ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE and 14 other new FOIA lawsuits

We have added 81 documents from 15 FOIA cases filed between July 25, 2021 and July 31, 2021. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.

Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.

1. ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (filed Jul 27, 2021)
   The Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Postal Service for records concerning the creation or operation of iCop and/or related social media monitoring or social media surveillance programs. EFF also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and granted EFF news media fee status. After hearing nothing further from the agency, EFF filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
2. ENERGY POLICY ADVOCATES v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (filed Jul 25, 2021)
   Energy Policy Advocates submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Treasury for records concerning correspondence of Didem Nisanci, Chief of Staff, and/or Calvin Mitchell, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs including the term “race to the bottom.” EPA also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, EPA filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Public Interest Fee Waiver, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
3. ENERGY POLICY ADVOCATES v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (filed Jul 25, 2021)
   Energy Policy Advocates submitted two FOIA requests to the Department of Treasury for records. One request asked for correspondence of Didem Nisanci or Calvin Mitchell containing words related to climate. The second FOIA request asked for correspondence of Catherine Wolfram containing the same words related to climate. EPA also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. After hearing nothing further from the agency, EPA filed suit.
   Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Failure to respond within statutory time limit
4. ENERGY POLICY ADVOCATES v. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (filed Jul 26, 2021)
   Energy Policy Advocates submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Transportation for records concerning correspondence of employees Carlos Monje and/or Dani Simmons that includes the term “19 million jobs.” EPA also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, EPA filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
5. AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY FOUNDATION v. CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES (filed Jul 27, 2021)
   Americans for Prosperity Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for records concerning the agency’s efforts to collect $143 billion in improper Medicaid payments from 2019 and 2020. APFC also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, APFC filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
6. SERAJI v. U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES et al (filed Jul 27, 2021)
   Marina Seraji submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning her INS legacy file. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Seraji filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
7. CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES v. U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (filed Jul 29, 2021)
   Center for Immigration Studies submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning communications sent or received by four senior officials at the agency from email addresses ending in who.gov. The agency acknowledged receipt oof the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, CIS filed suit.
   Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Vaughn index
8. Reclaim the Records et al v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (filed Jul 27, 2021)
   Reclaim the Records submitted seven FOIA requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning named individuals who were deceased and died more than 100 years ago. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. The agency closed the requests, arguing that Reclaim the Records was required to provided third-party authorization. Reclaim the Records responded by arguing that such authorization was not required for such individuals. Reclaim the Records filed an administrative appeal. USCIS then denied access to records concerning four of the individuals and told Reclaim the Records that to the extent those records were public they would be available under the USCIS Genealogical Program through the National Records Center. Reclaim the Records then filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
9. Dobrescu v. NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION (filed Jul 26, 2021)
   Cosmin Dobrescu submitted two FOIA requests to the National Archives and Records Administration for records concerning his personnel file when he worked at a doctor at the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2014. The agency acknowledged receipt of both requests. However, after hearing nothing further from the agency, Dobrescu filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
10. The New York Times Company v. U.S. Department of State (filed Jul 26, 2021)
    The New York Times submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning approvals issued by the State Department to Tier 1 Group, which provided paramilitary training to foreign countries. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the New York Times filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
11. ENERGY POLICY ADVOCATES v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed Jul 27, 2021)
    Energy Policy Advocates submitted a FOIA request to the EPA for records concerning correspondence of agency employee Joseph Goffman to mentioning EPA administrator Gina McCarthy. EPA also requested expedited processing and a fee waiver. After hearing nothing further from the agency, EPA filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
12. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH LAW PROJECT, PLLC v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (filed Jul 27, 2021)
    Occupational Safety & Health Law Project submitted a FOIA request to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for records concerning the standards used to determine if Century Aluminum is complying with OSHA’s standard for Occupational Exposure to Beryllium. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency provided four pages with redactions under Exemption 4 (commercial and confidential). OSHA Law Project filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, OSHA Law Project filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
13. SENSEYE, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (filed Jul 28, 2021)
    Senseye, Inc. submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Army for records concerning a 11/20/20 email from Beth Scherr, Director of Small Business Programs, U.S. Army Futures Command. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Senseye filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
14. HANSTEN v. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (filed Jul 28, 2021)
    Philip Hansten, a professor emeritus at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Washington, submitted a FOIA request to the DEA for records concerning identifying information for DEA Form 222sin which the date issued on the form is 5/11/2011. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Hansten filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
15. Parker v. United States Probation Office et al (filed Jul 30, 2021)
    Derek Parker asked the U.S. Probationary Office for records. This is not a FOIA claim
    Issues: FOIA not mentioned