Justice v. Mine Safety & Health Admin., No. 14-14438, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100240 (S.D. W. Va. July 31, 2015) (Copenhaver, Jr., J.)

Justice v. Mine Safety & Health Admin., No. 14-14438, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100240 (S.D. W. Va. July 31, 2015) (Copenhaver, Jr., J.)

Re: Request for completed investigative file relating to plaintiff's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Complaint.

Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part defendant's motion for summary judgment; granting in part and denying in part plaintiff's motion for summary judgment

• Exemption 5, Deliberative Process Privilege:  The court holds that "whether the [Memorandums of Interviews memorializing investigative interviews] of the MSHA inspectors reveal the agency's deliberative process is impossible to determine based on the material contained in the Vaughn index and the agency's affidavit."  The court does find that "[t]here appears to be no dispute that the MOIs are predecisional."  However, the court finds that defendant is "directed to review, in light of the foregoing discussion, the MOIs of the MSHA inspectors to determine whether any portions of those records are segregable and disclosable."
   
• Exemption 7(C):  The court holds that "[p]ersonal information concerning the identities of the inspectors falls within the ambit of Exemption 7(C) and may be redacted, but MSHA has not shown that it is entitled to categorically withhold the MOIs of the MSHA inspectors under that Exemption."