Fitzpatrick v. Roadget Business Pte. Ltd.

Background

Jennifer Fitzpatrick and Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., Shein Distribution Corporation, Shein US Services, LLC, and Fashion Choice Pte. Ltd. jointly requested a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). They sought rules for protecting nonpublic, competitively sensitive, and private information that might be produced during discovery, the pretrial exchange of information and evidence.

Order

The court found good cause for an appropriately tailored confidentiality order and entered the stipulated protective order. It requires people covered by the order—including the parties, their representatives, counsel, experts, consultants, third parties providing discovery, and other persons with actual or constructive notice—to follow its terms.

The order provides that:

- Discovery material may be used only to prosecute or defend this litigation. - Parties and third parties may designate material as confidential when it contains specified business, personal, or third-party information, or information otherwise entitled to protection under Rule 26(c)(1)(G). - Particularly sensitive business or personal information may be designated “Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” - Confidential material may be disclosed only to listed categories of people, such as outside counsel, approved experts and consultants, certain employees, the court, qualifying witnesses, and specified litigation vendors. Attorneys’ Eyes Only material may be disclosed to a narrower group. - Deposition transcripts are treated as Attorneys’ Eyes Only for 30 days after receipt, during which time parties may designate portions as confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only. - A party challenging a designation must provide a written objection. The designating party must respond within 10 days, or the challenged designation becomes void. Unresolved disputes may be presented to the court or a stipulated discovery referee, and the party supporting the designation bears the burden of persuasion. - Inadvertent disclosure of protected information does not automatically waive confidentiality, and inadvertent disclosure of privileged or work-product material is handled under Rule 26(b)(5)(B). - The order does not prevent objections to discovery or motions to modify or obtain relief from the order. It remains in effect after the litigation ends unless modified by the court or by a written party stipulation filed with the court. - After the litigation concludes, covered persons generally must return or, when requested, destroy protected materials, subject to the order’s provisions for archival copies and requests concerning materials held by the court.

Confidentiality and Sealing

The court expressly stated that entering the stipulation did not determine whether any document is actually confidential. That determination, if necessary, will be made through document-by-document review under the court’s rules and the presumption favoring public access to judicial documents. The court also did not approve any provision that would allow the parties to file documents under seal without first obtaining a court order.