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

Case 1:90-cv-00162-LJB

Document 603

Filed 10/03/2006

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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 September 5, 2006, the parties respectfully submit this status report concerning the status of settlement negotiations. 1. In the parties' previous joint status report, the parties stated that the Government

had rejected plaintiffs' September 22, 2005, settlement offer concerning the claims that were the subject of the Court's December 1, 2004 partial summary judgment decision, i.e., the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") claims of GS-13 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. The parties also noted, however, that, in response to several requests by plaintiffs' counsel, a meeting had been scheduled for September 14, 2006, to further discuss this offer. This meeting was held as scheduled, and was attended by the undersigned attorneys as well as Assistant Attorney General Peter D. Keisler and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart E. Schiffer. As a result of this meeting, plaintiffs' settlement proposal is again under active consideration within the Department of Justice. Plaintiffs' proposal has been reviewed by the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, and is awaiting a final decision by the Acting Associate Attorney General.

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2.

As indicated in the parties' May 25, 2006 Joint Status Report ("JSR"),

Government counsel had 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. The parties have not precluded the possibility of settling the claims of GS-12 criminal investigators employed by HHS and HUD. In the event that these claims are not settled, plaintiffs anticipate conducting discovery in preparation for a motion for summary judgment. The Government may also conduct discovery in preparation for a motion for summary judgment. Settlement of the GS-5/7 criminal investigator claims is still under discussion. Since the filing of the last JSR, plaintiffs have revised their offer as to these claims. Government counsel requested additional information from the agency that is necessary to appropriately evaluate the revised offer, which was provided to Government counsel on September 26, 2006. In addition, on October 2, 2006, Government counsel and plaintiffs' counsel discussed certain issues with respect to the calculations underlying plaintiffs' revised offer. The parties hope to have these issues resolved shortly so that a settlement offer can be forwarded to the agency for recommendation. 3. As indicated in the parties' May 25, 2006 JSR, on May 23, 2006, plaintiffs'

settlement offer of November 23, 2005, concerning the FLSA claims of marine enforcement officers, was submitted for approval within the Department of Justice, together with the necessary memorandum concerning the proposal. This settlement offer is currently under

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consideration within the Department of Justice. Government counsel anticipates that a decision whether to accept this offer will be made within the next few weeks. 4. In connection with plaintiffs' February 15, 2006 settlement proposal concerning

certain technical positions at Customs and Border Protection and its predecessor agencies, on July 13, 2006, plaintiffs provided government counsel information that clarified which plaintiffs are covered by the proposed settlement. Since the filing of the last status report, the agency has provided certain information necessary for consideration of the proposed settlement to Government counsel, however the agency has not yet provided its recommendation regarding the proposed settlement. The agency indicates that it should be able to provide a recommendation by October 6, 2006. 5. Plaintiffs' April 7, 2006 settlement proposal concerning the FLSA claims of

plaintiffs who have been employed by the Drug Enforcement Administration as diversion investigators has been undergoing careful review by the agency. The agency has identified several specific implementation issues presented by the back pay computation mechanism contained in th proposed settlement agreement. Government counsel hopes to present these issues to plaintiffs' counsel within the next few days. Once these issues are resolved, we anticipate that 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 November

6, 2006, 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: October 3, 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: October 3, 2006 Filed Electronically with the consent of the Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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