No that does not sound fair. For 80% people they don't ask for updated schedule A, so when does it start for them? We submit the schedule A with our applications, so immigration officers usually go with that, and when the processing takes longer for some reason or they have some doubts or just because they want it, they send requests for updated to see if there have been any changes in your status (marital/job/whatever) and that happens during/end of background check.
I am not able to recall the names of people who got updated schedule requests, but there were many in May-June applicants.
But again, either of us may be correct or nobody, lol, but best wishes for this guy who got the request