Powell v. SSA, No. 18-847, 2018 WL 4840356 (D.D.C. Oct. 4, 2108) (Boasberg, J.)

Powell v. SSA, No. 18-847, 2018 WL 4840356 (D.D.C. Oct. 4, 2108) (Boasberg, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The court holds that "Defendant correctly argues that [plaintiff] has not raised a legally sufficient dispute as to his failure to exhaust the administrative-appeals process."  "SSA explains that it emailed Plaintiff a FOIA decision letter on April 4, 2018 – two days before the filing of the Complaint."  "Actual exhaustion was thus required, and Plaintiff makes no claim to having done so."  The court notes that "[plaintiff] only questions receipt of the April 4 email."  The court finds that, "[y]et, SSA sent that email to the same address that Plaintiff used for FOIAonline, included on his FOIA request, and provided to the Court."  "As in cases where a plaintiff has claimed to have mailed a request that the agency has not received, the Court sides with the Government."