PATRICIA D. BARKSDALE, District Judge.
Proceeding without a lawyer, James Fleischman, Jr., has filed a complaint against the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration ("SSA") seeking disclosure of records from his social-security claim files and reinstatement of his supplemental-security-income benefits following his anticipated release from prison.
Mr. Fleishman explains he is currently incarcerated and acknowledges he therefore is currently ineligible to receive benefits.
As the Commissioner contends, Doc. 18, this Court does not have jurisdiction to consider Mr. Fleischman's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g),
Mr. Fleischman also alleges the SSA never responded to his requests for his records from 1988 to 2012 and seeks production of those records, Doc. 1 at 1, which the Court construes as a claim under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, based on the alleged denial of access to records about him.
The Privacy Act "gives agencies detailed instructions for managing their records and provides for various sorts of civil relief to individuals aggrieved by failures on the Government's part to comply with the requirements." Doe v. Chao, 540 U.S. 614, 618 (2004). It imposes on agencies maintaining a "system of records"
The Privacy Act creates a civil action for four categories of agency failures. Doe, 540 U.S. at 618; see 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g)(1)(A)-(D). Pertinent here, if an agency "refuses to comply with an individual request [for access to his own records] under subsection (d)(1)," the person who requested access may bring a civil action in federal district court. 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g)(1)(B). In such a case, "the court may enjoin the agency from withholding the records and order the production to the complainant of any agency records improperly withheld from him." 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g)(3)(A).
To state a claim under the Privacy Act for denial of access to records, a plaintiff must allege (1) he requested access to his records; (2) the agency denied his request; and (3) the agency's denial or failure to act was improper under the Privacy Act. See 5 U.S.C. §§ 552a(g)(1)(B), (3)(A); see also Bosworth v. United States, No. CV 14-0283 DMG(SS), 2016 WL 5662045, at *4 (C.D. Cal. July 22, 2016) (unpublished); Cornelius v. McHugh, No. 3:14-cv-00234-MGL, 2015 WL 4231877, at *6 (D.S.C. July 13, 2015) (unpublished); Semrau v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, No. 5:13-cv-188-DCB-MTP, 2014 WL 4626708, at *6 (S.D. Miss. Sept. 12, 2014) (unpublished); Singh v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., No. 1:12-cv-00498-AWI-SKO, 2014 WL 67254, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 8, 2014) (unpublished); Biondo v. Dep't of Navy, 928 F.Supp. 626, 631 (D.S.C. 1995).
Submission of a properly framed request for records is a necessary element of a claim based on denial of access to records. See Taylor v. U.S. Treasury Dep't, 127 F.3d 470, 475 n.6 (5th Cir. 1997) (stating in dictum that "submission of a properly framed request . . . is a necessary element of Taylor's claim for injunctive relief. . . . [T]o the extent that Taylor never presented the IRS with a proper Privacy Act request, the IRS never improperly withheld records from him") (emphasis in original); Banks v. U.S. Marshal, No. CIV-07-0229-F, 2007 WL 2238342, at *4 (W.D. Okla. Aug. 1, 2007) (unpublished) (citing Taylor; finding plaintiff failed to state a claim under the Privacy Act because, "[h]aving failed to properly request documents from an agency, Plaintiff cannot demonstrate that any document he requested has been improperly withheld").
Although the Commissioner does not address Mr. Fleischman's Privacy Act claim, the claim cannot go forward absent amendment because Mr. Fleischman does not allege the substance of his request for records with sufficient specificity to indicate whether his request was proper. A proper request for records must comply with the relevant agency's regulations governing such requests.
Denial of Mr. Fleischman's motions for additional relief (Doc. 27), opposing the Commissioner's motion (Doc. 31), and for summary judgment (Docs. 33, 37) is warranted because they only relate to his claim for benefits.
The Court:
20 C.F.R. § 401.40(b). Any written request for records must be sent to "the manager of the SSA system of records" at issue. 20 C.F.R. § 401.40(c). A person need not "use any special form" but must provide "enough identifying information about the record [he] want[s] to enable [the SSA] to find" the record, including "the system of records in which the record is located and the name and social security number (or other identifier) under which the record is filed." Id. The SSA will "not honor requests for all records, all information, or similar blanket requests." Id.
With respect to requests for medical records, the requesting person must "name a representative in writing [such as a physician or other health professional]. . . who will be willing to review the record and inform [the requester] of its contents," although in some cases the requester might be able to access his own medical records directly. 20 C.F.R. § 401.55(b)(1)(ii), (2).