Case Detail
Case Title | Glennborough Homeowners Association v. The United States Postal Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
District | Eastern District of Michigan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
City | Port Huron | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Case Number | 3:2020cv12526 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date Filed | 2020-09-15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date Closed | 2021-03-08 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Judge | District Judge Robert H. Cleland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Plaintiff | Glennborough Homeowners Association | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Case Description | The Glennborough Homeowners Association, a subdivision in Ypsilanti, submitted a FOIA request to the U.S. Postal Service for records concerning the Postal Service's denial of Glennborough's request to have its zip code changed. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency sent a partial response containing 152 pages, eight pages were withheld in full while 32 pages were redacted. Glennborough filed an administrative appeal of that decision. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Glennborough Homeowners Association filed suit. Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation - Attorney's fees | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defendant | The United States Postal Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appeal | Sixth Circuit 21-1340 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Documents | Docket Complaint Opinion/Order [10] Opinion/Order [11] FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in Michigan has ruled that the Glennborough Homeowners Association does not have standing to pursue FOIA litigation against the U.S. Postal Service because the FOIA requests submitted to the agency identified Kathryn Marx, a resident of the subdivision, as the named requester and contained no mention of Glennborough. Glennborough, a residential subdivision in Ypsilanti, petitioned the Postal Service to change its zip code to one in Ann Arbor. USPS denied the request. Marx then submitted two FOIA requests for records concerning Glennborough's proposed zip code change. After the agency denied the request, Marx filed an administrative appeal. The agency responded by disclosing some records, but Marx contended that the response was incomplete. Glennborough then filed suit, challenging the agency's decision not to grant the zip code change, as well as the agency's FOIA responses. Although Marx's FOIA requests did not mention her affiliation with Glennborough, in its complaint she was referred to as a "Glennborough resident and member of its zip code committee." Dismissing the FOIA claim for lack of standing, the court explained that "plaintiff did not make the FOIA requests at issue in this case. Marx did. Nowhere do Marx's FOIA requests state that Plaintiff is making the request or that Marx is acting in an official capacity on behalf of Plaintiff. Furthermore, the complaint does not include an allegation that Plaintiff suffered an injury. The complaint simply states that a FOIA request was sent. Defendant did not timely respond to the request, and the responses Defendant did provide were incomplete." The court observed that "while it is in society's abstract interest to have federal agencies comply with FOIA, Defendant's alleged violations do not alone establish standing for Plaintiff." Glennborough argued that it had standing to sue and "because it has standing to sue Marx can be added as an additional plaintiff under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(a)(3)." The court disagreed, noting instead that "Plaintiff lacks standing to bring this FOIA claim, and the court will not substitute Marx into the lawsuit using Rule 17(a)(3)."
Issues: Request - Perfected request | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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