Williams v. Shinseki

161 F. Supp. 3d 91, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191450, 2012 WL 12548492
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Williams v. Shinseki. Read the opinion of the Court — 161 F. Supp. 3d 77
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided June 4, 2012·No. Civil Action No. 10-070 (CKK/AK)·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

ALAN KAY, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion to Order Defendant’s Records Which Defendant Objected to Submitting (“First Motion”) [52], Plaintiffs Motion to Order Defendant’s Records Which Defendant Objected to Submitting [54/57] (“Second Motion”)1, Defendant’s Opposition to the First Motion (“First Opposition”) [59] and Defendant’s Motion for a Protective Order (“MPO”) [60] and Opposition to Second Motion [61] (“Second Opposition”). On April 16, 2012, the trial court referred resolution of Plaintiffs First and Second Motions and Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order to the undersigned. See Order of Referral [62].2

I. Plaintiffs First Motion

Plaintiffs underlying complaint alleges a claim for employment discrimination including non-selection for an Electrical Engineer, GS-14 position for which he applied. Plaintiff previously filed a motion to. compel [36] that was granted in part and denied in part by this Court in a Memorandum Order [50] dated March 13, 2012, after this Court held a hearing on that motion.

Plaintiffs First Motion requests that the Court order Defendant to provide: 1) contact information for “DEU personals who evaluated and recommended [Dat] Tran as one of [the] best qualified.” 2) complete [94]*94contact information for two named individuals who may be subpoenaed for trial and 3) “Documents/Discoveries identified by Exhibit 2.”(First Motion at 3.)3

A. DEU Information

Plaintiff requests contact information for Delegated Examining Unit [DEU] “personals” who evaluated and recommended Mr. Tran, the selectee for the Electrical Engineer position Plaintiff sought. (First Motion at 3.) Plaintiff previously requested that the Defendant provide “full contact information of these DEU personals[.]” ( Response to Defendant’s. Objections [45] at 3-4.)4 Retracing the history of discovery in this case, the Court is unable to ascertain whether such contact information (limited to name, job title at Department of Veterans Affairs, business address/business telephone number) for any DEU personnel who evaluated and recommended Mr. Tran has already been provided to Plaintiff.5 In the unlikely circumstance that such information has not been provided, Defendant is ordered to provide it.

B. Contact Information for Two Individuals

The trial court held a status hearing on March 22, 2012, the day after the Plaintiff filed his First Motion. According to the Defendant, the trial court ordered Defendant “to respond to only one of Plaintiffs demands for production” by providing contact information for two of Defendant’s employees if they were still employed by Defendant or alternately, if they were no longer employed and information would not be disclosed, Defendant was directed to provide an explanation for such non-disclosure.6 (First Opposition [59] at 5.)

In response to the trial court’s order, the Defendant indicates that these two [former] employees no longer work at Veterans Affairs and they have retired from federal service. Defendant further asserts that “[t]he Privacy Act bars agencies from ‘disclos[ing] any record ... by any means of communication to any person... except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains,’ unless one of twelve enumerated exceptions is applicable.” (First Opposition [59] at 6, citing 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b).) Defendant explains that “the individual employees have not provided written consent to disclose their home telephone numbers or addresses to Plaintiff, and Defendant is not mandated, under the Privacy Act, to disclose this information to Plaintiff.” (First Opposition at 7.)7

This Court finds that Defendant has adequately responded to Plaintiffs First Motion regarding contact information for the two individuals insofar as these individuals [95]*95are no longer employed by Veterans Affairs and they have not consented to disclosure of their home addresses or telephone numbers. Accordingly, that portion of Plaintiff’s First Motion should be denied.

C. Request for Documents and other Discovery

The remaining portion of Plaintiffs First Motion requests: “1. Documents/Discoveries identified by Exhibit 2.” (First Motion [52] at 3.) Plaintiffs Exhibit 2 contains argument in support of his case and reiterates his position that Defendant’s objections to discovery should not be upheld. This Court notes that the deadline .for filing discovery-related motions was November 30, 2011. (April 16, 2012 Order of Referral [62]; see Scheduling and Procedures Order [34].) Plaintiffs First Motion may thus be denied on grounds that it is untimely. Plaintiffs First Motion may also be denied on grounds that it is duplicative insofar as Plaintiff argues the same points presented in his prior Motion to Compel [36], and his First Motion is moot insofar as this Court already ruled on that Motion to Compel [36] after holding a hearing on March 5, 2012. (March 13, 2012 Memorandum Order [50].)

At the March 5, 2012 hearing, Plaintiff was permitted the opportunity to present his argument regarding any alleged outstanding discovery.8 Subsequent to that hearing, this Court upheld Defendant’s objections to discovery requests with one minor exception. See Memorandum Order [50] (directing Defendant to provide “information regarding complaints against Mr. Gupta (which did or did not lead to a reprimand or demotion) relating to his actions in connection with' the selection process for the Electrical Engineer position.”)9 Accordingly, Plaintiffs request in his First Motion for additional documents and discovery should be denied on grounds that such request is untimely, duplicative and moot.

II. Plaintiffs Second Motion

Plaintiffs Second Motion [54/57] focuses on Mr. Gupta’s reputation and his representations with regard to the 21 point selection criteria.10 Plaintiff argues that Robert Neary (“Neary”) must have known that Mr. Gupta was demoted or disciplined by the Agency between 1988-1990. (Second Motion [54/57].)11 Defendant argues that the information requested by Plaintiff “dates back more than 20 years” and further it is “not relevant, to the core issue in this case” which is the selection of Dat Tran by the 3-member selecting panel. (Second Opposition [61] at 9.) Issues relating to Mr. Gupta’s reputation (and his representations about the 21 point selection criteria) were already argued by Plaintiff during the March 5, 2012 hearing and addressed by this Court in its Memorandum Order [36]. On March 20, 2012, Defendant supplemented its discovery to Plaintiff, pursuant to that Order [36], by affirming that “there have been no complaints against Mr. Gupta (which did or did [96]*96not lead to a reprimand or demotion) relating to his actions in connection with the selection process for the Electrical Engineering position.” (Second Opposition [61] at 5-6.) Accordingly, because Plaintiffs Second Motion is untimely, duplicative and moot, it should be denied.

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Williams v. Shinseki, 161 F. Supp. 3d 91, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191450, 2012 WL 12548492 (D.D.C. 2012).

161 F. Supp. 3d 91 (Williams v. Shinseki) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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