U.S. Department
of Justice
Johnson v. United States, No. 16-0072, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31232 (D.D.C. Mar. 3, 2017) (Chutkan, J.)
Johnson v. United States, No. 16-0072, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31232 (D.D.C. Mar. 3, 2017) (Chutkan, J.)
Re: Request for certain records concerning Management Directive 715
Disposition: Granting defendants' motion for summary judgment
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Litigation Considerations, Jurisdiction: "[T]he Court dismisses [three individuals] as defendants in this case, . . . 'because no cause of action exists that would entitle [Plaintiff] to relief from them under . . . FOIA.'"
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Litigation Considerations, Vaughn Index/Declaration: The court holds that, "[b]ecause the declarants demonstrate their 'general familiarity with the responsive records and procedures used to identify those records,' they need not 'independently verify the information contained in each responsive record as Plaintiff suggests.'" Continuing to respond to plaintiff's objections concerning defendants' declarations, the court finds that "FOIA does not require that an agency provide explanatory materials." "Nor does it require that an agency authenticate or certify the contents of the records it releases."
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Procedural Requirements, Searching for Responsive Records & Responding to FOIA Requests: The court holds that "EEOC has released in full [most of the records requested]." "It did not release [one] Report . . . because IRS had not yet submitted [that] report." "EEOC did not violate the FOIA by failing to disclose a record it did not have in its possession when it received Plaintiff's . . . FOIA request." "Even if EEOC were to have received [that] Report from IRS . . . at some point after it responded to Plaintiff's . . . FOIA request, EEOC would not have been obligated to release it." "'The FOIA does not require an agency to update or supplement a prior response to a request for records.'"
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Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies: "The Court concludes that Plaintiff had not submitted a FOIA request to OPM prior to filing this civil action." "OPM has not failed to fulfill its obligations under the FOIA and, therefore, its motion for summary judgment is granted."