Bethea v. Dept. of Agric., No. 12-3577, 2015 WL 3903715 (D.S.C. June 25, 2015) (Harwell, J.)
Bethea v. Dept. of Agric., No. 12-3577, 2015 WL 3903715 (D.S.C. June 25, 2015) (Harwell, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff's discrimination complaint
Disposition: Adopting Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation; denying defendant's motion for summary judgment; denying plaintiff's motion to compel
- Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search: The court "[orders] that the Report and Recommendation is adopted and incorporated herein by reference" and finds that "USDA must establish by a reasonably detailed affidavit or declaration that it performed a proper search for documents responsive to the plaintiff's requests" and "defendant did not file such an affidavit." The Magistrate Judge rejected defendant's argument "that it did not intend to file a declaration because it produced to Plaintiff all documents responsive to his requests and, thus, no declaration was warranted." Instead, the Magistrate Judge found that "[i]t appears that the USDA presumes an affidavit or declaration is necessary only when an agency has withheld documents." "However, to prevail on its motion for summary judgment, the USDA must establish that it performed a proper search for documents responsive to plaintiff's requests."