Order Administratively Closing Case — Air Force Officer — Lloyd J. Austin, III — Case 5:22-cv-00009-TES (Document 124)
- Date
- 2022-08-05
Summary
An order entered August 5, 2022 as Document 124 in Air Force Officer, et al. v. Lloyd J. Austin, III, et al., Civil Action No. 5:22-cv-00009-TES, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Macon Division. Judge Tilman E. Self, III grants Plaintiffs' Motion to Stay [Doc. 121] and stays the case as to Counts I and II of the Amended Complaint pending final judgment on preliminary relief granted in Doster v. Kendall (S.D. Ohio) and Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden (S.D. Tex.). The court also stays Count III, stating that all Plaintiffs are protected from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine by the preliminary relief granted in the Southern District of Ohio. It provides that Plaintiffs may move to reopen if that relief is vacated, reversed, stayed or significantly altered, directs the Clerk to administratively close the case, and cancels the August 8, 2022 telephone conference.
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“Order Administratively Closing Case — Air Force Officer — Lloyd J. Austin, III — Case 5:22-cv-00009-TES (Document 124).”
Original at archive.org, dated 2022-08-05. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2022-08-05-plaintiffs-v-lloyd-j-austin-iii-individually-and-in-his/
, SHA-256 ebcb02897e2a77a662b4a5d1055952cf614fd273d722906388d232d70a38e8ae.Full text
Case 5:22-cv-00009-TES Document 124 Filed 08/05/22 Page 1 of 3
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
MACON DIVISION
AIR FORCE OFFICER, AIR FORCE NCO,
AIR FORCE SPECIAL AGENT, and AIR
FORCE ENGINEER on behalf of themselves
and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
v.
CIVIL ACTION NO.
LLOYD J. AUSTIN, III, individually and in his 5:22-cv-00009-TES
official capacity as Secretary of Defense;
FRANK KENDALL, III, individually and his
official capacity as Secretary of the Air Force; and
ROBERT I. MILLER, individually and his
official capacity as Surgeon General of the Air Force,
Defendants.
ORDER ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSING CASE
Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion to Stay [Doc. 121] pending (1) final
judgment, after exhaustion of all appeal rights, as to the class-wide relief preliminary
granted in the Southern District of Ohio 1 and (2) final judgment, after exhaustion of all
appeal rights, as to the nationwide injunctive relief preliminarily granted in the
1See Order Granting Motion for Class Certification & Order Granting Class-wide Preliminary Injunction,
Doster v. Kendall, No. 1:22-cv-00084-MWM (S.D. Ohio Feb. 16, 2022), ECF Nos. 72 & 77.
Case 5:22-cv-00009-TES Document 124 Filed 08/05/22 Page 2 of 3
Southern District of Texas 2 as to the federal civilian mandate claims asserted in Counts I
and II of Amended Complaint [Doc. 84].
The Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Motion to Stay [Doc. 121], and it STAYS this case
as to Counts I and II of the Amended Complaint. 3 Because a district court’s “stay must
not be ‘immoderate[,]’” if the relief preliminarily granted to Plaintiffs in Doster is
vacated, reversed, stayed, or significantly altered to interfere with the relief to which
they contend they are entitled, they may file a motion to reopen this case. CTI–Container
Leasing Corp. v. Uiterwyk Corp., 685 F.2d 1284, 1288 (11th Cir. 1982). If the relief
preliminarily granted to Air Force Officer in Feds for Medical Freedom is vacated,
reversed, stayed, or significantly altered to interfere with the relief to which she
contends she is entitled, she may file a motion to reopen this case.
The Court also STAYS this case as to Count III of the Amended Complaint. At
this time, all Plaintiffs are completely protected from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine or
other adverse actions from the above-captioned defendants by the preliminary relief
granted in the Southern District of Ohio. Further, Air Force Officer—as to her federal
civilian mandate claims—is completely protected in the same manner by the
2See Memorandum Opinion and Order & Notice of Appeal, Feds for Med. Freedom v. Biden, No. 3:21-
cv00356, (S.D. Tex. Dec. 21, 2021), No. 22-40043 (5th Cir.), ECF Nos. 36–37.
3Regarding Defendants’ request that the Court stay Counts I and II for 14 days, Plaintiffs are
undoubtedly represented by competent and capable counsel, and their counsel can advise them as to how
to proceed with respect to the class certification and preliminary injunctive relief from Doster. [Doc. 122,
p. 2]. This Court will not impede, interfere, intimate, or attempt to interpret the orders issued by the
Southern District of Ohio.
2
Case 5:22-cv-00009-TES Document 124 Filed 08/05/22 Page 3 of 3
preliminary relief granted in the Southern District of Texas. Therefore, with deference to
judicial efficiency and an eye towards avoiding piecemeal litigation, the Court also
STAYS this case as to Count III of the Amended Complaint. See, e.g., Clinton v. Jones, 520
U.S. 681, 683 (1997) (discussing district court’s “broad discretion to stay proceedings as
an incident to its power to control its own docket”). In the event the protections
currently afforded in Dotson and Feds for Medical Freedom are vacated, reversed, stayed,
or significantly altered to interfere with the relief Plaintiffs contend they are entitled,
they may file a motion to reopen this case.
Based on the Court’s stay with respect to Counts I, II, and III of the Amended
Complaint, the Court DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSE
this case. 4
SO ORDERED, this 5th day of August, 2022.
S/ Tilman E. Self, III
TILMAN E. SELF, III, JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
4 The Telephone Conference scheduled for August 8, 2022, is CANCELED.
3
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