Lane v. Department of the Interior

523 F.3d 1128, 27 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 993, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 9520, 2008 WL 1914744
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 2, 2008
Docket06-15191
StatusPublished
Cited by145 cases

This text of 523 F.3d 1128 (Lane v. Department of the Interior) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lane v. Department of the Interior, 523 F.3d 1128, 27 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 993, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 9520, 2008 WL 1914744 (9th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

HALL, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Melinda Lane appeals the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the United States Department of the Interior in her action for violations of the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act. She also appeals the district court’s denial of her discovery request and motion to seal records. We affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. Introduction

This case stems from a dispute between Melinda Lane, a former park ranger, and her supervisors at the National Parks Service (NPS), a division of the Department of the Interior. Lane, who worked at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, was promoted to a position with law enforcement duties in August of 2001, and experienced employment problems soon after. On October 21, 2001, Chief Park Ranger Dale Antonich received a letter from a citizen complaining that Lane acted unprofessionally when she stopped him for a traffic violation. Lane disputed certain aspects of the complaint, but agreed to undertake a plan to improve her skills. In March of 2002, Lane used profane language to describe some of her instructors at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and was placed on disciplinary probation as a result. A meeting was held between Lane and her supervisors to discuss concerns about her performance in June of 2002. In attendance were Anto-nich, William Shott (Lane’s immediate supervisor), District Ranger Mary Hinson (Lane’s second level supervisor), and Deputy Chief Ranger Kevin Hendricks. During the meeting, Antonich told the following story:

I watched us build a team at [Death Valley National Park] and I had no problem going in and taking down two of the deadliest people I’ve ever been around. And you know, we weren’t even naughty until the chief ranger lost his temper. He started being naughty. We were in a position where we thought we were gonna get killed. We were *1132 missing a third guy with a high powered rifle. It was time to go from sir will you give me this to putting a black hood on his head and putting a gun to the back of their head, and cocking back the hammer and saying now I am gonna give you one chance to tell me the truth or I am gonna kill you. That is an example of how far it can go, and you don’t want to go that far.

After the meeting, Hinson noticed that Lane had a tape recorder, and informed Antonich. Antonich sent Lane an email the next day stating that any recording from the meeting should be turned in or destroyed, and threatening legal action against her if she failed to comply.

B. Investigation into Lane

Shortly after this meeting, another citizen filed a complaint with the NPS regarding Lane’s conduct during a traffic stop. As a result, Hendricks requested that the Regional Office conduct an internal investigation into Lane’s integrity. Special Agent Eric Inman conducted the investigation. He interviewed Hinson, who stated that she had viewed Lane’s Official Personnel File, and noticed discrepancies in Lane’s files regarding her education. In-man then interviewed Lane, who admitted that she had not earned a college degree, contrary to the information in her file.

In total, Inman found that Lane had made twenty-four false entries on six separate employment applications. These findings led the Lake Mead Superintendent to direct Antonich to convene a Board of Inquiry to evaluate Lane. The evaluation concluded that Lane had falsified documents, and recommended revoking her law enforcement commission. The NPS Regional Director agreed and notified Lane that her commission was revoked on February 12, 2003. Lane unsuccessfully appealed this decision and resigned two months later.

C. FOIA Request for Documents Relating to Antonich Investigation

On November 22, 2002, Lane sent a letter to the United States Attorney General recounting her description of Anto-nich’s story and requesting that the Department of Justice investigate Antonich. The Justice Department forwarded the letter to the Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General, which conducted an investigation into Antonich. The results of the investigation were forwarded to NPS in July of 2003. In mid-November 2003, the NPS Regional Director concluded that the report disclosed no evidence supporting the truthfulness of the story Antonich had told at the June 11, 2002 meeting, no direct relationship between Lane’s knowledge of the story and the subsequent administrative action against her, and no reason to discipline Antonich. The Chief of the NPS Labor and Employee Relations Branch reached the same conclusion.

On December 26, 2003, Lane filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for “any and all applicable reports, responses, documents, or other information pertaining to the investigation of [An-tonich]” to the Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General and the NPS. The NPS Regional Office stated that it did not have a copy of the report on site, but the Office of the Inspector General located the report, which included twelve attachments and numbered approximately 400 pages. On April 2, 2004, FOIA officer Sandra Evans provided Lane with a redacted copy of the investigative report as well as Attachment 1 (Lane’s allegations), Attachment 3 (interview of Lane), and Attachment 4 (email to Lane directing her to destroy her recording of the June 11 meeting). Evans stated that she assumed Lane had copies of two other attachments to the report (Attachment 2, the CD containing *1133 Lane’s recording of Antonieh’s story, and Attachment 6, Agent Inman’s report on Lane) and that the seven remaining attachments were being withheld under FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C). 1

Lane appealed this response. On June 23, 2004, a Department of the Interior appeals officer informed Lane that, based on a June 8, 2004 legal memorandum from the Solicitor’s Office of the Department of the Interior, the information in the Anto-nich report had been properly withheld pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C). A copy of the legal memorandum, which explained why the information had been withheld under the respective exemptions, was provided to Lane. This was the final administrative determination involving Lane’s FOIA requests.

D. Privacy Act Request for Lane’s Personnel Documents

On February 12, 2004, Lane requested from Antonich “all reports and documentation concerning [her] Board of Inquiry, investigations, and separation from employment.” Lane sent similar letters to the NPS and the Lake Mead Superintendent on March 6 and 29, 2004, requesting all of her personnel files pursuant to the Privacy Act.

FOIA Agent Holly Bundock was responsible for Lane’s Privacy Act request. She conducted the search for responsive documents, and on August 30, 2004, the NPS sent Lane an itemized list of files and 577 pages of documents. 2 Lane appealed on September 19, 2004, maintaining that responsive documents existed that had not been provided to her and requesting to be informed of any destroyed files. Bundock conducted a second search, contacting persons who might have relevant documents.

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523 F.3d 1128, 27 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 993, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 9520, 2008 WL 1914744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lane-v-department-of-the-interior-ca9-2008.