United States District Court, M.D. Georgia, Macon Division
TIMOTHY R. JOHNSON, Plaintiff,
v.
HOUSTON COUNTY, et al, Defendants.
ORDER ON CONSENT MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER
C.
ASHLEY ROYAL UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
THE
COURT ALERTS THE PARTIES THAT IT HAS ADDED A FINAL PARAGRAPH
TO THIS PROTECTIVE ORDER THAT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE CONSENT
ORDER SUBMITTED TO THE COURT.
This
lawsuit is presently in the discovery stage. It appears that
such discovery will involve review of confidential business
information, personnel and employment-related documents,
personal, sensitive medical and other confidential
information relating to the parties and persons not parties
to this litigation. Plaintiff Timothy R. Johnson
(“Plaintiff”) and Defendants Margaret Hays,
Cullen Talton, Michael Garrett, John Stinson, Jr., General
Granville, Jr., the City of Warner Robins, Deborah Miller,
Malcolm Derrick, Jr., H.D. Dennard, R.G. West, Brad Mules,
and Stephen Lynn (“Defendants”) (collectively the
“parties”), by and through their counsel, desire
to avoid the needless dissemination of the above-referenced
information outside of this lawsuit and, further, to avoid a
dispute over the production of such information.
Accordingly,
good cause having been shown within the meaning of Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and it appearing that
Plaintiff and Defendants consent to entry of this Protective
Order, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
(1) As used in this Order, the following definitions and
terms shall apply:
a. “Confidential Information” means documents,
information, testimony, and other tangible items to be
produced or disclosed in this action that contain (A) trade
secrets, confidential, commercially private, proprietary,
sensitive business, financial, and/or otherwise privileged
information or (B) private personal information about
individuals, including current or former employees'
personnel files, in which the affected persons enjoy rights
and expectations of privacy and protection from disclosure,
including under state and federal law or (C) medical
information concerning Plaintiff. All such documents,
information, or testimony will be referred to and treated as
“Confidential Information” if stamped or
designated “CONFIDENTIAL.”
b. “Disclosed” is used in its broadest sense and
includes, inter alia, directly or indirectly shown,
divulged, revealed, produced, described, transmitted or
otherwise communicated, in whole or in part.
c. “Document” is defined as the term is used in
Rule 34(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
d. “Counsel” means the counsel of record in this
action and their law firms, as well as (i) other attorneys or
consultants employed or retained by such law firms, or (ii)
any attorney subsequently retained or designated by any party
to appear in this action.
e. “Disclosing Party” means any party who
furnishes confidential information or discovery material.
f. “Recipient” means any party who receives
confidential information or discovery material.
(2) Any
party may designate any document, information, testimony, or
other tangible item containing Confidential Information as
defined in Paragraph (1)(a) by clearly marking each page as
“CONFIDENTIAL” at the time of production. All
documents and information provided by the parties which are
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be treated as
such by the Parties. Such Confidential Information, and all
copies, summaries, compilations, notes, or abstracts thereof,
shall be exclusively for use in this action and for no other
purpose, and shall not be disclosed to any person except as
permitted in this Order.
(3)
Deposition testimony and exhibits may be designated as
Confidential Information by identification on the record
during any deposition or other proceeding or by written
notice to opposing counsel not later than ten (10) business
days after receipt of the deposition transcript. During the
ten (10) business day period and from the date of the
deposition, the entire deposition transcript and testimony
and all exhibits shall be deemed to be Confidential
Information for all purposes. Thereafter, only those portions
of the transcript and exhibits that have been designated as
Confidential Information shall be so treated. At the
depositions taken in this action, the reporter will be
informed of the existence of this Order and will be required
to operate in a manner consistent with its terms.
(4)
Entering into, agreeing to, and/or complying with the terms
of this Order shall not: (a) operate as an admission by any
party that any particular documents, material or information
contain or reflect currently valuable trade secrets or
proprietary or commercial information; or (b) prejudice in
any way the right of a party at any time: (i) to seek a
determination by the Court of whether any particular
document, item of material or piece of information should be
subject to the terms of this Order; (ii) to seek relief on
appropriate notice from any provision(s) of this Order,
either generally or as to any particular document, item of
material or piece of information; (iii) to object to any
discovery request, including the right to assert that no
discovery should be had of certain documents or information;
(iv) to seek documents or other information from any source;
or (v) to prohibit disclosure of Confidential Information
pursuant to a requirement of a governmental agency or by
operation of law (including a subpoena); provided however
that, with respect to this clause, the Recipient shall first
promptly notify Disclosing Party at the addresses listed
herein ...