Opinion
Civil Action File No. 1:05-CV-1179 GET.
February 27, 2006
CONSENT PROTECTIVE ORDER
This lawsuit is presently in discovery, and it appears that such discovery will involve review of information and documents, which contain confidential personnel information. Specifically, Plaintiff has issued a subpoena to Delta Air Lines, Inc. ("Delta") seeking certain information from Delta, which is not a party to this lawsuit, that is confidential personnel information relating to employees at Delta. The information and documents sought are maintained by Delta on a confidential basis and are not disclosed or otherwise made available to the general public. Accordingly, good cause having been shown within the meaning of Rule 26(c), Fed.R.Civ.P., and it appearing that the parties consent to entry of this Protective Order, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
(1) All documents and information produced by Delta in response to a subpoena shall be considered confidential. All such documents and information shall be treated as such and according to the terms of the court's order by all parties to this litigation. Such confidential information and documents, and all copies, summaries, compilations, notes or abstracts thereof, shall be used exclusively in this action and for no other purpose. Upon conclusion of this action, all copies of confidential records produced by Delta shall be returned to Delta and any notes, abstracts or summaries of the confidential information produced shall be destroyed by counsel.
(2) Any document or other material, designated as confidential under this Order shall, when filed with the Court, be clearly marked "confidential", sealed, and placed in separate, secure storage by the Clerk. Such documents may be opened and reviewed only by authorized Court personnel or upon request by counsel of record, after written or oral notice to opposing counsel.
(3) Documents and other material designated as confidential pursuant to the terms of this Order may only be disclosed to the parties; counsel of record in this case; employees or professional assistants, including independent consultants of counsel; and prospective parties and witnesses who have a bona fide need to review the contents of the documents to aid in the preparation of this case for trial.
(4) Persons other than counsel and the named individual parties shall not be afforded access to confidential information unless they first agree, by signing a statement identical to Exhibit "A" hereto, to be bound by the letter and the spirit of this order and not to disclose the confidential information to anyone other than counsel for the parties, except as required by lawful judicial process. Such statements shall be retained by counsel for the parties.
(5) This order shall not prevent counsel from using any documents and other material obtained and designated as confidential hereunder in motions, affidavits or other pleadings or in open court, so long as such documents, or pleadings containing summaries of such documents, are treated as confidential pursuant to the provisions of this order.
(6) This Protective Order shall govern all pretrial proceedings, but shall be subject to modification either before, during, or after the trial upon the merits, upon application of any of the parties to this lawsuit and for good cause shown.
IT IS ORDERED. Attorneys for Defendant Attorneys for Plaintiff
EXHIBIT A STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY
By signing this document, I hereby certify that I have read the Protective order entered by the Court in Timothy Alexander v. Air Tran Airways, Inc., et, al, Civil Action No. 1:05-CN-1179 GET on ________________. I understand that Order and agree to abide by its contents by not disclosing confidential information to anyone other than counsel for the parties, except as required by lawful judicial process.
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