Taylor v. Costco Inc

Background

The parties, through counsel, jointly requested a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). They sought protection for nonpublic and competitively sensitive information that might be disclosed during discovery. The court found good cause for an appropriately tailored confidentiality order governing the pretrial phase of the case.

What the Order Covers

The order allows a producing party to designate only portions of discovery material that it reasonably and in good faith believes contain specified types of information, including previously undisclosed financial information; information about ownership or control of a nonpublic company; business, product-development, or marketing plans; personal or intimate information; or another category later given confidential status by the court.

A producing party generally must clearly mark the protected material and provide a redacted copy for future public use. Deposition testimony and exhibits may be designated during the deposition or within 30 days afterward. During that 30-day period, the entire deposition transcript must be treated as confidential. A producing party may also correct an earlier failure to designate material by giving written notice and providing replacement versions within two business days.

Disclosure and Use Restrictions

Confidential discovery material may be disclosed only to the persons listed in the order, including the parties, certain insurers and counsel, lawyers and their case personnel, outside vendors assisting with the case, mediators or arbitrators, certain people connected to a document, potential witnesses, experts or specialized advisers, deposition transcription personnel, and the court. Some recipients must first receive the order and sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Recipients may use confidential discovery material only to prosecute or defend this case and related appeals. They must take reasonable precautions against unauthorized or accidental disclosure. The order does not waive objections to discovery, attorney-client or other protected information, or objections to admissibility at trial.

Challenges, Court Filings, and Duration

A party may object to a confidentiality designation in writing before trial. If the parties cannot resolve the dispute, they must bring it to the court under the judge’s individual practices. A party seeking additional restrictions, such as an attorneys’-eyes-only designation, must follow a similar process.

When confidential material is filed with the court, the parties must publicly file a redacted version and separately seek permission to file the unredacted version under seal. The order warns that the court may unseal documents if the required specific findings are not made and that confidential treatment is unlikely for material introduced at trial.

Within 60 days after final disposition of the case, including appeals, recipients must return or destroy confidential discovery material and certify that they have not retained copies or other reproductions. Lawyers specifically retained for the case may keep limited archival copies, which remain subject to the order. The order continues after the case ends, and the court retains jurisdiction to enforce it and impose contempt sanctions.

Ruling

Judge Gregory H. Woods entered the stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order on May 4, 2023. The order governs the handling of designated confidential discovery material; it does not resolve the merits of June Taylor’s claims or Costco Inc.’s defenses.