Antonio v. United States, No. 23-0079, 2023 WL 2394153 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 6, 2023) (Taylor Swain, C.J.)

Antonio v. United States, No. 23-0079, 2023 WL 2394153 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 6, 2023) (Taylor Swain, C.J.)

Re:  Request for identities of three confidential informants

Disposition:  Granting plaintiff leave to file amended complaint within 60 days

• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The court holds that “[b]efore seeking judicial review, a FOIA applicant must exhaust administrative remedies by completing the administrative appeal process.”  “Here, Plaintiff does not allege facts suggesting that she has filed a FOIA request with the federal agency that she believes to be in possession of documents containing the information she is seeking and that she has exhausted her administrative remedies.”  “Because Plaintiff does not allege that she has exhausted her administrative remedies as described above, she fails to state a claim under the FOIA.”