Opinion
No. 1:05-CV-01185-OWW-SMS.
January 25, 2006
DAVID H. BROMFIELD, JEFFREY V. COMMISSO, MORGENSTEIN JUBELIRER LLP, San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Defendant Home Depot U.S.A. INC.
Gregory L. Myers, MYERS MAYFIELD, Fresno, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiff, Sir Lee Shoals.
STIPULATION AND PROPOSED AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
STIPULATION
The parties agree that certain discovery in this matter may call for the production of private or confidential information or information that constitutes trade secrets; the parties to this case have agreed that a protective order is the best way to protect the parties' interests in discovery and confidentiality.
Defendant Home Depot U.S.A. Inc., and plaintiff Sir Lee Schoals, by and through their attorneys of record, hereby stipulate and consent to the entry of the following Agreed Protective Order.
SO STIPULATED.
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
WHEREAS the parties agree that certain discovery in this matter may call for the production of private or confidential information or trade secrets, the parties to this case have agreed that a protective order is the best way to protect their interests in discovery and confidentiality. Consequently,IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. All documents, information and materials produced by Home Depot relating to (1) its Standard Operating Procedures; or (2) employee personnel files in response to all discovery requests served or required under Rules 26-37 or 45 shall be deemed Confidential (the "Confidential Materials") and their use shall be subject to the terms of this Agreed Protective Order.
2. The Confidential Materials produced by Home Depot are more particularly described on Exhibit 1 to this Agreed Protective Order.
3. Home Depot is producing the Confidential Materials on condition that they shall not otherwise be furnished, shown, disclosed, or divulged to any person except the Qualified Persons identified below:
a. All Parties to the Action and their employees, staff and assistants as necessary to advance the Parties' claims and defenses;
b. Counsel for the Parties and their employees, staff and assistants as necessary to advance the Parties' claims and defenses;
c. Consultants, experts or advisors retained by the Parties or their counsel in connection with this action, and their employees, staff and assistants as necessary to advance the Parties' claims and defenses;
d. Actual or potential witnesses in this action only to the extent necessary in connection with their testimony;
e. Court reporters used in this action;
f. Any judge and/or his or her staff or other court personnel; and
g. The jury impaneled to hear this action at trial.
4. The Confidential Materials shall be used solely for the preparation and trial of this action, and any appeal therefrom, and for no other purposes.
5. Prior to the disclosure of any Confidential Materials to any Qualified Person (except the Qualified Persons identified in Paragraph 2(e), 2(f) and 2(g)), the Qualified Person shall be given a copy of this Agreed Protective Order and shall be instructed that the documents must not be disclosed beyond the limits set forth in this Agreed Protective Order. Prior to such disclosure or use, such person(s) shall acknowledge in writing his or her (i) familiarity with the terms of this Agreed Protective Order; and (ii) agreement to be subject to the Court's jurisdiction and bound by the terms of this Agreed Protective Order in the form attached as Exhibit 2. A copy of this Agreed Protective Order shall be attached to each such written acknowledgment. All such acknowledgments shall be promptly delivered to counsel for Home Depot.
6. All Confidential Materials shall be stamped or otherwise labeled as "CONFIDENTIAL/SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER." All copies, reproductions, extracts and summaries of documents, answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, testimony or other materials or information, as well as briefs or other pleadings quoting or referring to the Confidential Materials shall be subject to the provisions of this Agreed Protective Order. Any interrogatories, or responses thereof, or other court filings containing Confidential Materials produced pursuant to this Agreed Protective Order shall be submitted to the Court in a manner reasonably calculated to preserve their confidentiality.
7. Nothing contained in this Agreed Protective Order shall prevent the use of the Confidential Materials at a hearing or at trial or in depositions, on the condition that any such Confidential Materials shall be disclosed or displayed in a manner reasonably calculated to preserve their confidentiality.
8. Within thirty days of the entry of a final judgment or execution of a settlement agreement in this action, the Parties to the Action shall (i) promptly return the Confidential Materials, including all copies, to counsel for Home Depot; and (ii) certify that all electronically stored or imaged Confidential Materials have been returned or permanently erased.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
EXHIBIT A FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS
1. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.'s personnel file for Daniel Rule, Number HD0040-HD0135.2. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.'s standard operating procedure regarding Solicitation, Number HD 0144-146.
3. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.'s standard operating procedure regarding Code of Conduct, Number HD 0148-0158.
EXHIBIT B
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: RECEIPT OF STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER1. I acknowledge that I have received a copy of the attached Agreed Protective Order in the action Schoals v. Home Depot pending in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:05-CV-01185-OWW-SMS ("Action"); that I have read the Agreed Protective Order, that I understand it; and that I agree to abide by its terms.
2. I further acknowledge that, under the terms of the Agreed Protective Order, I am forbidden to disclose to any person any of the Confidential Materials that have been produced by Home Depot and any of its Affiliates, that I am forbidden to use any such Confidential Materials for any purpose whatsoever, including, but not limited to, any personal, business or competitive purpose.
3. I hereby submit to the Court's jurisdiction and I understand that if I violate any term of the Agreed Protective Order, I may be subject to censure by the Court.