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Gubbels v. USDA

CASE SUMMARY

Did we achieve our litigation objective? Yes. Following the district court’s ruling, the USDA dropped its charges against Kevin Gubbels instead of offering him a fair hearing as the district court suggested.

Court Outcome: Technically, the district court ruled that the USDA was not yet required to respect Kevin Gubbels’ due process rights and provide him a chance to contest the accusations against him before excluding Gubbels from the federal crop insurance program, but it urged USDA to act quickly.

Larger Impact: When an administrative agency wants to levy a punishment, the Constitution requires affording the accused due process of law. By denying Kevin Gubbels an administrative hearing, let alone a day in an impartial court, the USDA acted unlawfully. This judicial brushback reminds agencies they cannot operate above the law.

Summary: NCLA filed a complaint and a motion for preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. The case, Kevin Gubbels and Insure My Honey, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Risk Management Agency, was filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Risk Management Agency (RMA), and the respective heads of those entities. Gubbels contested those agencies’ efforts to suspend and debar his participation in the federal crop insurance program without a hearing.

RMA’s action risked destroying a recently thriving business, and had  already put over 60 insurance agents out of work based on a hearsay complaint without giving the business a chance to contest the accusation at a hearing. Even if Mr. Gubbels had eventually been granted a hearing, the process would have been anything but fair, as the existing regulations consolidate the roles of both prosecutor and judge in the agency head. This in-house administrative adjudication makes a mockery of due process, and seriously threatened Mr. Gubbels’s livelihood.

OUR CLIENT

Kevin Gubbels, Plaintiff

OUR TEAM

John J. Vecchione
Senior Litigation Counsel

RELEVANT MATERIALS

NCLA FILINGS

Notice of Telephonic Hearing Kevin J. Gubbels

December 16, 2020 | Read More

Memorandum and Order of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska

November 23, 2020 | Read More

Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and for Summary Judgment, and Reply in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction

July 17, 2020 | Read More

Plaintiffs’ Brief in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction

June 1, 2020 | Read More

Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

June 1, 2020 | Read More

PRESS RELEASES

NCLA Suit Challenges Lack of Due Process Hearing in Suspension from USDA Crop Insurance Program

July 17, 2020 | Read More

NCLA Takes USDA to Task over Unlawful Agency Adjudication Procedures that Violate Civil Liberties

June 2, 2020 | Read More

CASE HIGHLIGHTS

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