Eagle Trust Fund v. U.S. Postal Serv.

365 F. Supp. 3d 57
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedFebruary 4, 2019
DocketNo. 1:17-cv-2450 (KBJ)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 365 F. Supp. 3d 57 (Eagle Trust Fund v. U.S. Postal Serv.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eagle Trust Fund v. U.S. Postal Serv., 365 F. Supp. 3d 57 (D.C. Cir. 2019).

Opinion

KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, United States District Judge

Over the course of fifty years, conservative political activist Phyllis M. Schlafly created numerous "educational, advocacy, and policy groups," each of which she branded with an "Eagle"-themed name. (Am. Compl., ECF No. 20, ¶¶ 30, 31.) Among those entities are plaintiffs Eagle Trust Fund ("ETF") and Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund ("EFE-LDF"), as well as non-party Eagle Forum.

*59(See id. ¶¶ 2-3, 6, 31.) Each of Schlafly's "Eagle" organizations traditionally received its mail through one central post-office box in Alton, Illinois; significantly, much of this mail was addressed to some variation of "Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum," without regard to the particular "Eagle" entity the correspondence actually concerned. (See Postal Service Initial Decision ("Initial Dec."), Ex. A to Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 17-1, at 4.)1 This centralized landing spot for the various entities' correspondence changed in 2016, when the organization known as Eagle Forum veered from the flock under new leadership (due to a legal dispute), and submitted a "change of address" form to the United States Postal Service ("USPS"). (Id. at 6.) Plaintiffs ETF and EFE-LDF have now combined with John Schlafly-Phyllis Schlafly's son, who serves as a trustee or officer of ETF and EFE-LDF-to file the instant lawsuit against USPS. (See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 2-4.) Plaintiffs claim that ETF's and EFE-LDF's mail matter is being improperly diverted to Eagle Forum's new address, and they request reversal of an administrative ruling upholding USPS's decision to honor Eagle Forum's change-of-address request. (See id. ¶ 1.)

Before this Court at present is USPS's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' first amended complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and (6). (See Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss ("Defs.' Mot."), ECF No. 21.) Because Plaintiffs' complaint does not identify a cause of action and otherwise fails to state a claim for the purpose of Rule 12(b)(6), as explained below, USPS's motion will be GRANTED , and Plaintiffs' action will be DISMISSED without prejudice. A separate Order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion will follow.

I. BACKGROUND2

A. Basic Facts

Phyllis Schlafly began leasing P.O. Box 618 in Alton, Illinois in 1967, the same year that she created Eagle Trust Fund. (See Initial Dec. at 4.) Most, if not all, of her Eagle-themed organizations received mail at that P.O. Box for almost fifty years, and as mentioned above, said correspondence was typically addressed to some variation of "Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum[.]" (Id. ) This centralization of the different organizations' mail matter was not inherently problematic because "[a]ll of Mrs. Schlafly's Eagle entities functioned in consonance" (Am. Compl. ¶ 32), and Eagle Trust Fund provided "back-office management, bookkeeping, and mail services for the other organizations" (Initial Dec. at 5). Thus, Eagle Trust Fund employees sorted and distributed the mail that was delivered to P.O. Box 618 (and a related street address) for all of the "Eagle" entities, including Eagle Forum. (See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 32, 38.)

In 2016, members of the organization known as Eagle Forum clashed with Phyllis Schlafly, "based in part on their holding political and social positions dissonant with Mrs. Schlafly and the other Eagle entities." (Id. ¶ 33.) According to the amended complaint, six Eagle Forum directors "secretly agreed among themselves to try to take control" of Eagle Forum and "to remove *60Phyllis Schlafly and John Schlafly from their longstanding authority over [Eagle Forum's] accounts and assets." (Id. ¶¶ 33, 34.) As a result, Mrs. Schlafly "formally and expressly revok[ed] any and all existing licenses that [Eagle Forum] held to use her name, image, and likeness, as well as any intellectual property under her control." (Id. ¶ 36.) Ultimately, an Illinois state court designated new, acting leadership for the Eagle Forum organization. (See id. ¶ 37; Initial Dec. at 5-6.)

Soon thereafter, Eagle Forum's new leadership filed a change-of-address request form with USPS, thereby asking that any and all mail that was addressed to "Eagle Forum" at P.O. Box 618 and the related street address be forwarded to Eagle Forum's new place of business. (See Am. Compl. ¶ 38; Initial Dec. at 6.) As a trustee of ETF and an officer and director of EFE-LDF (see Am. Compl. ¶ 4), John Schlafly opposed Eagle Forum's change-of-address request, leading to the administrative proceedings that underlie the instant mail dispute. (See Initial Dec. at 6); see also 39 C.F.R. Part 965 (governing "Proceedings Relative to Mail Disputes").

On September 15, 2017, an Administrative Judge issued USPS's Initial Decision regarding the mail-matter conflict. (See Initial Dec. at 3); see also 39 C.F.R. § 965.11. The Administrative Judge addressed the question of "how mail addressed to Eagle Forum at P.O. Box 618 and 322 State Street should be delivered" (Initial Dec. at 6), and eventually concluded that "Eagle Forum-and not Eagle Trust [Fund] or Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund-should control delivery of mail addressed to Eagle Forum" (id. at 8).3 In so finding, the Administrative Judge analyzed

two key concepts.... First, as it applies to all mail disputes, the sender's intent is paramount. Second, when a mail dispute concerns how mail to an organization should be delivered, the mail must be delivered under the order of the organization's president or equivalent official.

(Id. at 7 (internal citations omitted).)

As to the question of the sender's intent, the Administrative Judge found that "[t]he parties agree that [the disputed] mail addressed to Eagle Forum can actually be intended for any of Mrs. Schlafly's organizations, including Eagle Trust [Fund], Eagle Forum, and Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund[.]" (Id. ) "Because of th[e] complex organizational web [of Eagle-themed organizations receiving mail at the same address], the sender's intent for items addressed to Eagle Forum is difficult, if not impossible, to determine." (Id. at 7-8.) Thus, the Administrative Judge concluded that it "becomes necessary to look elsewhere for the evidence necessary to decide how the mail should be delivered." (Id. at 8.)

Turning to the second component of his inquiry, the Administrative Judge found that "there is no dispute that Eunie Smith is currently the acting president of Eagle Forum, entitling her to direct delivery of mail addressed to Eagle Forum." (Id.

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365 F. Supp. 3d 57, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eagle-trust-fund-v-us-postal-serv-cadc-2019.