Blazy v. Tenet

979 F. Supp. 10, 13 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1101, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15013, 1997 WL 590800
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedSeptember 17, 1997
DocketCiv.A. 93-2424 (PLF)
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 979 F. Supp. 10 (Blazy v. Tenet) 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.

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Blazy v. Tenet, 979 F. Supp. 10, 13 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1101, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15013, 1997 WL 590800 (D.D.C. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

PAUL L. FRIEDMAN, District Judge.

Plaintiff brought this action pursuant to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, in conjunction with the Freedom of information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, seeking access to and amendment of documents in his personnel file at the Central Intelligence Agency where he was formerly employed. He also sought de *15 elaratory and injunctive relief under the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments. 1

The case is before the Court on defendants’ motion to dismiss in part and for summary judgment, plaintiffs motion for clarification and reconsideration of the Court’s May 7, 1996 Order, plaintiffs motion to strike from the record and/or seal certain documents filed by defendants, defendants’ motion to file a reply in excess of the page limitations, plaintiffs motion for further discovery and plaintiffs motion to hold Gordon Zacrep in contempt.

I. BACKGROUND

In early 1989, plaintiff, who was employed as a computer scientist with the CIA, applied for a job with the FBI. The FBI asked the CIA for background information on plaintiff, much of which had been accumulated during a recent security investigation. Plaintiff also inspected a “sanitized” version of his own security files and, on June 23, 1989, submitted a request pursuant to the Privacy Act seeking copies of “all [CIA] documents collected and maintained in various files listed under my name.” See Complaint ¶¶ 9-10 and Ex. 2 to Plaintiffs Reply and Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss in Part and for Summary Judgment (“PI.’s Reply and Opp.”). On July 28, 1989, plaintiff wrote to the CIA inspector General listing several grievances, among them being the inaccuracy of statements made by his supervisor during his security investigation regarding allegations of sexual harassment. See Memorandum from Louis Blazy to Inspector General (July 28, 1989), PI.’s Ex. 3 to PI.’s Reply and Oppo. The IG investigated the allegations of sexual harassment and determined that they were unfounded. On July 16, 1990, the CIA Director of Security wrote to plaintiff, acknowledging that the allegations were unfounded and representing that the letter would be sent to the FBI in order to maintain the accuracy of plaintiffs FBI file. See Letter from James Lynch to Louis Blazy (July 16, 1990), PI.’s Ex. 5 to Pi’s. Reply and Opp.

One month later, plaintiff wrote to the FOIA and Privacy Act Branch of the CIA requesting “a copy of all documents collected and maintained in various files listed under my name.” See Letter from Louis Blazy (Aug. 13,1990), Ex. A to Defs.’ Status Report (Mar. 20, 1996). Nearly four years later, defendants issued seven incremental responses dating from March 11, 1994 through October 7, 1994, providing plaintiff with a number of documents. Plaintiff then filed this action, alleging that he had not received all the documents to which he was entitled and that his records contained inaccuracies and misstatements that had caused him to be denied the FBI job. Defendants moved to dismiss and, on January 31, 1996, the Court dismissed some parts of the complaint but preserved the central Privacy Act claims against the agency itself. See note 1, supra.

In response to the Court’s Opinion and Order of January 31,1996, defendants filed a status report reiterating that the October 7, 1994 letter represented the agency’s “final response” to plaintiffs Privacy Act request. See Defs.’ Status Report (Feb. 20, 1996). At a status conference on February 28, 1996, plaintiff reasonably complained that he could not be sure that he had received all responsive documents, citing the fact that the response letters from the CIA dated June 21, August 26 and October 7 each represented that the agency’s search was complete and that plaintiff should expect no further documents. See Defs.’ Status Report (Mar. 20, 1996), Exs. B-H. Defendants’ counsel assured the Court that renewed efforts would be made to produce all documents responsive to plaintiffs Privacy Act/FOIA request.

On March 20,1996, defendants submitted a status report purporting to fully document the CIA’s processing of plaintiffs request. *16 Attached to the status report was a three-volume exhibit containing several hundred pages of both newly and previously released documents, some heavily redacted, and a 17-page index identifying 238 documents. Plaintiff moved to amend his complaint on April 12,1996, and the Court permitted some but not all amendments. See note 1, supra. Numerous motions and other papers were subsequently filed, including defendants’ dis-positive motion now before the Court. On November 29, 1996, in response to plaintiffs criticisms, defendants provided plaintiff with 250 pages of “reprocessed” records. See Pl.’s Response to and Analysis of Privacy Act Records Re-Processed By the Defendants (Jan. 21,1997); see also Supplemental Declaration of Lee S. Strickland (“Suppl. Strickland Deck”) ¶¶ 15, 16 (Nov. 6, 1996), Defs.’ Reply.

Throughout it all, plaintiff has maintained and continues to maintain that his records contain inaccuracies, that documents are missing, that information has been improperly redacted, that information was improperly disseminated, and generally that the CIA has failed to comply with the disclosure provisions and accuracy guarantees of the Privacy Act. As a result, he alleges that he was denied the FBI job and continues to be prejudiced in his ability to obtain employment. He also argues that discovery is necessary in order to determine the full extent of the CIA’s noncompliance.

In his most recent filing, plaintiff provides a document-by-doeument critique of each of the 238 released documents. See Pl.’s Response to and Analysis of Privacy Act Records Re-Processed By the Defendants (Jan. 21, 1997). His objections to these documents fall into five categories: (1) some documents lack classification markings and/or declassification instructions; (2) redaction was improper because the cited exemption does not support it or because underlying information is not classified; (3) improper segregation; (4) the subject of the document did not request confidentiality; and (5) plaintiff is unable to locate the document because he cannot determine whether the Bates number matched the exhibit number.

Defendants, in turn, assert that plaintiffs records are accurate, that he has now received all the documents to which he is entitled, that his initial Privacy Act request has been fully responded to and that any further Privacy Act claims for amendment are barred either by the statute of limitations or by plaintiffs failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. Defendants also assert that plaintiff has failed to state any constitutional claims and that he is not entitled to damages.

II. THE PRIVACY ACT AND THE FOIA

The Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a

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979 F. Supp. 10, 13 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1101, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15013, 1997 WL 590800, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blazy-v-tenet-dcd-1997.