United States Second Circuit

Dismissal of plaintiff's action alleging that the failure of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide requested records related to his late father’s disability status violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act of 1974 is: 1) affirmed in part, where the Privacy Act guarantees access only to an individual's own records and does not require federal agencies to provide information pertaining to a requesting individual that is contained in another individual's records; but 2) vacated in part and remanded as to the portion of the judgment denying plaintiff's request for litigation costs, because the FOIA, as amended, allows for fee shifting where a federal agency voluntarily complies with a requested disclosure following the filing of a FOIA lawsuit.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/12/2014
• Published 03/12/2014

Judges

• PER CURIAM

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel