Janangelo, Jr. v. Treasury Inspector Gen. for Tax Admin., No. 16-906, 2017 WL 1179944 (D. Nev. Mar. 29, 2017) (Mahan, J.)

Janangelo, Jr. v. Treasury Inspector Gen. for Tax Admin., No. 16-906, 2017 WL 1179944 (D. Nev. Mar. 29, 2017) (Mahan, J.)

Re: Request for records resulting from congressional inquiry prompted by plaintiff's complaint concerning IRS employee

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment; denying plaintiff's motion for summary judgment

• Exemption 6, Glomar: The court holds that, "[b]ecause the balance of interests weighs heavily in favor of [the IRS employee's] privacy interest, the court finds TIGTA's application of the § 552(b)(6) exemption to be warranted." Regarding the privacy interests, the court finds that "the privacy interest at stake here is great as the allegations are of a single individual and regard intimate topics which, if disclosed, could cause severe professional and personal embarrassment." Regarding the public interests advanced by plaintiff, the court finds that "[p]ersonal interests are given no weight in the balancing of public interest" and "[t]he remaining allegations of public interest do not suffice to preclude exemption." The court then finds that [b]ecause the requested information's existence has not yet been acknowledged, a Glomar response would be valid so long as it sufficiently details a persuasive reason for claiming the FOIA exemptions." "[T]he court finds that neither [plaintiff's e-mails with defendant nor defendant's declaration] constitute an acknowledgement by TIGTA regarding the existence of a report."