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Case TitleCOMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2019cv01943
Date Filed2019-06-28
Date Closed2020-09-17
JudgeJudge Tanya S. Chutkan
PlaintiffCOMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA
Case DescriptionThe Communications Workers of America submitted two FOIA requests to the Department of Labor for records concerning the creation of the customer service representative standard occupation series for the revision of the Service Contract Act Directory of Occupations. The agency acknowledged receipt of both requests. It denied one of the requests on the basis of Exemption 7(A) (interference with ongoing investigation or proceeding). CWA filed an administrative appeal of the denial. After hearing nothing further pertaining to either request, CWA filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
200 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20210
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

2019-06-281COMPLAINT against U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0090-6221108) filed by COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons (U.S. Attorney), # 3 Summons (Attorney General), # 4 Summons (Agency))(Llewellyn, Patrick) (Attachment 1 replaced on 7/2/2019) (zeg). (Entered: 06/28/2019)
2019-06-282LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA (Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 06/28/2019)
2019-06-283NOTICE of Appearance by Adam R. Pulver on behalf of COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA (Pulver, Adam) (Main Document 3 replaced on 7/17/2019) (znmw). (Entered: 06/28/2019)
2019-07-02Case Assigned to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan. (zeg) (Entered: 07/02/2019)
2019-07-024SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zeg) (Entered: 07/02/2019)
2019-07-025RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 7/2/2019. Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 8/1/2019. (Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 07/02/2019)
2019-07-116RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General July 8, 2019. (Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 07/11/2019)
2019-08-017NOTICE of Appearance by Derek S. Hammond on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 08/01/2019)
2019-08-018ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.(Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 08/01/2019)
2019-08-26MINUTE ORDER: Before the Court in this FOIA case are a complaint and an answer. The requirements of LCvR 16.3 and Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil procedure appear to be inapplicable. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties shall meet and confer and propose a schedule for proceeding in this matter. The schedule shall address the status of Plaintiff's FOIA request, the anticipated number of documents responsive to Plaintiff's FOIA request, the anticipated date(s) for release of the documents requested by Plaintiff, whether a motion for an Open America stay is likely in this case, whether a Vaughn index will be required in this case, whether and when either party anticipates filing a dispositive motion, and any other pertinent issues. The parties shall file a joint status report that addresses these issues no later than 10/1/19. The joint status report shall be accompanied by a proposed order. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 8/26/19. (DJS) (Entered: 08/26/2019)
2019-08-28Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 10/1/2019. (tb) (Entered: 08/28/2019)
2019-10-019Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 10/01/2019)
2019-10-17MINUTE ORDER: Having considered the parities' joint status report 9 , it is hereby ordered that the parties shall confer regarding Defendant U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) search parameters for responsive records by October 9, 2019. DOL will complete its subsequent searches for responsive records and report the number of potentially responsive pages yielded by the searches to Plaintiff by November 1, 2019. DOL will make rolling monthly productions of responsive records identified by its subsequent searches, with a first production to occur by October 28, 2019 and for which DOL will process at least 500 pages of potentially responsive material. The parties will further confer about the appropriate processing rate in this case following DOL's provision of the estimated number of pages of responsive records to Plaintiff. DOL may include duplicate pages in its processing, but the court will reconsider its decision on this issue should the 500 page processing obligation result in review and production of an unreasonably small number of unique pages. The parties shall file a joint status report by November 8, 2019. In that joint status report, the parties will provide the estimated number of pages of responsive records identified by DOL's subsequent searches and a proposed production schedule. A proposed order shall accompany the joint status report. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 10/17/19. (DJS) (Entered: 10/17/2019)
2019-10-18Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 11/8/2019. (tb) (Entered: 10/18/2019)
2019-11-0810Joint STATUS REPORT by COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 11/08/2019)
2019-11-13MINUTE ORDER: Having considered the parties' joint status report 10 , it is hereby ordered that defendant DOL shall process at least 500 pages of potentially responsive material every month and shall continue making monthly rolling productions by the 21st of every month, unless that day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, in which case DOL's monthly production will occur by the following business day. The parties shall file a joint status report by December 6, 2019, and every 60 days thereafter. The report shall contain a proposed order to the extent the parties propose a briefing schedule. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 11/13/19. (DJS) (Entered: 11/13/2019)
2019-11-14Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 12/6/2019. (tb) (Entered: 11/14/2019)
2019-12-0611Joint STATUS REPORT by COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA. (Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 12/06/2019)
2020-02-0412Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 02/04/2020)
2020-04-0213NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF APPEARANCE as to COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA. Attorney Patrick D. Llewellyn terminated. (Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 04/02/2020)
2020-04-0614Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 04/06/2020)
2020-04-2015Joint STATUS REPORT by COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA. (Pulver, Adam) (Entered: 04/20/2020)
2020-05-1816Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order of Plaintiff, # 2 Text of Proposed Order of Defendant)(Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 05/18/2020)
2020-05-29MINUTE ORDER: Having considered the parties' joint status report 16 , it is hereby ordered that the parties shall adhere to the following deadlines: By June 15, 2020, the Defendant shall serve Plaintiff with a draft declaration describing the nature of the Agency's searches and a Draft Vaughn Index concerning any remaining issues (including redactions) in dispute as identified by Plaintiff's April 16, 2020 "detail list" of identified issues. If any disputes remain, by July 6, 2020, Defendant shall file its motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff's response and any combined cross-motion shall be filed by August 6, 2020. Defendant's reply and any combined response shall be filed by September 4, 2020. Plaintiffs Reply, if any, shall be filed by September 16, 2020. Absent good cause or Plaintiffs consent, the court will view with disfavor any motion by the Defendant to continue these deadlines, as the Defendant has provided no explanation for why it has yet to respond to Plaintiff's April 16 list. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 5/29/2020. (DJS) (Entered: 05/29/2020)
2020-06-01Set/Reset Deadlines: Cross Motion due by 8/6/2020. Response to Cross Motion due by 9/4/2020. Reply to Cross Motion due by 9/16/2020. Summary Judgment motion due by 7/6/2020. Response to Motion for Summary Judgment due by 8/6/2020. Reply to Motion for Summary Judgment due by 9/4/2020. (tb) (Entered: 06/01/2020)
2020-07-0617MOTION for Summary Judgment by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (Attachments: # 1 Statement of Facts, # 2 Memorandum in Support, # 3 Declaration, # 4 Text of Proposed Order)(Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 07/06/2020)
2020-08-0618Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment by COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA (Attachments: # 1 Statement of Facts Response to Defendant's Statement of Facts, # 2 Statement of Facts Statement of Additional Facts Not in Dispute, # 3 Declaration of Adam R. Pulver, # 4 Exhibit 1 to Pulver Declaration, # 5 Exhibit 2 to Pulver Declaration, # 6 Declaration of Alex van Schaick, # 7 Exhibit 1 to van Schaick Declaration, # 8 Exhibit 2 to van Schaick Declaration, # 9 Exhibit 3 to van Schaick Declaration, # 10 Text of Proposed Order)(Pulver, Adam) (Entered: 08/06/2020)
2020-08-0619Memorandum in opposition to re 17 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA. (Attachments: # 1 Statement of Facts Response to Defendant's Statement of Facts, # 2 Statement of Facts Statement of Additional Facts Not in Dispute, # 3 Declaration of Adam R. Pulver, # 4 Exhibit 1 to Pulver Declaration, # 5 Exhibit 2 to Pulver Declaration, # 6 Declaration of Alex van Schaick, # 7 Exhibit 1 to van Schaick Declaration, # 8 Exhibit 2 to van Schaick Declaration, # 9 Exhibit 3 to van Schaick Declaration, # 10 Text of Proposed Order)(Pulver, Adam) (Entered: 08/06/2020)
2020-09-0320Consent MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 09/03/2020)
2020-09-03MINUTE ORDER: Granting Consent 20 Motion for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply. By September 9, 2020, Defendant shall file its combined opposition and reply. By September 23, 2020, Plaintiff shall file its reply. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 9/3/2020. (DJS) (Entered: 09/03/2020)
2020-09-04Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendant shall file its combined opposition and reply by 9/9/2020; Plaintiff shall file its cross-reply by 9/23/2020. (jth) (Entered: 09/04/2020)
2020-09-0921Memorandum in opposition to re 18 Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Rachel Torres, # 2 Statement of Facts)(Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 09/09/2020)
2020-09-0922REPLY to opposition to motion re 17 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Rachel Torres)(Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 09/09/2020)
2020-09-1123Joint MOTION to Withdraw 17 MOTION for Summary Judgment , 18 Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment by COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Pulver, Adam) (Entered: 09/11/2020)
2020-09-15MINUTE ORDER: Granting Joint 23 Motion to Withdraw pending motions 17 18 for summary judgment. In light of the parties' resolution of the substantive dispute that formed the basis for this FOIA action, the Clerk of the Court is hereby directed to ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSE this case. With respect to the remaining issue of attorneys' fees, the parties shall file a joint status report by 10/13/2020 and every 30 days thereafter. To the extent the report contains a proposed briefing schedule, a proposed order shall be included. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 9/15/2020. (DJS) (Entered: 09/15/2020)
2020-09-17Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 10/13/2020. (tb) (Entered: 09/17/2020)
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