City of Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System v. Reckitt Benckiser…

What the order concerns

The parties jointly stipulated to a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). A protective order sets limits on how information exchanged during discovery may be used and disclosed. The court entered the proposed order on June 29, 2022.

Confidential information

The order permits a party or non-party producing or receiving discovery material to designate it as confidential when the designating party reasonably and in good faith believes the material contains specified nonpublic information. The listed categories include nonpublic financial information, proprietary business information and trade secrets, personal or intimate information, and information protected by applicable secrecy, data-protection, or privacy laws.

The order describes procedures for marking documents and data, designating deposition testimony, and correcting an inadvertent failure to mark material as confidential. A party or non-party may challenge a confidentiality designation at any time, but the material remains confidential while the challenge is unresolved unless the court decides otherwise.

Access and use

Confidential discovery material may be disclosed only to specified people and only to the extent reasonably necessary to prosecute or defend the action. Those categories include authorized party representatives, litigation counsel and their staff, certain authors or recipients of the material, service providers, mediators, witnesses, prospective witnesses who sign an undertaking, experts and consultants who sign an undertaking, the court and its personnel, and certain counsel for insurers or indemnitors. Other disclosure requires a court order or the producing party’s agreement.

Discovery material may be used only for the prosecution or defense of this action. People who receive it must take reasonable precautions against unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure. The order also requires notice and remedial steps if confidential material is disclosed without authorization.

Court filings and privileged material

The order does not itself authorize filing documents under seal. A party must obtain a further court order addressing the specific material to be sealed and must support the request as required by the order, including by addressing the applicable sealing standards and controlling authority. The order also preserves the procedures governing inadvertently produced material protected by attorney-client privilege or attorney-work-product protection. Such an inadvertent disclosure does not automatically waive the asserted protection under the rules identified in the order.

End of the case and enforcement

Within 60 days after notice that the action has finally ended, including any appeals or the expiration of the time to appeal, recipients generally must make commercially reasonable efforts to return or destroy confidential discovery material and certify that return or destruction. Counsel may retain archival copies of specified litigation materials, but those copies remain subject to the order. The court retains jurisdiction as necessary to enforce the order or impose sanctions for contempt, and the order’s terms survive settlement, dismissal, judgment, or another disposition of the action.

Disposition and classification

Judge P. Kevin Castel entered the parties’ stipulated protective order. The opinion addresses discovery management and confidentiality, not the merits of the underlying class action claims.