George v. Garnet Health Medical Center

Background

The plaintiffs are identified as representatives of a class of similarly situated persons and as acting on behalf of the Garnet Health Medical Center 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan and the Garnet Health Medical Center–Catskills 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan. The parties, through counsel, jointly requested a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) for nonpublic and competitively sensitive information that might be disclosed during discovery. The court found good cause for a tailored confidentiality order governing the pretrial phase of the action.

Terms of the Protective Order

A producing party may designate material as confidential only when it reasonably and in good faith believes the material includes specified categories, such as previously undisclosed financial information, information about ownership or control of a nonpublic company, business or marketing plans, or personal or intimate information. The order provides procedures for marking documents and deposition testimony as confidential, including a 30-day period after a deposition during which the entire transcript is treated as confidential.

Confidential discovery material may be disclosed only to listed recipients, including the parties and their insurers, litigation counsel and support staff, outside vendors, mediators or arbitrators, certain people identified in documents, potential witnesses, experts, stenographers, and the court. Mediators, potential witnesses, and experts must first receive the order and sign a nondisclosure agreement. Recipients may use the material only for prosecuting or defending this action and related appeals, not for business, commercial, competitive, or other litigation purposes.

The order does not waive objections to discovery, privilege, or other protections, and it does not decide whether evidence is admissible at trial. Parties may object to confidentiality designations or request stricter limits, with unresolved disputes presented to the court. A party filing confidential material must publicly file a redacted version and file the unredacted version under seal, along with the materials required by the court's individual practices. The court retains discretion over whether to keep material confidential when it is submitted in connection with a motion or proceeding and warns that trial evidence is unlikely to remain sealed.

Privileged Material and End of the Case

If privileged or attorney-work-product material is accidentally disclosed, the disclosure does not waive the protection under the order. The receiving party generally must return or destroy the material within five business days and provide a certification, while the producing party must provide a privilege log. The receiving party may ask the court to compel production, and the producing party retains the burden of establishing privilege or protection.

Within 60 days after the final disposition of the action, including appeals, recipients must return or, with the producing party's permission, destroy confidential material and certify that they retained no copies or summaries. Litigation attorneys may keep archival copies of specified case materials, but those copies remain subject to the order. The order survives the end of the litigation, and the court retains jurisdiction as needed to enforce it or impose contempt sanctions.

Ruling

On January 17, 2025, Judge Philip M. Halpern entered the stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order. This order governs discovery and confidentiality; it does not resolve the merits of the parties' underlying dispute.