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Case TitleAMERICAN TRANSPARENCY v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2022cv02021
Date Filed2022-07-12
Date ClosedOpen
JudgeJudge Amit P. Mehta
PlaintiffAMERICAN TRANSPARENCY
doing business as OPENTHEBOOKS.COM
Case DescriptionAmerican Transparency submitted a FOIA request to the National Institute of Health for records concerning the employment of Christine Grady, chief of NIH's Bioethics Department. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, American Transparency filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Vaughn index, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
Complaint attachment 3
Complaint attachment 4
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2022-07-121COMPLAINT against US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ( Filing fee $ 402 receipt number BDCDC-9364172) filed by AMERICAN TRANSPARENCY, D/B/A OPENTHEBOOKS.COM. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons Department of Health and Human Services, # 3 Summons US Atty for DC, # 4 Summons US Atty General)(Orfanedes, Paul) (Attachment 1 replaced on 7/14/2022) (znmg). (Entered: 07/12/2022)
2022-07-122LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by AMERICAN TRANSPARENCY, D/B/A OPENTHEBOOKS.COM (Orfanedes, Paul) (Main Document 2 replaced on 7/14/2022) (znmg). (Entered: 07/12/2022)
2022-07-14NOTICE OF ERROR re 2 LCvR 26.1 Certificate of Disclosure - Corporate Affiliations/Financial Interests; emailed to porfanedes@judicialwatch.org, cc'd 1 associated attorneys -- The PDF file you docketed contained errors: 1. No signature. Please file the signed document using the event Errata. All filings must have an original signature or '/s/ Attorney Name' to represent an electronic signature of the filer., 2. Form filed as fillable PDF. Please file form in a non-fillable PDF format., 3. COMPLIANCE DEADLINE is by close of business today. This case will not proceed any further until all errors are satisfied. (znmg, ) (Entered: 07/14/2022)
2022-07-14Case Assigned to Judge Amit P. Mehta. (znmg) (Entered: 07/14/2022)
2022-07-143SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(znmg) (Entered: 07/14/2022)
2022-07-144ERRATA to LCvR 26.1 Certificate by AMERICAN TRANSPARENCY. (Orfanedes, Paul) (Entered: 07/14/2022)
2022-08-105RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 7/19/2022. ( Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 8/18/2022.), RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 07/25/2022., RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES served on 7/26/2022 (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit of Cristina Rotaru)(Orfanedes, Paul) (Entered: 08/10/2022)
2022-08-186ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.(Tepe, Sean) (Entered: 08/18/2022)
2022-08-197ORDER. Both a Complaint and an Answer are now before the court in this FOIA case. It is hereby ordered that the parties shall meet and confer and file a Joint Status Report on or before September 1, 2022. The Joint Status Report shall include (1) the status of Plaintiffs FOIA request; (2) the anticipated number of documents responsive to Plaintiffs FOIA request; (3) the anticipated date(s) for release of the documents requested by Plaintiff; (4) whether a motion for stay is likely under Open America v. Watergate Special Prosecution Force, 547 F.2d 605 (D.C. Cir. 1976); and (5) whether the parties anticipate summary judgment briefing and, if so, a proposed briefing schedule. Signed by Judge Amit P. Mehta on 8/19/2022. (lcapm2) (Entered: 08/19/2022)
2022-08-19Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 9/1/2022 (zjch, ) (Entered: 08/19/2022)
2022-08-318Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN TRANSPARENCY. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Orfanedes, Paul) (Entered: 08/31/2022)
2022-08-31MINUTE ORDER. The parties shall file an additional Joint Status Report by October 31, 2022, which updates the court on the processing and production of responsive records. Signed by Judge Amit P. Mehta on 8/31/2022. (lcapm2) (Entered: 08/31/2022)
2022-10-319Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Tepe, Sean) (Entered: 10/31/2022)
2022-11-01MINUTE ORDER. The parties shall file an additional Joint Status Report by January 30, 2023 which updates the court on the processing and production of responsive records. Signed by Judge Amit P. Mehta on 11/1/2022. (lcapm2) Modified deadline on 11/1/2022 (zjd). (Entered: 11/01/2022)
2023-01-3010STIPULATION of Dismissal by AMERICAN TRANSPARENCY. (Orfanedes, Paul) (Entered: 01/30/2023)
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by FOIA Project Staff
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