Lyon v. United States

94 F.R.D. 69, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11740
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 19, 1982
DocketNo. CIV-77-1172-B
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 94 F.R.D. 69 (Lyon v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lyon v. United States, 94 F.R.D. 69, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11740 (W.D. Okla. 1982).

Opinion

FINDINGS AND ORDER DENYING CLASS ACTION CERTIFICATION

BOHANON, District Judge.

The plaintiff brings this action under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C.. § 552a, seeking injunctive and monetary relief. As part of his claim, the plaintiff alleges widespread abuse and dereliction of duty on the part of the Department of Labor1 and therefore wishes the suit to be certified a class action, pursuant to Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The facts of this case are relevant to the disposition of the certification issue. The complaint and other filings of the plaintiff were of little help in setting out the facts. The court therefore finds it necessary to rely in part on representations made by the government. Plaintiff has not disputed the accuracy of the government’s statement of facts related in the government’s brief filed September 22, 1978.

[71]*71The court’s discussion of the class action claim is based upon the following fact pattern.

In a letter dated May 20, 1977, defendant Lyon submitted a request to the U. S. Department of Labor, Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs, New Orleans, Louisiana, (hereafter, “Labor Office”), asking for certain information regarding his records. The request centered around certain traumatic injuries he claimed to have received while an employee of the Department of Defense.

The information was not forthcoming, and neither was proper acknowledgment of the request as required under 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d)(2). On December 5,1977, defendant filed the above-entitled action seeking access to his file. Plaintiff received a copy of his compensation file with a cover letter dated January 13, 1978, a period of some eight months after the initial request.

The letter of May 20, 1977, apparently marked as a request under the Privacy Act, included a request that his compensation claim file be amended to reflect that he had suffered a wage earning capacity loss of 15%. The Labor Office has yet to respond to this request.

The amended complaint filed May 31, 1978, contains a prayer for several types of relief. Lyon demands:

“1. An Order be entered permitting this action to proceed as a class action;

2. The plaintiff and other members of the class recover from the defendant actual damages sustained by each individual, but in no case shall such recovery be less than $1,000.00 per person;

3. That the agencies concerned be directed to amend the individual records in accordance with their request or in such other way as the Court may direct;

4. That the agencies involved be enjoined from withholding records from the individuals concerned and order the production to each individual any record of any agent improperly withheld from such individual and to which the individual is entitled to a copy;

5. That the plaintiff and other members of the class recover a reasonable attorney fee and the cost of the action.”

Amended Complaint at 3-4.

Over objection of the defendant, plaintiff was permitted to conduct extensive discovery of the defendant’s files in several regional offices of the Department of Labor, Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs. The fruits of plaintiff’s search were kept sealed pending in camera review by the court to determine their relevancy, and additionally to assure that disclosure would not unreasonably infringe on the privacy of therein-mentioned claimants.

The government asserts that much of the relief requested by Mr. Lyon on the above set of facts is simply unavailable under the Privacy Act. The court agrees.

The plaintiff wishes the court to provide injunctive relief in two areas, according to the prayer in the amended complaint:

a. To compel defendants to amend plaintiff’s record to reflect an increase in disability, and provide the same relief for other class members; and

b. To compel defendants to properly honor requests sent to the Office under the Privacy Act.

In addition, during the evidentiary hearing, plaintiff’s counsel stated he wished the court to order the Labor Office to comply with certain of its internal regulations and properly trace Privacy Act requests on a “Form 67B” supplied by the Department of Labor.

The court’s ability to provide injunctive relief is quite limited. In Parks v. Internal Revenue Service, 618 F.2d 677 (10th Cir. 1980), the court reasons:

“Section 552a(g) authorizes the court to issue injunctions in only two instances: first, to amend the individual’s record, see 5 U.S.C. § 552(g)(2)(A); second, to order an agency to produce agency records im[72]*72properly withheld from an individual, see 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g)(A). But the Act fails to authorize injunctive relief against violating the Act in other ways. Moreover, the legislative history evidences an intent to preclude the availability of injunctive relief in all cases. See Analysis of House and Senate Compromise Amendments to the Federal Privacy Act, reprinted in 120 Cong.Rec. 40405, 40406 (1974).”

at 684.

At first reading it may appear the court can readily issue injunctions as requested 2 in the prayer of the amended complaint. There appears to be no authorization in the Privacy Act for the issuance of an injunction to require the Labor Office to utilize the “Form 67B.”

The Privacy Act clearly permits the federal court to order amendment of records to correct inaccuracies. However, if the facts of this case are as the government avers them to be, other legislation precludes the court from compelling the “amendment” Mr. Lyon requests. If in fact Mr. Lyon wishes to make a determination of increased disability and have Labor Office records so reflect, the court cannot accommodate him. A Privacy Act claim is not a backdoor mechanism to subvert the authority bestowed upon the Secretary of Labor to handle employee compensation claims.3 It has long been settled the procedure outlined in the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq., provides the exclusive method of presenting compensation claims resulting from on-the-job injuries of federal employees. Avasthi v. United States, 608 F.2d 1059 (5th Cir. 1979); Cobia v. United States, 384 F.2d 711 (10th Cir. 1967); United States v. Martinez, 334 F.2d 728 (10th Cir. 1964); Boyer v. Regli, 510 F.Supp. 1078 (E.D.Pa.1981); Levine v. United States, 478 F.Supp. 1389 (D.Mass.1979).

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Bluebook (online)
94 F.R.D. 69, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11740, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lyon-v-united-states-okwd-1982.