Brady v. Berman, No. 18-8459, 2019 WL 4534421 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 18, 2019) (Caproni, J.)

Brady v. Berman, No. 18-8459, 2019 WL 4534421 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 18, 2019) (Caproni, J.)

Re:  Claim that defendant has "'repeatedly denied'" plaintiff's FOIA requests

Disposition:  Adopting Magistrate Judge's report and recommendation; dismissing plaintiff's FOIA complaint with leave to amend

• Litigation Considerations. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  "The Court agrees that Plaintiff's FOIA claim should be dismissed, as the allegations in the Complaint do not make clear that Plaintiff complied with FOIA's requirements."  "First, it is not clear that Plaintiff ever requested records from Defendant . . . ."  "Although Plaintiff submitted, in response to Defendant's motion to dismiss, a series of requests that he had made to the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he submitted no evidence that he ever made such a request to the USAO-SDNY[, the component at issue here]."  "The Court believes, however, that this claim should be dismissed with leave to amend."  "Although the documents that the parties submitted in connection with Defendant's motion strongly suggest that Plaintiff has not, to this date, submitted a valid FOIA request to Defendant, let alone that he has exhausted his administrative remedies, the Court cannot definitively determine those facts at this juncture."