A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit against Harvard University by the Justice Department, which alleged the school failed to provide admissions records that could ensure it had ended affirmative action in admissions. 

The DOJ had accused Harvard of stonewalling the investigation into potential racial discrimination and refusing to comply with a federal investigation, ABC News reported. The lawsuit asked a judge to force the university to turn over the requested records. 

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun concluded the DOJ failed to take the necessary procedural steps to acquire the data before filing the lawsuit.

Joun added that the ruling doesn't end the dispute over the data, stressing her decision was on the limited question of whether the government had adequately satisfied the prerequisites, at this point, for judicial enforcement to occur. 

"The ruling does not determine whether Harvard has discriminated, whether the agencies may lawfully seek appropriately defined applicant-level data, or whether Harvard may ultimately be required to provide such data," Joun wrote.