Charlotte B Milliner v. Mutual Securities, Inc.

I. BACKGROUND

17 Plaintiffs Charlotte B. Milliner and Joann Brem filed this putative class action against MSI 18 in 2015 alleging claims stemming from MSI’s brokerage agreement with Plaintiffs. On June 1, 19 2018, following a settlement conference before the undersigned, the parties resolved Plaintiffs’ 20 claims and executed a written settlement agreement that contained a confidentiality provision. 21 The parties subsequently consented to have this court conduct all further proceedings pursuant to 22 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). The case was dismissed on September 11, 2018. 23 In April 2019, MSI filed a motion to enforce the settlement agreement and the stipulated 24 protective order entered in this case, arguing that Plaintiffs and their counsel, David Sturgeon- 25 Garcia, breached them, including the settlement agreement’s confidentiality provision. [Docket 26 No. 176.] In relevant part, MSI presented evidence that in February 2019, Sturgeon-Garcia filed a 27 statement of claim with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) against MSI and five individuals on behalf of a different client, Proposed Intervenor Gilotti (the “Gilotti claim”). In his claim, Gilotti…