HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-cv-2336 - O’Ryan v. City of Fort Collins - 25 - Protective Order2
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 242-cv-02336-RMR-NRN
LAURELEI O’RYAN,
Plaintiff,
v.
CITY OF FORT COLLINS.
Defendant.
PROTECTIVE ORDER
Pursuant to the Parties’ Stipulated Motion for Protective Order, the Court hereby
Orders as follows:
1. This Protective Order shall apply to all documents, materials, and
information, including without limitation, documents produced, answers to interrogatories,
responses to requests for admission, deposition testimony, and other information
disclosed pursuant to the disclosure or discovery duties created by the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure.
2. As used in this Protective Order, “document” is defined as provided by Fed.
R. Civ. P. 34(a). A draft or non-identical copy is a separate document within the meaning
of this term.
3. One who provides, serves, discloses or files any nonpublic documents or
information in connection with this civil action, and who in good faith believes such
documents or information are protected by a statutory, regulatory, or common law right
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of privacy or protection, or otherwise contain nonpublic personal, personnel, employment,
private, medical, tax or other information implicating privacy interests, proprietary
interests or safety and security concerns of either the Plaintiff, Defendant or a non-party
may designate such documents or information as “Confidential.” The documents or
information so designated shall be deemed “Confidential Material” subject to this
Protective Order.
4. Confidential Material shall be subject to the following restrictions.
Confidential Material shall be used only for the limited purpose of preparing for and
conducting this civil action (including any appeals), and not for any other purpose
whatsoever, and shall not, without the consent of the party producing it or further Order
of the Court, be disclosed in any way to anyone except those specified in this paragraph:
(a) attorneys actively working on this case;
(b) persons regularly employed or associated with the attorneys actively
working on the case whose assistance is required by said attorneys in the preparation for
trial, or at other proceedings in this case;
(c) the parties and designated representatives of the Defendant City of Fort
Collins;
(d) expert witnesses and consultants retained in connection with this
proceeding, to the extent such disclosure is necessary for preparation, trial or other
proceedings in this case;
(e) the Court and its employees (“Court Personnel”);
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(f) stenographic reporters who are engaged in proceedings necessarily
incident to the conduct of this action;
(g) to an insurance representative, if any, whose policies could apply to the
allegations of the Complaint;
(h) witnesses in the course of deposition or trial testimony where counsel has
a reasonable and good faith belief that examination with respect to the document is
necessary in legitimate discovery or trial purposes in this case, and any person who is
being prepared to testify where counsel has a reasonable and good faith belief that such
person will be a witness in this action and that his examination with respect to the
document is necessary in connection with such testimony; and
(i) other persons by agreement of all the parties.
5. This Protective Order shall not prohibit or restrain any party from performing
the tasks necessary to prepare for trial; however, any re-disclosure or communication of
the information covered by this Protective Order, except as specifically allowed by this
Protective Order for the purposes of this litigation only, is strictly prohibited. The object
of this Protective Order is that none of the information revealed in connection with such
protections be used for any purpose other than in relation to this litigation and that no one
be allowed to use any information produced pursuant to this order in connection with any
other issue, dispute, litigation or charge against any of the parties whether currently
pending or contemplated in the future.
6. No reproduction of information disclosed in reliance on this Protective Order
is authorized, except to the extent copies are required to prepare the case for trial. All
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copies, excerpts, or summaries made, shown, or given to those authorized hereby and
according to the provisions hereof shall be stamped to indicate the protected and
confidential nature of the disclosed information. Review of Confidential Material by
counsel, experts or consultants for the litigation will not constitute any waiver of the
confidentiality of the document or of any objections to production. Additionally, by
designating information as Confidential and producing that information pursuant to this
Protective Order’s terms, no party waives any objections or statutory exemptions that may
otherwise be asserted. The inadvertent, unintentional or in camera disclosure of
Confidential Material shall not, under any circumstances, be deemed a waiver, in whole
or in part, of any claims of confidentiality.
7. Counsel to the parties are required to advise, instruct and supervise all
associates, staff and employees of counsel to keep designated Confidential Material
confidential in the strictest possible fashion. Counsel and the parties also agree to such
treatment of the information by themselves, and counsel will appropriately instruct their
clients as to the protected nature of the information produced pursuant to this order and
the limitations on its use and disclosure.
8. Documents are designated as Confidential Material by placing or affixing on
them (in a manner that will not interfere with their legibility) the following or other
appropriate notice: “CONFIDENTIAL.”
9. Whenever a deposition involves the disclosure of Confidential Material, the
deposition or portions thereof may be designated as Confidential and subject to this
Protective Order. Such designation shall be made on the record during the deposition
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whenever possible, but a party may designate portions of depositions as Confidential after
transcription, provided written notice of the designation is promptly given to all counsel of
record within thirty (30) days after notice by the court reporter of the completion of the
transcript. The cover page, those portions of the original transcripts that contain
confidential material shall bear the legend “CONFIDENTIAL—SUBJECT TO
PROTECTIVE ORDER,” and shall be bound separately from the non-confidential portions
of the transcript. Any deposition exhibits designated confidential shall also be bound
separately.
10. A party may object to the designation of particular documents as
Confidential, and to the scope of restrictions, by giving written notice to the party
designating the disputed information. The written notice shall identify the information to
which objection is made and the limitations in scope to which objection is made where
relevant. If the parties cannot resolve the objection within ten (10) business days after
the time the notice is received, it shall be the obligation of the party designating the
information as confidential to file a motion within fifteen (15) days after the conclusion of
the ten (10) business daysthen pursuant to D.C.COLO.MJ VI they shall jointly contact
Chambers to schedule a discovery hearing to requesting that the Court determine
whether the disputed information should be subject to the terms of this Protective Order.
A motion shall only be filed after the parties have followed the Judge’s procedure of
holding a joint telephone conference with the Judge on the issue. If this procedure is
timely followed, the disputed information shall be treated as Confidential under the terms
of this Protective Order until the Court rules on the disputemotion. If the designating party
fails to timely follow such discovery dispute procedures, the disputed information shall
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lose its designation as Confidential and shall not thereafter be treated as Confidential
in accordance with this Protective Order. In connection with any dispute raised under
this provision, the party designating the information as Confidential shall bear the
burden of establishing that good cause exists for the disputed information to be treated
as Confidential.
11. If a party discloses information NOT designated as Confidential, any of the
other parties may let the disclosing party know of its intention to designate the information
as Confidential. If the party disclosing the information objects to the proposed designation
of this information as Confidential, the provisions of Paragraph 10 will apply for the
resolution of the dispute.
12. If a disclosing party inadvertently discloses information that was not
designated as Confidential but later determines that the disclosed information should
have been designated as Confidential, the disclosing party shall promptly notify the other
(or non-disclosing) parties of the error and furnish properly designated copies of the
disclosed information. Upon learning of the improperly-designated disclosure, the non-
disclosing parties shall treat all copies of the disclosed information as if they were
originally designated as Confidential.
13. At the conclusion of this case, including any appeals, unless other
arrangements are agreed upon, each document and all copies thereof designated as
Confidential shall be returned to the party that designated the material as Confidential, or
the parties may elect to destroy Confidential documents. Where the parties agree to
destroy Confidential documents, the destroying party shall provide all parties with an
affidavit confirming the destruction. However, this does not require parties including any
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entity who employs one of the parties to destroy any documents that would normally be
maintained in their records, as part of a case file or required to be kept by law. In addition,
all counsel is entitled to retain an archival copy of their case file, under terms subject to
this Protective Order, even if such materials contain Confidential Information.
14. Stamped Confidential documents shall not be filed with the clerk except
when required in connection with motions under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12 or
56, motions to determine confidentiality under the terms of this Protective Order, Motions
in Limine, and motions related to discovery disputes if the Confidential documents are
relevant to the motion. A party contemplating filing Confidential Material protected by this
Protective Order with the Court shall make a good faith effort to have the Confidential
information filed under restricted access, or otherwise restricted from public access,
pursuant to D.C.Colo.LCiv.R. 7.2. The parties agree that any Confidential information will
be filed at Level I Restricted.
15. This Protective Order may be modified by the Court at any time for good
cause shown following notice to all parties and an opportunity for them to be heard.
16. Nothing in this Protective Order shall prevent any party or other person from
seeking modification of this order or from objecting to discovery that the party or other
person believes to be improper. Nothing in this Protective Order shall prejudice the right
of any party to contest the alleged relevancy, admissibility, or discoverability of
Confidential documents or information sought.
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Dated this 26th day of November, 2024.
BY THE COURT:
Hon. N. Reid Neureiter
United States Magistrate Judge
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