Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in New York has ruled that Dr. Chinwe Offor's FOIA suit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for records concerning her employment complaint against Mercy Medical Center is moot because the agency disclosed everything in her file with minor redactions on three pages. The court noted that "the Plaintiff does not object to the completeness of the production, nor to the modest redactions by the EEOC to three pages of the materials. Under these circumstances, there is nothing of the underlying dispute left for the Court to adjudicate because the EEOC has already produced what it can, and the Court lacks jurisdiction to compel the EEOC to do anything further." Offor argued that her case was not moot because she had requested attorney's fees. But the court noted that "here, the Plaintiff did not obtain her EEOC case through a 'judicial order,' a 'written agreement,' a "consent decree,' or a 'unilateral change in position by the agency.' Rather, she obtained her case file because the EEOC was able to locate the file and voluntarily decided to furnish the case file to the Plaintiff. Thus, she has not 'substantially prevailed' within the meaning of FOIA and is not entitled to attorney's fees."
Issues: Litigation - Jurisdiction - Moot, Litigation - Attorney's fees - Prevailing party

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2015-06-02	1	COMPLAINT against All Defendants filing fee $ 400, receipt number 0207-7781001, filed by Chinwe Offor. Was the Disclosure Statement on Civil Cover Sheet completed - No. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Proposed Summons, # 3 Proposed Summons, # 4 Exhibit) (Agwuegbo, Ike) Modified on 7/1/2015 (McMahon, Carol). (Entered: 06/02/2015)
2015-06-03		NOTICE A completed Civil Cover Sheet was not filed - specifically page 2 of the document is missing; the Clerk's Office can not assign this case without a completed Civil Cover Sheet. Counsel is directed to submit the Civil Cover Sheet using the event Proposed Summons/Civil Cover Sheet (Kramer, Michael) (Entered: 06/03/2015)
2015-06-14	2	Civil Cover Sheet.. Re 1 Complaint by Chinwe Offor (Agwuegbo, Ike) (Entered: 06/14/2015)
2015-06-19		A completed Civil Cover Sheet was not filed - specifically on page 2 the NY-E Division of Business Rule 50.1(d)(2)section of the document; the Clerk's Office cannot assign this case without a completed Civil Cover Sheet. Counsel is directed to submit the 2 paged Civil Cover Sheet, without the instruction page, using the event Proposed Summons/Civil Cover Sheet. (McMahon, Carol) (Entered: 06/19/2015)
2015-06-22	3	Civil Cover Sheet.. Re 1 Complaint by Chinwe Offor (Agwuegbo, Ike) (Entered: 06/22/2015)
2015-06-22	4	Civil Cover Sheet.. Re 1 Complaint by Chinwe Offor (Agwuegbo, Ike) (Entered: 06/22/2015)
2015-07-01	5	This attorney case opening filing has been checked for quality control. See the attachment for corrections that were made. (McMahon, Carol) (Entered: 07/01/2015)
2015-07-01		Case Assigned to Judge Denis R. Hurley and Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay. (McMahon, Carol) (Entered: 07/01/2015)
2015-07-01	6	Summons Issued as to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (McMahon, Carol) (Entered: 07/01/2015)
2015-07-01	7	Summons Issued as to Berry Kevin, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (McMahon, Carol) (Entered: 07/01/2015)
2015-07-01	8	In accordance with Rule 73 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Local Rule 73.1, the parties are notified that if all parties consent a United States magistrate judge of this court is available to conduct all proceedings in this civil action including a (jury or nonjury) trial and to order the entry of a final judgment. Attached to the Notice is a blank copy of the consent form that should be filled out, signed and filed electronically only if all parties wish to consent. The form may also be accessed at the following link: http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/FormsAndFees/Forms/AO085.pdf . You may withhold your consent without adverse substantive consequences . Do NOT return or file the consent unless all parties have signed the consent. (McMahon, Carol) (Entered: 07/01/2015)
2015-07-01	9	Notice of Related Case indicated on the civil cover sheet in case 15cv3175(DRH)(ARL). (McMahon, Carol) (Entered: 07/01/2015)
2015-07-02		ORDER REASSIGNING CASE. Case reassigned to Judge Arthur D. Spatt as related to 15cv3175 for all further proceedings. Judge Denis R. Hurley no longer assigned to case. Ordered by Chief Judge Carol Bagley Amon on 7/2/2015. (Bowens, Priscilla) (Entered: 07/02/2015)
2015-08-06	10	SUMMONS Returned Executed by Chinwe Offor. All Defendants. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit of Service) (Agwuegbo, Ike) (Entered: 08/06/2015)
2015-08-28	11	NOTICE of Appearance by James Halleron Knapp on behalf of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Berry Kevin (aty to be noticed) (Knapp, James) (Entered: 08/28/2015)
2015-09-15	12	First MOTION to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Berry Kevin. Responses due by 9/29/2015 (Attachments: # 1 Notice of Motion, # 2 Rule 56.1 Statement, # 3 Affidavit in Support) (Jackson, Colleen) (Entered: 09/15/2015)
2015-09-16	13	First MOTION to Amend/Correct/Supplement 12 First MOTION to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Berry Kevin. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum in Support, # 2 Affidavit of Service) (Jackson, Colleen) (Entered: 09/16/2015)
2015-09-18	14	RESPONSE in Opposition re 13 First MOTION to Amend/Correct/Supplement 12 First MOTION to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction filed by Chinwe Offor. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit, # 2 Exhibit, # 3 Exhibit, # 4 Exhibit) (Agwuegbo, Ike) (Entered: 09/18/2015)
2015-09-25	15	REPLY in Opposition Plaintiff's Reply filed by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Berry Kevin. (Jackson, Colleen) (Entered: 09/25/2015)
2016-07-11	16	MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER granting 12 Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction - For the foregoing reasons, the Defendants Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss this action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is granted and this action is dismissed in its entirety. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case. So Ordered by Judge Arthur D. Spatt on 7/11/2016. c/ecf. (Coleman, Laurie) (Entered: 07/11/2016)
2016-07-11	17	JUDGMENT in favor of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Berry Kevin against Chinwe Offor - It is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Plaintiff Dr. Chinwe Offor take nothing of the Defendants Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Kevin Berry; that the Defendants motion to dismiss is granted; and that this case is hereby closed. Signed by James J. Toritto, Deputy Clerk, on 7/11/2016. c/ecf. (Coleman, Laurie) (Entered: 07/11/2016)
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