AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT and 18 other new FOIA lawsuits, plus case descriptions

We have added 185 documents from 19 FOIA cases filed between February 4, 2024 and February 10, 2024. 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. AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (filed Feb 8, 2024)
   American Oversight submitted five FOIA requests to the Office of Personnel Management for records. In 2020, American Oversight submitted two FOIA requests during the Trump administration for records dealing with plans to reclassify large portions of the federal workforce to strip them of protection for arbitrary termination. The agency acknowledged receipt of those requests. In 2023, American Oversight filed three FOIA request with OMB for records concerning planning calendars and communications. The agency acknowledged receipt of those requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, American Oversight filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Adequacy – Search
2. Faith Enterprises Incorporated v. United States Department of Veterans Affairs (filed Feb 6, 2024)
   Faith Enterprises, Inc. submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Veterans Affairs for records concerning contracts to the architect//engineering firm, Valhalla Engineering Group, for construction work on the PTSD Project located at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Aurora, CO. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told Faith Enterprises that responsive records would be disclosed. However, after hearing nothing further from the agency, Faith Enterprises filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
3. FLUET & ASSOCIATES, PLLC v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY et al (filed Feb 5, 2024)
   Fluet & Associates submitted FOIA requests to the IRS for records concerning 17 categories of records related to the development of a report by the IRS that allocated funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to further develop free tax-preparing materials. Fluet & Associates submitted a second FOIA request to the Department of Treasury concerning the relationship of Code for America, a non-profit, in preparing the report. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. Fluet & Associates filed an administrative appeal of one response. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Fluet & Associates filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
4. POWER THE FUTURE v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Feb 6, 2024)
   Power the Future submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning the names and job titles of staff of the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change. Power the Future also requested expedited processing and a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Power the Future filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
5. VANDA PHARMACEUTICALS INC. v. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (filed Feb 6, 2024)
   Vanda Pharmaceuticals submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for records concerning internal communications relating to any aspect of Vanda’s development programs concerning the drug Fanapt. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Vanda Pharmaceuticals filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
6. VANDA PHARMACEUTICALS INC. v. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (filed Feb 6, 2024)
   Vanda Pharmaceuticals submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for records concerning communications with anyone outside the FDA concerning Vanda’s development of the drug Fanapt. The agency acknowledged receipt of the receipt but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Vanda Pharmaceutical filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
7. SKYWRITER COMMUNICATIONS, INC. v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Feb 7, 2024)
   Skywriter Communications submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning the 1979 report by Regional Security Officer Charles K. Boles for the DOS Office of Security of the kidnapping and death of Ambassador Dubs in 1979. Skywriter Communications had requested the report before from the National Archives but was told NARA could not find a copy of the report. As a result, Skywriter Communications requested the original report from State. The agency acknowledged request of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Skywriter Communications filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
8. MORELLO v. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (filed Feb 8, 2024)
   Breanna Morello submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Veterans Affairs for records concerning emails from a series of VA employees working in VA’s benefits and media/communications department. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Morello filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
9. CATO INSTITUTE v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Feb 8, 2024)
   Cato Institute submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for FISA Section 702 FBI query audits from January 2021 to the present. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Cato Institute filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
10. AMERICAN PROPERTY LOCATORS, INC. v. UNITED STATES CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (filed Feb 8, 2024)
    American Property Locators, Inc. submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for records concerning attempts to return funds seized by CBP to their rightful owners. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, placed APL in the commercial category, and told APL that responding to its request would take 18 hours. APL filed an administrative appeal. CBP administratively closed APL’s request. APL then filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
11. FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, DISTRTICT OF NEVADA et al v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Feb 8, 2024)
    The Federal Public Defender for the District of Nevada submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning the investigation of James Wells for murder. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency denied the request under Exemption 7(A) (interference with ongoing investigation or proceeding). FPD filed an administrative appeal of the denial After hearing nothing further from the agency, FPD filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
12. FRIENDS OF THE WILD SWAN v. ROEMER et al (filed Feb 9, 2024)
    Friends of the Wild Swan submitted a FOIA request to the National Park Service for records concerning an environmental assessment issued by the agency pertaining to Glacier National Park. Friends also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Friends of the Wild Swan filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Public Interest Fee Waiver, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
13. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (filed Feb 9, 2024)
    Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Defense for records concerning SF-50s and SF-52s for Frederick Douglas Moorefield, deputy chief information officer for command, control, and communications. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
14. INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Feb 10, 2024)
    Informed Consent Action Network submitted two FOIA requests to the Centers for Disease Control. The first FOIA request asked for records data sets pertaining to COIVID-19. The second FOIA request asked for records concerning analysis plans for a study on COVID-19. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. The agency told ICAN that it did not have any records responsive to its requests. ICAN filed administrative appeals for both no records responses. After hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
15. INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION et al (filed Feb 10, 2024)
    Infoirmed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to Health Resources and Services Administration for records concerning communications to or from Carole Johnson, Diana Espinosa and/or Jordan Grossman concerning COVID-19 vaccines. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
16. Investigative Post, Inc. v. Federal Bureau of Investigation et al (filed Feb 7, 2024)
    Investigative Post, Inc., a watchdog news organization covering Western New York, submitted two FOIA requests to the FBI. The first request asked for records on a list of people related to Western Regional Off-Track Betting in Niagara County. Investigative Post also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told Investigative Post that it had located 2,664 responsive pages. The FBI told Investigative Post that processing its request would take 4.5 years. Although the FBI said it would start disclosing records in increments, Investigative Post heard nothing further. The second request asked for records concerning financial transactions between Mark Gabriele and Henry Wojtaszek from January 2010 to the present. The FBI acknowledged receipt of the request and invoked a Glomar response. Investigative Post filed an administrative appeal of that decision. The agency upheld its initial decision and Investigative Post filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Public Interest Fee Waiver, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
17. New Civil Liberties Alliance et al v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (filed Feb 9, 2024)
    New Civil Liberties Alliance submitted a FOIA request to the SEC for records concerning information pertaining to a control deficiency that the agency had learned about and publicly acknowledged. NCLA also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and put the NCLA request in its complex track for processing. NCLA filed an administrative appeal of the decision to put its request on the complex track for processing. After hearing nothing further from the agency, NCLA filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
18. Trentadue v. Federal Bureau of Investigation (filed Feb 9, 2024)
    Jesse Trentadue submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning Roger Edwin Moore’s, who is deceased, involvement in Operation Punchout. The FBI located 32,580 responsive pages. The FBI asked Trentadue to pay $985 in costs for the records. He agreed to pay the amount and asked the FBI to process the requests under its interim response policy. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Trentadue filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Recovery of Costs, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
19. Sharpe v. Federal Highway Administration (filed Feb 9, 2024)
    Logan Sharpe submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Federal Highway Administration for records concerning communications between two agency employees. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency denied the request and told Sharpe the decision was not appealable. Sharpe then filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Recovery of Costs, Adequacy – Search