Agolli v. OIG, No. 14-961, 2015 WL 5139379 (D.D.C. Aug. 31, 2015) (Kollar-Kotelly, J.)

Agolli v. OIG, No. 14-961, 2015 WL 5139379 (D.D.C. Aug. 31, 2015) (Kollar-Kotelly, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning complaint plaintiff filed with OIG

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

•  Litigation Considerations, Statute of Limitations:  The court "conclude[s] that the statute of limitations for FOIA claims deprives this Court of jurisdiction over all but one of Plaintiff's claims."  "The Court agrees with Defendant's calculation that the date of accrual was ["20 business days after . . . the date Plaintiff filed her last administrative appeal regarding her FOIA request"]."  The court rejects plaintiff's argument "that the statute of limitations only begins to run from the date of Plaintiff's last correspondence with the agency."  "Accordingly, as a result of the six-year statute of limitations for FOIA claims, [the] Court [finds that it] has no jurisdiction over any FOIA claims filed after ["20 business days after . . . the date Plaintiff filed her last administrative appeal regarding her FOIA request"]."  "Finally, insofar as Plaintiff purports to bring claims pursuant to any earlier FOIA requests, those claims would also run afoul of the jurisdictional statute of limitations."
   
• Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  "[T]he Court concludes that the agency conducted an adequate search with respect to the [remaining] FOIA request, that it did not improperly withhold any documents, and that it complied with its obligations under FOIA."  The court finds that "[t]he agency searched the record systems likely to possess the requested information."  Additionally, "[w]ith respect to the appeal archives, Plaintiff does not contest the agency's representation that those archives were destroyed, and the agency cannot be commanded to produce what no longer exists."  Finally, the court finds that "[p]laintiff does not seriously contest the adequacy of the search."  "Plaintiff only notes in her statement of material facts that '[t]here were other people Plaintiff emailed and these were not found or released.'"  "However, she does not provide any support for that statement in an affidavit or by reference to any other documentary evidence."  "In any event, the Court concludes that this search is adequate."