Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has ruled that the IRS conducted an adequate search in response to John Anthony Castro's FOIA requests for records concerning why his status as an Enrolled Agent, who may represent taxpayers before the IRS, was temporarily rescinded and then restored six months later. Castro was told by an IRS employee to contact someone named Tony Woods in the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility concerning the status of his license, specifically to submit evidence of completed continuing legal education requirements. According to Castro, his license was inexplicably suspended in 2019 but then reinstated in January 2020. Castro submitted two FOIA requests to find out more about the incident. His first FOIA request asked for emails sent or received by Tony Woods pertaining to John Anthony Castro between January 2019 and February 28, 2020, as well as emails regarding Castro or his Enrolled Agent License Number. His second FOIA request asked for all non-email records concerning the incident involving Woods and Castro. The IRS conducted a search for both requests which yielded 143 pages of potentially responsive records. Of the responsive pages, the agency partially redacted 11 of them. Castro argued that the agency had improperly limited its search based on information he had provided in his requests to help guide the agency's searches. The agency responded that without that information it would have been unable to conduct a search because the requests were too vague. Kollar-Kotelly agreed with the agency, noting that "here, Plaintiff is suggesting that the IRS should have ignored his own description of the records he sought. This argument makes little sense. The Court agrees that IRS's interpretation of the scope of the Plaintiff's requests as seeking records 'in connection with' the alleged cancellation of his EA license was not only reasonable, but also appropriate in light of Plaintiff's inclusion of this information in his requests, and the IRS's duty to read a FOIA request 'as drafted.'" Although Castro's FOIA requests asked for records involving Tony Woods, the IRS located no such employee but did locate a female employee named Antoinette Wood. She was contacted to see if she had any responsive records but indicated she did have any such records. The agency then contacted the Enrolled Agent Policy and Management department, within the Return Preparer Office, which was the office that dealt with Enrolled Agents' licenses. That department conducted a search in its e-Trak Practitioner database under Castro's name and located 143 pages. Kollar-Kotelly found the agency's search was adequate. She noted that "the 'reasonableness' of IRS's FOIA search 'is necessarily "dependent upon the circumstances of the case."' During the time period identified in Plaintiff's FOIA Requests, the IRS employed 70,000 across many business units. Any suggestion that some sort of 'search' could be run across all records maintained by the IRS is unfounded. Moreover, Plaintiff explicitly indicated that he was seeking records 'in connection' with his claim that his enrolled agent license was 'impermissibly cancelled' and 'later reinstated' and associated with a particular IRS employee. The steps taken by [the IRS search team] demonstrate reasonable efforts to identify such responsive records." Castro also challenged the agency's failure to look for records in other units whose email correspondence was occasionally referred to in responsive documents. But Kollar-Kotelly pointed out that "plaintiff offers only conclusory speculation that searches of these employees would have yielded records responsive to his FOIA requests â€" which explicitly sought information related to the cancellation of his EA credential. Absent any 'countervailing evidence,' Plaintiff's mere speculation that the additional email recipients 'might' have additional responsive information is insufficient to undermine the Court's finding that IRS conducted a reasonable search for records responsive to his FOIA requests." Kollar-Kotelly found that the agency had appropriately claimed both Exemption 7(A) (interference with ongoing investigation or proceeding) and Exemption 3 (other statutes), citing §6103(e)(7), which protects taxpayer return information. While Castro agreed that the redacted records related to tax return information, he argued that disclosure would not impair the administration of tax laws. She noted that "as the Court finds that the IRS has provided sufficient detail to demonstrate that Plaintiff is under investigation by the IRS, and that disclosure of the redacted portions of these 9 pages of records would impair its investigation, it also finds that the IRS has discharged its obligation to demonstrate that the redacted information would 'seriously impair Federal tax administration' pursuant to § 6103(e)(7)."
Issues: Adequacy - Search, Exemption 3 - Limited agency discretion

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2020-07-08	1	COMPLAINT against INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number ADCDC-7315451) filed by JOHN ANTHONY CASTRO. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons IRS, # 3 Summons USAG, # 4 Summons USAO)(Sorenson, C.) (Entered: 07/08/2020)
2020-07-09		Case Assigned to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. (adh, ) (Entered: 07/09/2020)
2020-07-10	2	SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(adh, ) (Entered: 07/10/2020)
2020-07-10	3	ORDER ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR CASES ASSIGNED TO JUDGE COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 7/10/2020. (DM) (Entered: 07/10/2020)
2020-08-10	4	Unopposed MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 1 Complaint, by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Hunsader, Joseph) (Entered: 08/10/2020)
2020-08-11		MINUTE ORDER. The court is in receipt of Defendant's 4 Unopposed Motion to Extend Deadline to Answer or Otherwise Respond to the Complaint. Defendant's Response is currently due August 19, 2020. Defendant requests an extension due to the need to further investigate certain files and due to other litigation obligations. Defendant's Motion is GRANTED. Defendant's Response is due SEPTEMBER 18, 2020. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 8-11-2020. (lcckk3) (Entered: 08/11/2020)
2020-08-11		Set/Reset Deadlines: Answer/Response due by 9/18/2020. (kt) (Entered: 08/11/2020)
2020-09-18	5	ANSWER to Complaint by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE.(Hunsader, Joseph) (Entered: 09/18/2020)
2020-09-18	6	ORDER for meet and confer and joint status report. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 9-18-2020. (lcckk3) (Entered: 09/18/2020)
2020-09-18		Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Meet & Confer Statement due by 11/9/2020. (dot) (Entered: 09/21/2020)
2020-11-06	7	Joint STATUS REPORT by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. (Hunsader, Joseph) (Entered: 11/06/2020)
2020-11-06		MINUTE ORDER. The Court is in receipt of the parties' 7 Joint Status Report. The Court ORDERS the parties to file by no later than JANUARY 22, 2021 a Joint Status Report addressing the status of Defendant's document production, the parties' positions regarding whether a Vaughn index will be required, and, if necessary, a proposed briefing schedule. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 11/6/2020. (lcckk3) (Entered: 11/06/2020)
2020-11-06		Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 1/22/2021. (dot) (Entered: 11/06/2020)
2021-01-22	8	Joint STATUS REPORT by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. (Hunsader, Joseph) (Entered: 01/22/2021)
2021-01-22		MINUTE ORDER. The Court is in receipt of the parties' 8 Joint Status Report. The parties indicate that Defendant has completed its release of responsive records. The parties are now conferring about whether Defendant conducted a reasonable search. As proposed in the joint status report, the Court ORDERS the parties to file by MARCH 19, 2021 a joint status report addressing whether Defendant will conduct any further search, whether summary judgment will be required, and, if so, the parties' proposed briefing schedule, and the parties positions regarding a Vaughn index. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 1/22/21. (lcckk3) (Entered: 01/22/2021)
2021-01-22		Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 3/19/2021, addressing whether Defendant will conduct any further search, whether summary judgment will be required, and, if so, the parties' proposed briefing schedule, and the parties positions regarding a Vaughn index. (dot) (Entered: 01/25/2021)
2021-03-19	9	Joint STATUS REPORT by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. (Hunsader, Joseph) (Entered: 03/19/2021)
2021-03-19	10	SCHEDULING & PROCEDURES ORDER. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 3/19/21. (lcckk3) (Entered: 03/19/2021)
2021-03-19		Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendant's Summary Judgment Motion due by 5/19/2021. Response to Motion for Summary Judgment due by 6/24/2021. Reply to Motion for Summary Judgment due by 7/16/2021. Plaintiff's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment due by 6/24/2021. Response to Cross Motion for Summary Judgment due by 7/16/2021. Reply to Cross Motion for Summary Judgment due by 8/6/2021. (dot) (Entered: 03/19/2021)
2021-05-05	11	Joint MOTION to Modify briefing schedule for summary judgment in FOIA matter by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Hunsader, Joseph) (Entered: 05/05/2021)
2021-05-05	12	ORDER granting 11 Joint Motion to Modify Summary Judgment Briefing Schedule as follows: Defendant's motion for summary judgment due JUNE 23, 2021; Plaintiff's opposition to Defendant's motion and cross-motion for summary judgment due JULY 23, 2021; Defendant's reply in support of its motion and opposition to Plaintiff's cross-motion due AUGUST 13, 2021; and Plaintiff's reply in support of cross-motion due SEPTEMBER 13, 2021. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 5/5/21. (lcckk3) (Entered: 05/05/2021)
2021-05-05		Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendant's Summary Judgment Motion due by 6/23/2021. Response to Motion for Summary Judgment due by 7/23/2021. Reply to Motion for Summary Judgment due by 8/13/2021. Plaintiff's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment due by 7/23/2021. Response to Cross Motion for Summary Judgment due by 8/13/2021. Reply to Cross Motion for Summary Judgment due by 9/13/2021. (dot) (Entered: 05/06/2021)
2021-06-21	13	MOTION for Summary Judgment by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum in Support, # 2 Affidavit Declaration of Timothy Ritter, # 3 Exhibit Ritter Declaration Exhibits 1-6, # 4 Affidavit Declaration of Vikramsing Barad, # 5 Statement of Facts (Undisputed Material Facts in support of Summary Judgment), # 6 Text of Proposed Order)(Hunsader, Joseph) (Entered: 06/21/2021)
2021-06-22	14	RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 7/20/2020. Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 8/19/2020. (Sorenson, C.) (Main Document 14 replaced on 6/22/2021) (znmw). (Entered: 06/22/2021)
2021-06-22	15	RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 7/20/2020., RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE served on 7/20/2020 (ztd); (SEE DOCKET ENTRY NO. 14 TO VIEW.) (Entered: 06/22/2021)
2021-07-23	16	Memorandum in opposition to re 13 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by JOHN ANTHONY CASTRO. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration Castro, # 2 Exhibit 101, # 3 Exhibit 102, # 4 Exhibit 103, # 5 Exhibit 104, # 6 Exhibit 105, # 7 Exhibit 106, # 8 Exhibit 107, # 9 Exhibit 108, # 10 Memorandum in Support, # 11 Statement of Facts, # 12 Text of Proposed Order)(Sorenson, C.) (Entered: 07/23/2021)
2021-07-23	17	Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment by JOHN ANTHONY CASTRO. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration Castro, # 2 Exhibit 101, # 3 Exhibit 102, # 4 Exhibit 103, # 5 Exhibit 104, # 6 Exhibit 105, # 7 Exhibit 106, # 8 Exhibit 107, # 9 Exhibit 108, # 10 Memorandum in Support, # 11 Statement of Facts, # 12 Text of Proposed Order)(Sorenson, C.) (Entered: 07/23/2021)
2021-08-09	18	Unopposed MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply Extend time to file final summary judgment briefs by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Hunsader, Joseph) (Entered: 08/09/2021)
2021-08-09		MINUTE ORDER. The Court is in receipt of Defendant's 18 Unopposed Motion to Extend Briefing Schedule for Summary Judgment Cross-Motions, in which Defendant requests a enlargement of the summary judgment briefing schedule set forth in the Court's 12 Order. This is the second request for an extension of the summary judgment briefing schedule. Plaintiff consents to the modified schedule proposed by Defendant. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendant's 18 Unopposed Motion and ORDERS that Defendant's reply in support of its motion for summary judgment and opposition to Plaintiff's cross-motion shall be filed by no later than AUGUST 27, 2021; and Plaintiff's reply in support of his cross-motion shall be filed by no later than OCTOBER 22, 2021. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 8/9/21. (lcckk3) (Entered: 08/09/2021)
2021-08-09		Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendant 's Response to Cross Motions due by 8/27/2021. Plaintiff's Reply to Cross Motions due by 10/22/2021. Defendant's Reply to Motion for Summary Judgment due by 8/27/2021. (dot) (Entered: 08/09/2021)
2021-08-26	19	Memorandum in opposition to re 17 Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment , and Reply in Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment filed by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. (Attachments: # 1 Statement of Facts Supplemental Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, # 2 Affidavit of Rachel Erath, # 3 Affidavit of Joseph Hunsader)(Hunsader, Joseph) Modified text on 8/27/2021 (ztd). (Entered: 08/26/2021)
2021-08-26	20	REPLY to opposition to motion re 13 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. (ztd); (SEE DOCKET ENTRY NO. 19 TO VIEW.) (Entered: 08/27/2021)
2021-10-22	21	REPLY to opposition to motion re 17 Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by JOHN ANTHONY CASTRO. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration Second Castro, # 2 Exhibit U, # 3 Exhibit V, # 4 Exhibit W, # 5 Exhibit X, # 6 Exhibit Y, # 7 Exhibit Z)(Sorenson, C.) (Entered: 10/22/2021)
2022-03-22	22	ORDER granting Defendant's 13 Motion for Summary Judgment; denying Plaintiff's 17 Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment; dismissing case. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 3/22/22. (lcckk3) (Entered: 03/22/2022)
2022-03-22	23	MEMORANDUM OPINION accompanying 22 Order. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 3/22/22. (lcckk3) (Entered: 03/22/2022)
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