Fleck V.department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General

District Court, District of Columbia·Decided January 10, 2023·No. Civil Action No. 2018-1452·Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

ROBERT M. FLECK,

Plaintiff,

Civil Action No. 18-1452 (RDM)

v.

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER In this Privacy Act case, Plaintiff Robert M. Fleck, an attorney at the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”), challenges the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ dissemination of an investigative report concerning Fleck’s alleged involvement in the VA’s hiring of his wife. See Dkt. 31 (2d Am. Compl.). In Fleck v. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General, 596 F. Supp. 3d 24 (D.D.C. 2022), the Court granted in part and denied in part the OIG’s motion for summary judgment on Fleck’s claims. But it left the door open for Fleck to move for reconsideration on one issue: whether the alleged Privacy Act violation on which the Court denied summary judgment to the OIG caused Fleck to incur damages in the form of legal fees he paid to defend himself against a whistleblower complaint that he contends was prompted by the OIG’s release of the report. Id. at 56. He has now done so, Dkt. 76 (sealed); Dkt. 78 (redacted), but he has failed to convince the Court that reconsideration is warranted. The Court, accordingly, will DENY his motion.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background The Court’s previous opinion lays out the facts of this case at length, Fleck, 596 F. Supp.

3d at 30–38, and the Court will not recount them here except where relevant to the instant motion. The basic setup is as follows: Fleck joined the Office of General Counsel (“OGC”) of the Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2016. Id. at 31. Several months later, the office hired his wife, Kristina Wiercinski. Id. at 33. Allegations subsequently surfaced accusing Fleck of improperly promoting Wiercinski’s candidacy. Id. The OIG launched an investigation in response, which culminated in a report issued in late March 2018. Id. The report concluded that Fleck had “engaged in nepotism and acts affecting his personal financial interest when he used his position to advocate for the employment of his wife.” Id. at 34 (quoting Dkt. 49-3 at 19–20 (OIG Report)). The OGC proposed that Fleck be demoted as a consequence. Id. at 35. Fleck challenged his demotion and submitted multiple sworn statements from individuals involved in Wiercinski’s hiring that were substantially exonerating. Id. at 35–36. His effort was largely successful: after reviewing his evidence, the VA General Counsel declined to demote Fleck, and the Deputy Secretary of the VA rescinded his previous concurrence with the OIG report. Id. at 36.

Fleck then brought this action, alleging that the OIG had violated two provisions of the Privacy Act by disseminating an assertedly deficient report. Dkt. 1 (Compl.); Dkt. 12 (Am. Compl.); Dkt. 31 (2d Am. Compl.). After the completion of discovery, the OIG moved for summary judgment, which the Court granted in part and denied in part. Fleck, 596 F. Supp. 3d at 58. Among other things, the Court granted summary judgment in the OIG’s favor with respect to Fleck’s claim that the OIG’s Privacy Act violation caused him to incur substantial expenses defending against a whistleblower complaint concerning other conduct. Id. at 56. Fleck’s theory

was that the release of the allegedly flawed report prompted the whistleblower to bring her complaint, so those expenses were traceable to the OIG’s wrongful conduct. Id. He claimed to have evidence to support these allegations, but he did not produce any at summary judgment. Id. He apparently withheld the evidence due to a mix of trepidation and confusion: he stated that he had declined to submit the evidence “out of an abundance of caution given the whistleblower complaint.” Id. Regardless, the Court could not accept his mere say-so at summary judgment, so it granted the OIG’s motion as to that category of damages. Id. But, recognizing that Fleck maintained that he had evidence, which he assertedly withheld out of a commendable concern for the whistleblower process, the Court informed Fleck that, if he was “able to submit evidence to the Court (even if under seal) that establishes causation in support of his whistleblower claim,” he could “seek reconsideration on that ground.” Id. B. Evidence Offered in Support of Reconsideration Fleck has now moved for reconsideration. In support of his motion, he has submitted (under seal) the evidence he referenced but failed to provide at summary judgment, along with certain other materials.

His first exhibit is a June 2019 complaint filed in federal court by a former OGC employee (the “whistleblower”) challenging her termination on numerous grounds, including under the Whistleblower Protection Act, 5 U.S.C. § 2302. Dkt. 76-1 at 3 (Pl.’s Sealed Ex. 1). The complaint alleges, among other things, that in late 2017 and early 2018 Fleck improperly hired three attorneys who had previously worked for him in the military. Id. at 78–80. The complaint further avers that on April 24, 2018—several weeks after the OIG report was released—the whistleblower sent an email to Fleck’s supervisors stating: “[G]iven the OIG report involving the hiring of [Fleck’s] wife which I was not aware of until the report was brought to may attention, I am requesting that [OGC] review [the] hiring [by Fleck’s division] of

three attorneys from the Army to ensure that those positions were properly filled.” Id. at 82. And the complaint goes on to allege that “[a]fter receiving no assistance or relief from the VA OGC leadership,” the whistleblower filed a complaint with “the Agency OIG on May 21, 2018” asserting that “prohibited personnel practices had been committed” in the group into which the three attorneys were hired. Id.

Fleck’s second exhibit contains two internal OIG documents. Dkt. 76-1 at 102 (Pl.’s Sealed Ex. 2). One, dated July 12, 2018, describes a message received on the OIG complaint hotline referring to certain allegations against Fleck. Id. The allegations mirror those the whistleblower referenced in her civil complaint: that Fleck had improperly hired three former colleagues from the Department of the Army. Id. The other is an October 24, 2018 memorandum from the director of the investigations division of the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (“OAWP”) to two OAWP investigators, appointing them to investigate the matter concerning Fleck that had been submitted to the OIG hotline. Id. at 105.

In Fleck’s view, this evidence supports the conclusion that the release of the allegedly deficient OIG report caused the whistleblower to report him to the OIG hotline, which prompted an investigation against him, which in turn required him to spend money defending himself. Dkt. 76 at 7–9. The theory is something of a bank shot. First, Fleck asserts that the whistleblower’s federal-court complaint establishes that the release of the OIG report prompted the whistleblower to email Fleck’s supervisors about what she perceived to be Fleck’s improper hiring of his former colleagues. Id. at 7. Fleck next contends that the complaint and the internal OIG hotline exhibits establish that (presumably) the same whistleblower pursued the very same allegations through the OIG hotline process. Id. at 7–8. These allegations triggered an investigation in which the OIG interviewed Fleck, and Fleck spent money retaining counsel for

that interview. Id. at 4; Dkt. 49-12 at 4. Fleck asks the Court to infer that, just as the release of the OIG report prompted the whistleblower’s April 2018 email, it also prompted her to submit the OIG hotline complaint. Dkt. 76 at 7–8. Based on this chain of events and inferences, Fleck asserts that the Privacy Act violations the OIG allegedly committed with respect to the OIG report caused him actual damages relating to this separate whistleblower-prompted investigation. Id.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

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