Federal Judge Declines To Dismiss Case for SBA Executive's Phone Records

PETALUMA, Calif., June 18 /-USNewswire/ -- Federal District Court Judge for the Northern District of California, Edward Chen failed to grant a motion from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to dismiss a Freedom of Information Act case filed by the American Small Business League (ASBL) in a hearing held on Wednesday, June 17th.

The ASBL filed the case after the SBA refused to provide the phone records of SBA Press Office Director Mike Stamler. The ASBL requested Stamler's emails and phone records after several journalists reported receiving angry and profane phone calls and emails from Stamler regarding the ASBL and their President Lloyd Chapman.

After receiving one of Stamler's profane emails, the Long Island Business Journal (LIBJ) posted an article on its blog titled, "Expletives the SBA's Forte." (http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/expletives-the-sbas-forte/)

Since 2003, information provided by Lloyd Chapman and the ASBL prompted several federal investigations that found the SBA had included billions of dollars in federal contracts awarded to Fortune 500 firms towards the federal government's congressionally mandated 23 percent small business procurement goal. Several of the nation's largest newspapers, ABC, CBS and CNN all reported on the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. (ABC, http://www.asbl.com/abc_evening_news.wmv; CBS, http://www.asbl.com/cbs.wmv; CNN, http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1170)

One of the key issues in the case are the phone records for Stamler's government-issued cell phone. The SBA is claiming Stamler's cell phone records are not a government document. The SBA is also claiming they have no records of Stamler's local phone calls and that he only made approximately 10 long distance calls per month during the course of a two year period.

Judge Chen gave the SBA and the ASBL one week to provide additional briefing on the case.

The SBA is also appealing Federal District Court Judge Marilyn Patel's order directing the SBA to pay the legal fees incurred by the ASBL in another recent Freedom of Information Act case the SBA lost to the ASBL. (http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1202429063119) In that case the SBA attempted to convince the court they had no records on the actual recipients of federal small business contracts. (www.asbl.com/documents/26-2.pdf)

The ASBL is preparing to file several other lawsuits against the SBA for Stamler's emails along with a number of other Freedom of Information Act requests the SBA has refused to comply with. The ASBL has won every Freedom of Information Act case it has filed against the SBA.

SOURCE American Small Business League

Federal Judge Directs SBA to Pay Legal Fees to American Small Business League

PETALUMA, Calif., April 16 /-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, United States District Judge Marilyn H. Patel issued an order directing the Small Business Administration (SBA) to pay the American Small Business League's (ASBL) legal fees in a recent federal court case. The ASBL filed suit against the SBA after the agency refused to provide the names of all the firms that had received federal small business contracts for fiscal years (FY) 2005 and 2006. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/feeaward_sba_names_of_firms.pdf)

The ASBL requested the information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to prove the SBA included billions of dollars in awards to Fortune 500 corporations and other large firms towards the government's 23 percent small business contracting goal.

In a recent story in the National Law Journal regarding the ASBL's legal victory over the SBA, the agency's Associate General Counsel Eric Benderson tried to deny that the ASBL won the case when he stated, "We won the case and decided not to appeal." (http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1202429063119)

Benderson's statements stand in stark contrast to Patel's initial ruling against the agency, in which she stated, "The court finds curious the SBA's argument that it does not 'control' the very information it needs to carry out its duties and functions."

(www.asbl.com/documents/26-2.pdf)

The ASBL has won a series of lawsuits against the SBA forcing the release of information that proves the SBA was one of the agencies responsible for the diversion of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 companies and thousands of large businesses around the world.

As recently as March 13, the ASBL filed another suit against the SBA because the agency refused to release SBA Press Office Director Mike Stamler's telephone records for 2006 and 2007. The ASBL intends to file an additional suit against the agency for refusing to release all of Mr. Stamler's emails for 2006 and 2007. The ASBL began requesting Mr. Stamler's communications after several journalists informed the organization that Mr. Stamler had libeled and slandered the ASBL and its President, Lloyd Chapman. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20090312complaint.pdf, http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/expletives-the-sbas-forte/)

"There have been over a dozen federal investigations that found billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms. It is time for the FBI to investigate Stamler and Benderson and find out why these two SBA executives have worked so aggressively to mislead Congress and the public on this issue, withhold information, and libel and slander anyone that tries to expose the rampant fraud and abuse in SBA programs," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

SOURCE American Small Business League