Ramos v. USDA, No. 22-20312, 2022 WL 2208915 (S.D. Fla. June 21, 2022) (Bloom, J.)

Ramos v. USDA, No. 22-20312, 2022 WL 2208915 (S.D. Fla. June 21, 2022) (Bloom, J.)

Re:  Allegations regarding dissemination of information concerning plaintiff's status on administrative leave

Disposition:  Granting in part and denying in part defendant's motion to dismiss

• Exemption 6:  "The issue raised is whether Plaintiff's allegation that Defendant disseminated Plaintiff's status on administrative leave constitutes an alleged failure to fulfill Defendant's record-keeping obligation as set forth by the Privacy Act and Exemption 6."  "[O]ne's status on administrative leave is related to one's job performance, the disclosure of which would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and would violate the Privacy Act."  "One's status on administrative leave reflects one's poor job performance, which is personal and not equivalent to the categories that are not protected under Exemption 6 because they are not personal, such as one's name, position, salary rates, duty station, position descriptions, and performance standards."  "Notably, 5 C.F.R. § 293.311(a)(6) expressly allows the disclosure of performance standards used to evaluate one's job performance under limited circumstances, not the performance appraisals themselves."