BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

District Of Columbia District Court
Judge:	Dabney L Friedrich
Case #:	1:21-cv-01741
Nature of Suit	895 Other Statutes - Freedom of Information Act
Cause	05:552 Freedom of Information Act

Case Filed:	Jun 30, 2021
Terminated:	Nov 21, 2022

Last checked: Monday Dec 27, 2021 3:51 AM EST

Defendant UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION	Represented By Stephanie R. Johnson United States Attorney'S Office contact info Douglas C. Dreier U.S. Department Of Justice contact info Kathleene A. Molen U.S. Attorney'S Office For The District Of Columbia contact info
Plaintiff BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION	Represented By Hans Frank Bader contact info

GPO Sep 20 2022
MEMORANDUM OPINION regarding the defendant's 12 Motion for Summary Judgment and the plaintiff's 15 Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment. See text for details. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on September 20, 2022. (lcdlf1)

Docket last updated: 04/21/2026 11:59 PM EDT

Monday, November 21, 2022
		order .Order Mon 11/21 10:22 AM MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties'30 Stipulation of Dismissal, the plaintiff's claims against the defendant are DISMISSED with prejudice. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a). The Clerk of Court is directed to close this case. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on November 21, 2022. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
Friday, November 18, 2022
30		30 misc Stipulation of Dismissal Fri 11/18 5:39 PM STIPULATION of Dismissal with Prejudice by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
29		29 misc Errata Wed 10/26 11:38 AM ERRATA to plaintiff's portion of October 25, 2022 Joint Status Report by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION. (Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
		order .Order ~Util - Set/Reset Deadlines Wed 10/26 4:54 PM MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties'28 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before November 22, 2022. The Court declines to address the plaintiff's arguments as to the adequacy of the search at this time. The defendant has not yet completed production of records responsive to the plaintiff's FOIA request, see Joint Status Report 12, and the Court will not engage in piecemeal litigation while production is actively ongoing. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on October 26, 2022. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
28		28 misc Status Report Tue 10/25 5:42 PM Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
27		27 notice Notice (Other) Tue 10/18 12:13 PM NOTICE of Filing Declaration by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION(Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Declaration of Suzanne Goldberg
26		26 misc Status Report Tue 10/18 12:11 PM Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
		order .Order ~Util - Set/Reset Deadlines Tue 10/18 1:32 PM MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties'26 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before October 25, 2022. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on October 18, 2022. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
Wednesday, October 05, 2022
25		25 misc Declaration Wed 10/05 3:44 PM DECLARATION of Hans Bader by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION. (Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
		order .Order Wed 10/05 5:23 PM MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the defendant's23 -2 Declaration of Suzanne Goldberg and the plaintiff's25 Declaration of Hans Bader, the defendant is ORDERED to supplement, on or before October 18, 2022, Goldberg's declaration by addressing the specific inquiry set forth in the Court's Memorandum Opinion: whether Goldberg ever used her non-government email account for official business. See Mem. Op. at 12, Dkt. 22 Related [+]. The declaration that the defendant has provided, Dkt.23 -2, is not fully responsive to the Court's directive as it states only that Goldberg did not use her non-government email account (and/or complied with forwarding procedures) with respect to emails "concerning school discipline and/or school disciplinary policies." See Goldberg Decl. at 2. The Court, however, posed a broader question in its Memorandum Opinion, Dkt. 22 at 12, because if Goldberg used her personal email account for official business, even official business unrelated to school discipline or disciplinary policies, the account is subject to a search under FOIA. See Brennan Ctr. for Just. at N.Y. Univ. Sch. of L. v. DOJ , 377 F. Supp. 3d 428, 435-36 (2019), Democracy Forward Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Com. , 474 F. Supp. 3d 69, 74 (D.D.C. 2020) ("[E]ven evidence of a single agency record on a personal account is sufficient to raise a question of compliance with recordkeeping obligations, rendering the presumption of compliance inapplicable." (quotation marks omitted)). The defendant's continued resistance on this issue "speaks volumes." Mem. Op. at 11 (quotation marks omitted). Accordingly, the defendant shall supplement the record with another declaration from Goldberg that is fully responsive to the Court's order. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on October 5, 2022. (lcdlf1) Related: [-] quiring the defendant to address "whether Goldberg's school email account was used, even sporadically, for official business"
Tuesday, October 04, 2022
24		24 misc Status Report Tue 10/04 4:21 PM Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
23		23 notice Notice (Other) Tue 10/04 4:19 PM NOTICE of Filing Declarations by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION(Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Declaration of Kristin Delbridge,
		Att: 2 Declaration of Suzanne Goldberg
		order .Order ~Util - Set/Reset Deadlines Tue 10/04 5:58 PM MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties'24 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before October 18, 2022. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on October 4, 2022. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
22		22 16 pgs order Memorandum & Opinion Tue 09/20 4:25 PM MEMORANDUM OPINION regarding the defendant's12 Motion for Summary Judgment and the plaintiff's15 Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment. See text for details. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on September 20, 2022. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
21		21 2 pgs order Order on Motion for Summary Judgment Tue 09/20 4:24 PM ORDER granting in part and denying in part the defendant's12 Motion for Summary Judgment, and granting in part and denying in part the plaintiff's15 Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment. See text for details. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on September 20, 2022. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
Thursday, April 21, 2022
20		20 notice Notice (Other) Thu 04/21 12:46 PM NOTICE Regarding Supporting Documents by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION re Order,,, Set Deadlines,,(Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Supplement Vaughn Index,
		Att: 2 Declaration of Kristine Minami
Tuesday, April 05, 2022
		order .Order ~Util - Set/Reset Deadlines Tue 04/05 12:06 PM MINUTE ORDER. Upon review of the record, including the government's mention of a possible "imprecision" in its declaration, Dkt. 16, at 15 n.2, the Court finds that a Vaughn index would promote "adequate adversary testing" of the parties' claims, Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820, 828 (D.C. Cir. 1973). Accordingly, the government is ordered to file a Vaughn index on or before April 26, 2022. In addition, in the event that the government identifies an error in its declaration, it is ordered to file a supplementary declaration by that same deadline. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on April 5, 2022. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
Friday, December 17, 2021
19		19 misc Declaration Fri 12/17 2:20 PM DECLARATION corrected Supplemental Declaration of Hans Bader corrected to fix typographical error below signature by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION re18 Reply to opposition to Motion filed by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION. (Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
18		18 respm Reply to opposition to motion Fri 12/17 1:40 PM REPLY to opposition to motion re15 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION.(Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Declaration Supplemental Declaration of Hans Bader
Friday, December 10, 2021
17		17 respm Reply to opposition to motion Fri 12/10 2:41 PM REPLY to opposition to motion re12 MOTION for Summary Judgment (duplicate of ECF No. 16) filed by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
16		16 19 pgs respm Memorandum in opposition to motion Fri 12/10 2:39 PM Memorandum in opposition to re15 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.(Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Statement of Facts Response to Statement of Facts,
		Att: 2 Exhibit E,
		Att: 3 Text of Proposed Order
Friday, November 19, 2021
15		15 motion Summary Judgment Fri 11/19 10:17 PM MOTION for Summary Judgment by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION.(Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Memorandum in Support,
		Att: 2 Statement of Facts Plaintiff's Statement of Material Facts As to Which There Is No Genuine Issue,
		Att: 3 Text of Proposed Order
14		14 30+ pgs respm Memorandum in opposition to motion Fri 11/19 10:08 PM Memorandum in opposition to re12 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION.(Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Statement of Facts Plaintiff's Statement of Genuine Issues of Material Fact,
		Att: 2 Declaration of Hans Bader,
		Att: 3 Declaration of James P. Scanlan,
		Att: 4 Text of Proposed Order
Tuesday, November 02, 2021
13		13 notice Notice of Substitution of Counsel Tue 11/02 9:30 AM NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Douglas C. Dreier on behalf of UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Substituting for attorney Kathleene Molen (Dreier, Douglas) Related: [-]
Friday, October 29, 2021
12		12 motion Summary Judgment Fri 10/29 6:19 PM MOTION for Summary Judgment by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.(Molen, Kathleene) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Memorandum in Support,
		Att: 2 Statement of Facts,
		Att: 3 Declaration Kristine Minami,
		Att: 4 Exhibit A,
		Att: 5 Exhibit B,
		Att: 6 Exhibit C,
		Att: 7 Exhibit D,
		Att: 8 Text of Proposed Order
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
		order .Order ~Util - Set/Reset Deadlines Tue 09/28 9:24 PM MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties'11 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the following schedule shall govern further proceedings: the government shall file any motion for summary judgment on or before October 29, 2021; the plaintiff shall file any response to the government's motion and any cross-motion for summary judgment on or before November 29, 2021; the government shall file any reply in support of its initial motion and any response to the plaintiff's motion on or before December 10, 2021; and the plaintiff shall file any reply in support of its motion on or before December 17, 2021. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on September 28, 2021. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
Friday, September 24, 2021
11		11 misc Status Report Fri 09/24 1:07 PM Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.(Molen, Kathleene) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Text of Proposed Order
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
		order .Order ~Util - Set/Reset Deadlines Wed 08/25 11:42 AM MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties'10 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before September 24, 2021. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on August 25, 2021. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
10		10 misc Status Report Tue 08/24 11:11 AM Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Molen, Kathleene) Related: [-]
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
9		9 notice Notice of Withdrawal of Appearance Wed 08/11 11:31 AM NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF APPEARANCE as to UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. Attorney Stephanie R. Johnson terminated. (Johnson, Stephanie) Related: [-]
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
8		8 notice Notice of Appearance Tue 08/10 2:14 PM NOTICE of Appearance by Stephanie R. Johnson on behalf of UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (Johnson, Stephanie) Related: [-]
Tuesday, August 03, 2021
		order .Order Tue 08/03 1:22 PM MINUTE ORDER requiring the parties to MEET AND CONFER and file a joint status report proposing a schedule for further proceedings. The parties shall file the joint status report on or before August 24, 2021. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on August 3, 2021. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
		utility Set/Reset Deadlines Wed 08/04 9:43 AM Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 8/24/2021 (zjch) Related: [-]
Monday, August 02, 2021
7		7 answer Answer to Amended Complaint Mon 08/02 6:54 PM ANSWER to3 Amended Complaint by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.(Molen, Kathleene) Related: [-]
Sunday, July 25, 2021
6		6 notice Notice of Appearance Sun 07/25 3:33 PM NOTICE of Appearance by Kathleene A. Molen on behalf of All Defendants (Molen, Kathleene) Related: [-]
Monday, July 12, 2021
5		5 service Summons Returned Executed in FOIA case as to U.S. Attorney Summons Returned Executed as to Federal Defendant Summons Returned Executed as to U.S. Attorney General Mon 07/12 9:20 PM RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 7/1/2021. ( Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 7/31/2021.), RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION served on 7/6/2021, RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 7/6/2021. (Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
4		4 order .Order Wed 06/30 4:07 PM STANDARD ORDER for Civil Cases. See text for details. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on June 30, 2021. (lcdlf1) Related: [-]
3		3 cmp Amended Complaint Wed 06/30 3:41 PM AMENDED COMPLAINT against UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION filed by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION.(Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
2		2 service Electronic Summons Issued as to AUSA,USAG Wed 06/30 9:59 AM SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General(adh, ) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Notice and Consent
1		1 cmp Complaint Wed 06/30 9:32 AM COMPLAINT against UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ( Filing fee $ 402 receipt number ADCDC-8565880) filed by BADER FAMILY FOUNDATION.(Bader, Hans) Related: [-]
		Att: 1 Civil Cover Sheet Civil Cover Sheet,
		Att: 2 Summons for the U.S. Attorney,
		Att: 3 Summons for the Agency,
		Att: 4 Summons for the Attorney General
		utility Case Assigned/Reassigned Wed 06/30 9:54 AM Case Assigned to Judge Dabney L. Friedrich. (adh, ) Related: [-]

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