Francis v. IRS, No. 19-949, 19-3177, 2020 WL 3129030 (D.D.C. June 12, 2020) (Walton, J.)

Francis v. IRS, No. 19-949, 19-3177, 2020 WL 3129030 (D.D.C. June 12, 2020) (Walton, J.)

Re:  Plaintiffs' attempts to obtain certain forms

Disposition:  Dismissing plaintiffs' complaint

• Litigation Considerations, Pattern-or-Practice Claims:  "[T]he Court concludes that the plaintiffs have failed to plead an improper policy or practice claim under the FOIA."  The court explains that "[b]ecause the plaintiffs fail to allege that they submitted any 'properly framed request for information' under the FOIA or the Privacy Act, the IRS's 'duties under the FOIA . . . [were] [never] triggered[,]' . . . and the plaintiffs have failed to 'plead [ ] some policy or practice that [ ] results in a repeated' – let alone a single – 'violation of the FOIA' . . . ."  "Specifically, [the court holds that] 'the telephone calls [by the plaintiffs to IRS employees]' cannot qualify as [ ] proper[ly] signed written request[s] under the FOIA . . . ."  "Additionally, the plaintiffs' 'two submitted IRS Forms 4506-T . . . do not qualify as properly perfected FOIA . . . requests[,]' . . . because they 'd[id] not state that [they] [were] made under the FOIA . . . .'"  "And finally, the '[a]dministrative [FOIA] [a]ppeals' submitted by the plaintiffs to the Fresno IRS Appeals office did not 'satisf[y] the requirements for a valid [initial FOIA . . . request' because they were not 'addressed and mailed to the correct IRS FOIA[ ] [unit]' . . . ."