Free Joint Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:90-cv-00162-LJB

Document 613

Filed 12/12/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )
) ) )

STEPHEN ADAMS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Defendant.

Case No. 90-162-C and Consolidated Cases (Judge Lynn J. Bush)

JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's Order of November 9, 2006, the parties respectfully submit this status report concerning the status of settlement negotiations. 1. On November 22, 2006 the parties entered into a partial settlement agreement

covering the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") claims of GS-13 1811 criminal investigators employed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the United States Customs Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Secret Service. On November 27, 2006 the parties filed a Stipulation of Partial Dismissal stipulating that certain claims asserted in these consolidated civil actions be dismissed pursuant to, and in accordance with, the terms of such settlement agreement. 2. As indicated in the parties' previous JSR, Government counsel concluded that they

could not recommend acceptance of plaintiffs' December 22, 2004 proposal pertaining to the FLSA claims of GS-12 criminal investigators employed by the Departments of Health and Human Services ("HHS") and Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"), and plaintiffs' December 7, 2005 proposal pertaining to the FLSA claims of GS-5/7 criminal investigators employed by various agencies. Plaintiffs are in the process of conducting discovery concerning the claims of GS-12 criminal

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investigators employed by HHS and HUD. The Government anticipates filing a motion for summary judgment concerning the HHS claims during the week of December18, 2006. With respect to plaintiffs' settlement offer regarding GS-5/7 criminal investigators, on November 15, 2006, Government counsel requested recommendations from the various agencies covered by the proposed settlement. As of this date, Government counsel has not yet received recommendations from all of the agencies. 3. With respect to plaintiffs' November 23, 2005 settlement offer regarding the FLSA

claims of marine enforcement officers, this offer was submitted for approval within the Department of Justice, together with the necessary memorandum concerning the proposal. This settlement offer is still under consideration within the Department of Justice. 4. In connection with plaintiffs' February 15, 2006 settlement proposal concerning

certain technical positions at Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") and its predecessor agencies, the agency has identified an issue with respect to certain plaintiffs that significantly affects the calculations for the proposed settlement. The parties hope to be able to resolve this issue shortly so that plaintiffs may revise their offer to address this issue and a recommendation regarding the revised offer may be forwarded for appropriate review within the Office of General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") and within the Department of Justice in the first part of January 2007. 5. With respect to plaintiffs' April 7, 2006 settlement proposal concerning the FLSA

claims of plaintiffs who have been employed by the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") as diversion investigators, on December 11, 2006 Government counsel verbally presented proposed revisions to plaintiffs' settlement proposal to plaintiffs' counsel for their consideration, stating that

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such revisions will promptly be submitted in writing. Once these revisions are discussed and resolved, the proposed settlement will be presented to the Deputy Administrator of DEA for his review. 6. The parties propose that they submit a joint status report on or before January 26,

2007, to apprise the Court of the status of the resolution of the above-discussed matters.

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Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General

s/David M. Cohen DAVID M. COHEN Director s/Jules Bernstein JULES BERNSTEIN Bernstein & Lipsett, P.C. 1920 L Street, N.W. Suite 303 Washington, D.C. 20036 OF COUNSEL: LINDA LIPSETT Tel: (202) 296-1798 Fax: (202) 296-7220

s/Shalom Brilliant SHALOM BRILLIANT Senior Trial Counsel Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Washington, D.C. 20036 Tel: (202) 305-7561 Fax: (202) 305-7643 OF COUNSEL: Michael J. Dierberg William Rayel Trial Attorneys Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attorneys for Defendant Dated: December 12, 2006

s/Edgar N. James EDGAR N. JAMES James & Hoffman, P.C. 1101 17th Street, N.W. Suite 510 Washington, D.C. 20036 Tel: (202) 496-0500 Fax: (202) 496-0555 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Dated: December 12, 2006 Filed Electronically with the consent of the Attorneys for Defendant

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that on this 12th day of December 2006, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT STATUS REPORT" was filed electronically. I understand that notice of this filing will be sent to all parties by operation of the Court's electronic filing system. Parties may access this filing through the Court's system. s/Jules Bernstein