ALDF V. FDA, No. 13-17131 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Freedom of Information Act. On remand from the en banc court, the panel reviewed de novo the district court’s summary judgment in a Freedom of Information Act case, concluded that there was a genuine issue of material fact, and reversed and remanded to the district court for further proceedings.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on April 11, 2016.
Download PDF
FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, Plaintiff-Appellant, No. 13-17131 D.C. No. 3:12-cv-04376-EDL v. U.S. FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION, Defendant-Appellee. OPINION On Remand from the En Banc Court Filed September 30, 2016 Before: Susan P. Graber, Kim McLane Wardlaw, and Mary H. Murguia, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam Opinion 2 ALDF V. USFDA SUMMARY* Freedom of Information Act On remand from the en banc court, the panel reviewed de novo the district court’s summary judgment in a Freedom of Information Act case, concluded that there was a genuine issue of material fact, and reversed and remanded to the district court for further proceedings. COUNSEL Monte M.F. Cooper, Derek F. Knerr, and Scott Lindlaw, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Menlo Park, California, for Plaintiff-Appellant. Lindsey Powell and Michael S. Raab, Attorneys, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; for Defendant-Appellee. Caitlin Zittkowski and Cristina R. Stella, San Francisco, California, as and for Amicus Curiae Center for Food Safety. * This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. ALDF V. USFDA 3 OPINION PER CURIAM: In Animal Legal Defense Fund v. FDA, No. 13-17131, 2016 WL 4578362 (9th Cir. Sept. 2, 2016) (en banc) (per curiam), the en banc court overruled our earlier precedents on the applicable standard of review in Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, cases decided on summary judgment. The court held that the usual summary judgment standard applies, so we must review the district court’s decision de novo. Accordingly, on summary judgment, “if there are genuine issues of material fact in a FOIA case, the district court should proceed to a bench trial or adversary hearing.” Animal Legal Def. Fund, 2016 WL 4578362, at *2. As we noted in our earlier opinion, Animal Legal Defense Fund v. FDA, 819 F.3d 1102, 1108–09 (9th Cir. 2016), the parties submitted competing declarations concerning the potential competitive effect of releasing egg-production information. In a per curiam concurrence, we also observed that, “if ordinary principles applied, summary judgment would not be appropriate because the record contains a disputed issue of material fact.” Id. at 1112. Following the en banc court’s decision, those ordinary principles now control this case. Applying the usual summary judgment standard, we conclude that there is a genuine issue of material fact in this case and, therefore, we must reverse and remand to the district court for further proceedings. REVERSED and REMANDED.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
