A Better Way for BPA v. DOE, No. 16-35414, 2018 WL 2376165 (9th Cir. May 25, 2018) (McKeown, J.)

A Better Way for BPA v. DOE, No. 16-35414, 2018 WL 2376165 (9th Cir. May 25, 2018) (McKeown, J.)

Re:  Request submitted by individual on behalf of group

Disposition:  Reversing district court's grant of government's motion to dismiss

• Litigation Considerations, Pleadings:  The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds "that the suit should not have been dismissed for lack of standing."  The court holds that "FOIA forms should not be a 'gotcha' proposition requiring a lexicographer to discern who made the request."  "But here, the submitted form's unambiguous reference to plaintiff, confirming correspondence, and common sense make clear that plaintiff was the requester and consequently has standing to sue."  The court finds that "[t]his is not a situation where there was a 'passing reference' to the named plaintiff on the FOIA request, . . . where the agency had to divine the actual requester, or where counsel dealt with the agency without any indication of who was requesting the documents."  "The online form clearly identified plaintiff as the requester – in the 'Organization' field and in its reference to 'our members' – and BPA acknowledged as much in corresponding with the group."