Youmans v. Chelan-Douglas Land Trust

Summary

This document is an order from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington addressing the parties’ Amended Stipulated Protective Order in Eunice Youmans v. Chelan-Douglas Land Trust. The court grants protection for specified medical, financial, tax, and personnel information but declines to protect membership-list contact information without a more specific showing of good cause. The order sets procedures governing designation, disclosure, challenges, filing under seal, and return or destruction of protected materials.

Holdings

1. A court may enter a stipulated protective order under Rule 26(c) only when the party seeking protection demonstrates good cause and specific prejudice; the good-cause requirement is not waived by the parties' stipulation.
2. Good cause supported protection of Plaintiff's medical records and bills, bank-account and financial information, tax records, and personnel files of departed Executive Directors, but the parties did not establish good cause to protect home addresses, phone numbers, and contact information in membership lists.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court could enter the parties' stipulated protective order only upon an independent finding of good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c).
2. Whether the parties demonstrated good cause to protect the specified medical, financial, tax, personnel, and membership-list information from disclosure.

Disposition

other