Powell v. SSA, No. 18-847, 2018 WL 4840356 (D.D.C. Oct. 4, 2108) (Boasberg, J.)
Date
Powell v. SSA, No. 18-847, 2018 WL 4840356 (D.D.C. Oct. 4, 2108) (Boasberg, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff
Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment
- Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies: The court holds that "Defendant correctly argues that [plaintiff] has not raised a legally sufficient dispute as to his failure to exhaust the administrative-appeals process." "SSA explains that it emailed Plaintiff a FOIA decision letter on April 4, 2018 – two days before the filing of the Complaint." "Actual exhaustion was thus required, and Plaintiff makes no claim to having done so." The court notes that "[plaintiff] only questions receipt of the April 4 email." The court finds that, "[y]et, SSA sent that email to the same address that Plaintiff used for FOIAonline, included on his FOIA request, and provided to the Court." "As in cases where a plaintiff has claimed to have mailed a request that the agency has not received, the Court sides with the Government."
Court Decision Topic(s)
District Court opinions
Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
Updated November 19, 2021