Lierman v. Coast Professional Inc

Filing 30

ORDER signed by Judge Pamela Pepper on 2/28/2017 GRANTING 23 plaintiff's unopposed motion to compel discovery and ORDERING the Department of Education to produce discovery by a date certain. (cc: all counsel) (pwm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
______________________________________________________________________________
ROBERT LIERMAN,

Case No. 15-cv-835-pp

Plaintiff,
v.
COAST PROFESSIONAL, INC.,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S UNOPPOSED MOTION TO COMPEL
DISCOVERY (DKT. NO. 23), AND ORDERING DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION TO PRODUCE DISCOVERY BY DATE CERTAIN
______________________________________________________________________________
On April 4, 2016, the plaintiff filed an unopposed motion, asking the
court to compel the United States Department of Education to produce
documents relating to the plaintiff’s student loans. Dkt. No. 23. According to
the motion, the plaintiff served a subpoena on the DOE on October 23, 2015,
seeking production of the document. The DOE declined to produce the
documents for a variety of reasons, and suggested that the plaintiff file a
Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request. Id. at 1, Exhibits A, B. The
plaintiff filed a FOIA request in late December, 2015, id.; as of the date of this
order, the DOE has not turned over any documents in response to that request
despite the plaintiff’s counsel having confirmed in January 2017 that the DOE
had received it, id. at 2.
On May 4, 2016, the court held a hearing on the motion to compel. Dkt.
No. 24. The court asked whether the plaintiff had considered advising the DOE
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that he consented to the DOE releasing the documents. Counsel for the
plaintiff indicated that he had not tried that, and agreed to do so. Id.
On February 3, 2017—not quite sixteen months after the plaintiff served
the subpoena—the plaintiff filed a status report and request for a status
conference. Dkt. No. 29. The report indicated that counsel had contacted an
Attorney S. Dawn Scaniffe to ask what the DOE needed in the way of consent
to release documents. It took a number of attempts before counsel reached
Attorney Scaniffe; once he had, the plaintiff’s counsel provided the appropriate
consent documents in early June, 2016. Id. at 1. The status report indicated
that, as of February 3, 2017, the DOE had not provided the documents. Id.
Today—February 28, 2017—the court held the status conference.
Counsel for the plaintiff informed the court that the DOE had produced
nothing in response to the consent, despite counsel’s having reached out by
both telephone and e-mail. Counsel for the defendant indicated that she, too,
wanted to see the documents.
The plaintiff has been trying to obtain his student loan documents from
the DOE for sixteen months. He has filed a FOIA request, with no result, and
has provided his consent (almost two months ago), with no result. The court
has no alternative but to order the DOE to provide the requested documents.
The court GRANTS the plaintiff’s unopposed motion to compel. Dkt. No.
23. The court ORDERS that by the end of the day on Friday, April 28, 2017,
the Department of Education shall produce to counsel for the plaintiff, Robert
Lierman (11910 W. Mill Road, Apt. 22, Milwaukee, WI 53225-1046) all periodic
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statements sent by the Department of Education to Robert Lierman from July
9, 2010 through the present; payment histories from July 9, 2010 through the
present all accounts related to plaintiff Robert Lierman, including but not
limited to loans with account numbers ending in -5551; -5541; -5560; -5542; 2757; -8980; -7527; and -6748; and all documents relating to the plaintiff’s
account, including loan notes, records of payments, agreements, the issuance
of monthly statements, records regarding his account, and any correspondence
sent to him.
If the Department of Education does not produce these documents to the
plaintiff’s counsel by the end of the day on Friday, April 28, 2017, the
Department or its representatives may be subject to sanctions, including an
order to compel, an order to show cause, or other court action.
Dated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this 28th day of February, 2017.

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