Baker v. England

397 F. Supp. 2d 18, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25752, 2005 WL 2839822
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedOctober 31, 2005
DocketCIV.A. 05-781(RMU)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 397 F. Supp. 2d 18 (Baker v. England) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. England, 397 F. Supp. 2d 18, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25752, 2005 WL 2839822 (D.D.C. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

URBINA, District Judge.

Denying the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss,- Denying the Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment; Granting the Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment

I. INTRODUCTION

This case is before the court on the defendants’ motion to dismiss and for summary judgment 1 and the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff, James Baker, is a Major in the United States Marine Corps. He sought modifications of his personnel records with the Marine Corps on four occasions since 1992. On all four occasions, functionaries at the Marine Corps denied those requests, finding that there were no inaccuracies warranting revision of his records. The plaintiff now seeks a judicial ruling that these four determinations violated his rights under the Privacy Act and are in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”). Specifically, the plaintiff claims that the Privacy Act mandates modification of his personnel records to correct for factual inaccuracies and that the four prior denials were arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA. Conversely, the defendants claim that the Privacy Act’s statute of limitations bars the plaintiffs claims, that the Privacy Act limits modifications of personnel records to factual matters rather than opinion matters, and that the agency’s determinations were not arbitrary and capricious. Because the plaintiff is exempt from the Privacy Act’s statute of limitations, the court denies the defendants’ motion to dismiss. Because the Privacy Act limits modifications of personnel records to factual matters, rather than matters of opinion, and because the plaintiff sought modifications of matters of opinion, the court denies the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and grants the defendants’ motion for summary judgement as to the plaintiffs Privacy Act claim. As to the plaintiffs APA claim, because the administrative determinations regarding the plaintiffs request for modification of his personnel file were not arbitrary and capricious, the court denies the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and grants the defendants’ motion for summary judgement.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

The plaintiff, James Baker, is a Major in the United States Marine Corps. On June 27, 1992, the plaintiffs reporting officer, then-Lieutenant Colonel E.R. Timothy, signed a fitness report (“Fitness Report A”) for then-Captain Baker ranking him ninth among the nine captains in his battalion. Defs.’ Mot. to Dismiss and for Summ. J. (“Defs.’ Mot.”) at 4; Pl.’s Mot. for Summ. J. (“PL’s Mot.”) at 3. This report evaluated the plaintiff through his first two months as a captain in the Marine Corps — -from October 1, 1991, through December 12, 2001. Id.; Defs.’ Mot. at 4.

The Marine Corps Command and Staff College faded to select the Plaintiff for admission in 2000. Compl. ¶ 18. On May 22, 2001, the plaintiff petitioned the Board for Correction of Naval Records (“BCNR”) to remove Fitness Report A from the plaintiffs record. Compl. ¶ 7; Admin. R. (“A.R.”) 15-19. In response to this peti *21 tion, the Headquarters Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board 2 (“PERB”) issued an advisory opinion on August 19, 2001, concluding that Lieutenant Colonel Timothy’s ranking of the plaintiff as ninth out of nine captains was not “simply because of a seniority issue.” A.R. 22-23. On September 13, 2001, after reviewing the plaintiffs request, a three-judge panel of the BCNR “substantially concurred” with the PERB opinion and denied the plaintiffs request for modification of Fitness Report A. A.R. 25-26.

In 2000 and 2001, the plaintiff received two annual reports (“Fitness Report B” and “Fitness Report C,” respectively) from Rear Admiral D.L. Brewer, each stating that there was “insufficient information” to provide a comparative assessment of the plaintiff or to provide additional comments. Compl. ¶ 7. In the Fall of 2001, the Fiscal Year 2003 Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board (“FY03 Selection Board”) convened and decided not to select the plaintiff for a promotion. Compl. ¶ 7. Following this rejection, the plaintiff, on June 3, 2002, petitioned the BCNR to modify his personnel record to replace Fitness Report B and Fitness Report C with amended reports containing comments from Rear Admiral Brewer, and by removing the record of his failure to select from the FY03 Selection Board. Compl. ¶ 23; A.R. 29-34. The PERB issued an advisory opinion on September 4, 2002, indicating that it found “no evidence indicating any factual errors associated with [Fitness Report B or Fitness Report C],” and concluding that these two fitness reports were “administratively correct and procedurally complete.” Compl. ¶ 24. The plaintiff submitted a rebuttal to the PERB report on September 10, 2002. A.R. 70-72. On September 27, 2002, the Officer Counseling and Evaluation Section’s Personnel Management Division (“OCE”) forwarded an advisory opinion to the BCNR. Defs.’ Mot. at 7; A.R. 78-80. On October 9, 2002, the plaintiff submitted a rebuttal to the OCE opinion. A.R. 84-85. Based on these submissions, a three-member panel of the BCNR denied the plaintiffs request to replace Fitness Report B and Fitness Report C with amended versions, and to remove the plaintiffs failure to select for the FY 03 and FY 04 3 Lieutenant Colonel Selection Boards from his personnel file. Defs.’ Mot. at 7-8; A.R. 89-90.

On June 18, 2003, and July 2, 2003, Colonel Timothy forwarded letters to the BCNR regarding Fitness Report A. A.R. 91, 93. The BCNR treated these letters from Colonel Timothy as a request for reconsideration. Defs.’ Mot. at 8; A.R. 95. Based on these letters, as well as a proposed substitute fitness report supplied by the plaintiff on July 29, 2003, the PERB recommended to the BCNR that it deny the plaintiffs request for reconsideration. A.R. 101. On August 19, 2003, the plaintiff submitted a rebuttal to the PERB recommendation. 4 Id. at 102-109. A three-member panel of the BCNR convened on August 21, 2003, to consider the plaintiffs request for reconsideration. A.R. 119-121. The BCNR voted unanimously to deny the *22 plaintiff’s requested relief. Id; Compl. ¶ 31.

The Fiscal Year 2005 Lieutenant Commander Selection Board (“FY05 Selection Board”), and the Fiscal Year 2006 Lieutenant Commander Selection Board (“FY06 Selection Board”), which convened in the Fall of 2003 and 2004 respectively, did not promote the plaintiff to lieutenant commander. Id ¶ 33, 39. These two rejections themselves spawned a new volley of requests, letters, recommendations, and hearings, culminating ultimately in the BCNR’s unanimous vote, on November 18, 2004, to reject the plaintiffs contentions and deny his request for modification of his record. A.R. 295, 302-303.

Following the FY05 and FY06 Selection Boards’ non-selections of the plaintiff, on November 1, 2004, the plaintiff requested that the Marine Corps amend his personnel record pursuant to the Privacy Act, 10 U.S.C. § 1552(a)(1). Compl. ¶ 36.

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Bluebook (online)
397 F. Supp. 2d 18, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25752, 2005 WL 2839822, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-england-dcd-2005.