Truesdale v. U.S. Pub. Health Serv., No. 23-92, 2024 WL 3581346 (D.D.C. July 30, 2024) (Contreras, J.)

Truesdale v. U.S. Pub. Health Serv., No. 23-92, 2024 WL 3581346 (D.D.C. July 30, 2024) (Contreras, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment; denying plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The court holds that “[w]hen, as here, an agency moves for summary judgment on the ground that it has not received a plaintiff’s FOIA request, the plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating a genuine dispute as to the agency’s receipt of the request.”  “The agency typically establishes its non-receipt of a request through a sworn declaration.”  “Such a declaration is – if relatively detailed and non-conclusory – afforded a presumption of good faith.”  “That presumption cannot be rebutted with ‘purely speculative claims about the existence and discoverability of [the request].’”  “In this case, each agency has provided a declaration attesting that they never received Plaintiff’s FOIA request.”  “Plaintiff attempts to overcome the force of Defendants’ sworn declarations by providing a copy of his FOIA request, copies of the follow-up letters he sent when he did not receive a response, and his own sworn declarations.”  “But while this evidence supports Plaintiff’s genuinely held belief that he properly sent the FOIA request, it does not create a genuine dispute of fact as to whether Defendants received the request.”  “In other words, Plaintiff’s evidence, without more, does not create a genuine dispute of material fact as to any of the agencies’ actual receipt of a FOIA request.”  “That being so, Defendants are entitled to summary judgment.”