Corwin v. Kalamazoo Valley Community College

NOEL CORWIN,
Plaintiff,
v. Case No. 1:25-cv-00469
Hon. Paul L. Maloney
KALAMAZOO VALLEY
COMMUNITY COLLEGE,
Defendant.
Jesse L. Young (P72614)
Sommers Schwartz, P.C.
141 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 600
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
269-250-7500
jyoung@sommerspc.com
Leigh M. Schultz (P71038)
Saniya Khare (P83020)
Miller Johnson
100 W. Michigan Avenue, Suite 200
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
269-226-2983
313-435-2420
schultzl@millerjohnson.com
khares@millerjohnson.com
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
The parties agree that discovery proceedings in this case may involve
documents and testimony containing information that is subject to the protection of
the Court under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). The above-captioned parties (each a “Party”)
stipulate and agree that the following protective provisions shall govern the handling
of testimony, information, and documents produced or received by the parties:
1. Confidential Information.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
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a. Scope. This Protective Order shall apply to all information
produced by a party in this case that is marked “CONFIDENTIAL.”
b. Designation. Each party shall have the right to designate as confidential
and subject to this Protective Order any information, document, or
portion of any document that is (a) subject to restrictions on disclosure
under privacy laws governing health, patient, participant, or employee
information, (b) subject to 45 C.F.R. Section 164.501 (protected health
information), or (c) the producing party reasonably believes to contain
information that is confidential. Material that may be designated as
confidential may include, but not necessarily be limited to, employee
information, personnel records, compensation information, employee
benefit information, financial and tax information, medical records,
medical information, company policies or procedures, proprietary or
sensitive information, trade secrets, or confidential research or
development information. This designation shall be made in good faith.
This designation shall be made by stamping each page of a document
containing Confidential Information with the legend
“CONFIDENTIAL” at or before the time the document is produced
(“Confidential Information”). Any party may designate deposition
testimony as confidential, in which case each applicable page of the
transcript shall be identified as and marked “CONFIDENTIAL.”
c. Inadvertent Production. In the event that a party inadvertently
produces Confidential Information without the “CONFIDENTIAL”
legend, the producing party shall, promptly upon discovery of the
inadvertent production, (i) provide a receiving party with written
notice that the Confidential Information is designated
“CONFIDENTIAL” under this Protective Order, and (ii) provide a
receiving party with replacement copies of the Confidential
Information marked “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such post-production
designation shall be effective as of the date of the original production,
and the receiving party shall thereafter treat the material as
Confidential Information in accordance with this Protective Order and
make reasonable efforts to retrieve any copies disclosed prior to
receiving such notice.
d. Privileged or Protected Information Clawback. The inadvertent
production of information subject to the attorney-client privilege,
work-product doctrine, or any other applicable privilege or immunity
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shall not constitute a waiver of such privilege or protection in this or
any other proceeding. Upon written notice of inadvertent production,
the receiving party shall promptly return, sequester, or destroy the
identified material and shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5)(B).
This Order is entered pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d).
2. Restrictions on Confidential Information.
a. Purposes. Confidential Information shall be used only for the limited
purpose of preparing for and conducting this action (including any
appeals) and not for any other purpose.
b. Recipients. Confidential Information may be disclosed only to the
following:
i. Named parties and counsel of record for a party to this action,
including attorneys, paralegals, clerks, and other employees
respective law firms of counsel of record;
ii. Consultants, investigators, experts, and their respective staffs,
who have been retained by a party to provide expert or opinion
testimony or to assist in the preparation for trial or other
proceedings in this case;
iii. Vendors engaged by any party to assist in copying, organizing,
filing, translating, converting, storing, retrieving, computer
coding of documents or data, or designing programs for
handling documents or data;
iv. Court reporters retained to record or transcribe deposition
testimony taken in this case;
v. Witnesses, only to the extent relevant of her or his potential
testimony in this case;
vi. Persons shown on the face of a document to have authored or
received it;
vii. Any person whom the parties agree, in advance and in writing,
may receive such discovery materials; and
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viii. The Court, pursuant to the terms of below Paragraphs 4 and 5.
3. Notice to Recipients of Confidential Information. Any party or
representative of a party who provides Confidential Information to a person
identified in above 2(b)(ii), (iii), or (v)-(vii) shall:
a. Notify that person that the Confidential Information is being disclosed
to her or him under the terms of the Protective Order, and that the
Confidential Information may not be disclosed other than as
authorized by the terms of this Protective Order;
b. Require that person to return all Confidential Information that is
disclosed to her or him.
4. Filing Under Seal. This Protective Order does not authorize the filing of any
documents under seal. Documents may be sealed only if authorized by statute,
rule, or further order of the Court. A party seeking to have filed under seal any
paper or other matter in this case must file and serve a motion to file under
seal. No party shall file or otherwise tender to the Clerk any item proposed for
sealing unless the Court has granted the motion required by this Paragraph. If
a motion to seal is granted, then the documents, testimony, and information
designated as “Confidential” pursuant to this Protective Order that are
submitted to the Court Clerk as part of a motion or other paper shall be filed
under seal pursuant to W. D. Mich. LR 10.6. A redacted copy of the motion
or paper may be filed with the Court Clerk through the Court’s electronic
filing system and an unredacted copy of the motion or paper may be filed
under seal.
5. Notice to Designating Party. In the event that any party wishes to file
Confidential Information with the Court, the filing party shall, provide
reasonable notice, notify the designating party of the filing party’s intent to file
Confidential Information, so that the designating party is afforded the
opportunity to apply to the Court for an order prohibiting or restricting the filing
or to move the Court to file the document under seal.
6. Contesting Designations. Should any Party object to a designation of any
information, documents, testimony, or things as “CONFIDENTIAL,” the
Parties shall meet and confer within three business days in a good faith attempt
to reach an agreement regarding the status of such information, documents,
testimony, or things. Any Party that, after the meet-and-confer, wishes to
challenge the designation of any information, document, thing, or testimony as
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“CONFIDENTIAL” may do so at any time by way of motion to this Court. The
Party who designated the material as “CONFIDENTIAL” shall have the burden
of justifying the reasonability of its confidentiality designation. Before filing
any such motion, however, the parties shall first attempt to resolve their
disagreement without Court intervention.
7. This Protective Order is without prejudice to the right of the parties to oppose
the admissibility of any Confidential Information produced on the grounds of
lack of relevancy, privilege, or other legal reason.
8. Within 60 days after termination of this case by final judicial decision or
otherwise, including expiration of all appeals, any party that has obtained
Confidential Information from another party shall destroy that information.
In addition, where a party has disclosed Confidential Information of another
party under Paragraph 2(b)(ii), (iii), (v), or (vii), that party shall seek the
return of, and then destroy, such Confidential Information. The foregoing
requirements will not apply to Confidential Information that is contained in
pleadings or that has been filed with the Court. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, outside counsel may retain archival copies of pleadings, motion
papers, transcripts, correspondence, and attorney work product.
9. This Protective Order does not preclude any party from seeking further relief
or order from the Court, or from seeking to modify this Protective Order, as
may be appropriate under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Furthermore,
all parties retain the right to file a motion with the Court regarding the
declassification of information that has been designated as
“CONFIDENTIAL” by any other party.
DATE:
RAY KENT
United States Magistrate Judge
/s/ Ray Kent	April 17, 2026
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APPROVED AS TO FORM AND CONTENT:
Date: April 15, 2026
/s/ Jesse L. Young (w/permission)
Jesse L. Young (P72614)
Sommers Schwartz, P.C.
Attorney for Plaintiff
/s/ Saniya Khare
Leigh M. Schultz (P71038)
Saniya Khare (P83020)
Attorneys for Defendant
MJ_ND 4907-9498-5887v1
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