UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ROBERT W. RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-00240 (CJN) VIRGINIA S. PENROD, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Rodriguez, U.S. Army (retired), was an officer in the New York Army National Guard in the 1990s. Compl. ¶ 1, ECF No. 4. Near the end of his career Rodriguez blew the whistle on certain personnel accounting techniques that had the effect of overstating the number of soldiers in active service (and thereby inflating the Guard’s budget requests). Id. ¶ 14. He alleges that he was then subjected to illegal retaliation and forced to retire. Id. ¶¶ 2, 14–24. More than two decades later, he continues to litigate the aftermath of those events. In this Court, he challenges the Defense Department’s decision on the appeals of his administrative petition before the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, on both procedural and substantive grounds, under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706. See generally Compl. Before the Court are the Parties’ Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment. See Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. (“Def.’s Mot.”), ECF No. 13; Pl.’s Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. 14. The Court finds that the Department’s action on Rodriguez’s appeal was adequate under the APA and therefore grants summary judgment to Defendant. 1 I. Background Rodriguez was commissioned in the Army Reserve in 1971 and served in a variety of positions over the next two decades. See Army Board for Corrections of Military Rs. R. of Proceedings of Aug. 5, 2010 (“First Board Decision”) at 4–5, Pl.’s Deferred App’x (“D.A.”) 522–23. 1 In 1994 he assumed command of the 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment. Id. at 5, D.A. 523. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on December 19, 1994. Id. In 1996, Rodriguez’s commander, Colonel Dale Barber, relieved him of command because Rodriguez’s battalion arrived at a summer training exercise with nearly 15% fewer soldiers than expected. Col. Barber’s Mem. of Aug. 11, 1996, D.A. 206. Shortly thereafter, Rodriguez made a report to the New York Army National Guard’s Inspector General and subsequently contacted the State’s Adjutant General. Pl.’s Mem. of August 14, 1996, D.A. 207. Rodriguez was reassigned to an administrative position pending further action. First Board Decision at 9, D.A. 527. Later that year, Major General Robert Rose, who was then the New York Guard’s Commanding General, issued Rodriguez a letter of reprimand. Maj. Gen. Rose’s Mem. of Oct. 16, 1996, D.A. 217. The letter purported to justify Rodriguez’s relief from command as the “direct result of [his] failure to control the AWOLs and [his] lack of attention to strength maintenance throughout the battalion.” Id.; First Board Decision at 8–10, D.A. 526–28. Around that time, Rodriguez submitted a request for redesignation as a logistics officer, but the Guard denied his request. First Board Decision at 10, D.A. 528; LTC Charles H. Hall’s Mem. of Oct. 8, 1996, D.A. 212. 1 All citations to Plaintiff’s Deferred Appendix are to ECF Nos. ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals