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 12 | including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 13 14 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 15 '© | DATED: December 10, 2025 17 bal 19 HN D. EARLY 20 United States Magistrate Judge 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, [print or type full name], of [print 4 or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its 5 entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by 6 the United States District Court for the Central District of California on 7 [date] in the case of Deja Bush v. City of Anaheim, et al., 8:25-cv-01562- 8 JWH-JDE. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 9 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. 11 I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or 12 item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity 13 except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to 14 submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central 15 District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination 17 of this action. I hereby appoint [print or 18 type full name] of [print or 19 type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of 20 process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement 21 of this Stipulated Protective Order. 22 Date: 23 City and State where sworn and signed: 24 25 Printed name: 26 27 Signature: 28