Eagle Trust Fund v. U.S. Postal Serv.
Eagle Trust Fund v. U.S. Postal Serv.
Opinion of the Court
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.)
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. BACKGROUND
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
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. ) Although John Schlafly had argued that "Eagle Forum really means Eagle Trust [Fund] or Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund[,]" and that "the term Eagle Forum encompasses the entire Schlafly network, all of which falls under Eagle Trust [Fund,]" the Administrative Judge concluded that "[t]hese arguments fail because the Domestic Mail Manual, which sets out the procedures for mail *61delivery by the Postal Service, provides that an addressee controls the delivery of its mail, and that in the absence of a contrary order the mail is delivered as addressed." (Id. (emphasis omitted) (citation omitted).) "To allow either [ETF or EFE-LDF] to control delivery of mail addressed to Eagle Forum would conflict with the plain meaning" of USPS regulations. (Id. at 8-9); see also
John Schlafly appealed the Administrative Judge's decision, see
[b]y its own terms, the word 'addressee' in [section] 507.2.1.5 means 'an individual or a business entity,' not a combination of an individual or business entity to whom the mail piece is directed and the address to which it is directed. Indeed, [section] 507.2.1.5 deals with a situation in which mail is sent to 'an organization, business, place of employment, or other affiliation' at which the individual or business entity to whom it is directed (the addressee) no longer conducts business or is employed. That is why the second sentence of [the provision] then allows the organization or business entity currently located at the physical address written on the piece of mail to 'change the address (but not the addressee's name)' on that mail to allow it to be redirected to the addressee (that is, to the individual or business entity whose name appears on that piece of mail but who no longer is located at that physical address).
(Id. (emphasis in original).)
The JO continued: "[h]ere, the mail in dispute is being sent to Eagle Forum at a physical address (P.O. Box 618 and 322 State Street), not to Eagle Forum at Eagle Trust Fund or another of the many organizations and business entities also located at that physical address." (Id. (emphasis in original).) Thus, the JO determined that the Domestic Mail Manual provision that Schlafly sought to use to reverse the Administrative Judge's underlying decision "does not apply and does not prohibit the change of address sought by *62Eagle Forum." (Id. ; see also
B. Procedural History
Seeking to reverse the JO's decision upholding USPS's mail-routing determination, Plaintiffs filed a complaint with this Court on November 13, 2017. (See Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶ 1.)
USPS's motion makes several arguments. First, USPS maintains that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' claims. (See Defs.' Mot. at 12-21); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). Next, USPS asserts that Plaintiffs' amended complaint fails to state a claim within the meaning of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), because it does not identify a source of law that authorizes this Court to grant the relief Plaintiffs request. (See
Plaintiffs oppose USPS's dismissal motion on several fronts. They argue, first, that the APA authorizes review of USPS mail disputes. (See Pls.' Mem. in Supp. of Opp'n to Fed. Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss ("Pls.' Opp'n"), ECF No. 22-2, at 21 ; but see Am. Compl. ¶ 17 (appearing to acknowledge that that "Congress has exempted [USPS] from the [APA]").) Plaintiffs further argue that the Court is authorized to engage in non-statutory ("ultra vires ") review of USPS's actions (see Pls.' Opp'n at 22), and that the Due Process Clause requires the agency to provide aggrieved parties with the ability to seek reconsideration of USPS decisions based on after-arising grounds or evidence (see
For the reasons explained below, this Court concludes that, while Defendants'
*63jurisdictional argument is misguided, Plaintiffs' amended complaint does not state a claim upon which relief can be granted because it fails to identify a cause of action that would permit the Court to grant the requested relief. Furthermore, the complaint's allegations of fact, even if true, do not support a plausible claim that USPS violated Plaintiffs' procedural due process rights. Therefore, Defendants' motion must be granted, and Plaintiffs' claims must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6).
II. APPLICABLE LEGAL STANDARD
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) authorizes a party to move to dismiss a complaint on the grounds that the complaint "fail[s] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted[.]" Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). To survive such a motion, the complaint "must contain sufficient factual matter" to " 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' " Ashcroft v. Iqbal ,
A court evaluating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss "generally does not consider matters beyond the pleadings[,]" but the court "may consider the facts alleged in the complaint, documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the complaint, or documents upon which the plaintiff's complaint necessarily relies even if the document is produced not by the plaintiff in the complaint but by the defendant in a motion to dismiss." R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. U.S.D.A. ,
III. ANALYSIS
USPS has requested dismissal of the first three counts of Plaintiffs' amended complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and also under Rule 12(b)(6), for failure to state a claim. (See Defs.' Mot. at 1.) Notably, the crux of USPS's argument with respect to both contentions relies on the same purported defect in Plaintiffs' complaint: that Plaintiffs have failed to identify a source of law authorizing the Court to review the underlying USPS decision and grant Plaintiffs' requested relief. (Compare Defs.' Mot. at 12 ("[USPS's] decision is not reviewable under the APA or 'non-statutory' agency review. Therefore, this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to decide such claims.") with
This motion must be granted for the reasons laid out below. In short, Plaintiffs' amended complaint does not identify a cause of action either for its claim that USPS failed to engage in reasoned decision making when resolving the change-of-address dispute (Counts I and II), or for its contention that the agency failed to follow its own regulations (Count III). Moreover, the amended complaint fails to allege any facts that, if true, would give rise to a reasonable inference that USPS violated Plaintiffs' constitutional right to due process (Count IV).
A. Plaintiffs Have Not Identified A Cause Of Action Under Existing Law
1. There Is No APA Review Of USPS Decisions
Ordinarily, when no other adequate legal remedy exists, the APA authorizes the claims against an agency in federal court. See
This all means that the claims in Plaintiffs' amended complaint that request that USPS's decision be reversed by this Court because USPS failed to engage in "reasoned decisionmaking" concerning the change-of-address dispute and thus that the agency's decision should be reversed by this Court (see, e.g. , Am. Compl. ¶ 57) seek relief that is not authorized by law. To be sure, Plaintiffs have taken care not to cite the APA specifically in the text of their amended complaint, but their core contention that "USPS's administrative order fails to meet the standard for reasoned decisionmaking and is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion[ and] not otherwise in accordance with the law" (Id. ¶¶ 57, 60) is unmistakably rooted in the APA's primary provisions (see
Plaintiffs have no good answer to the charge that they are seeking to invoke a cause of action that Congress has specifically removed from the arsenal available to plaintiffs who are aggrieved by USPS determinations. (See Defs.' Mot. at 13.) Instead, despite section 410(a), Plaintiffs breezily maintain "that APA review [still] applies," that "USPS's partial APA exemption does not preclude traditional forms of pre-APA equitable review," and that "judicial review would exist here even if Congress had intended § 410(a) to preclude judicial review." (Pls.' Opp'n at 20 (emphasis in original).)
None of these contentions is persuasive. First of all, the suggestion that the express statutory exemption in section 410(a) of Title 39 of the United States Code is too narrow to pertain to claims arising in the context of the instant mail dispute (see id. at 21) fails because the D.C. Circuit has long considered that statutory provision to be a broad exemption that shields USPS determinations from the auspices of APA review, see, e.g. , Mittleman ,
Plaintiffs' third, and final, contention is also easily rejected. Based on inferences drawn from Leedom v. Kyne ,
The bottom line is this: nothing that Plaintiffs assert in the context of their opposition to Defendants' motion to dismiss Counts I and II persuasively demonstrates that either the APA or some other form of pre-APA equitable relief is available as a cause of action for the claims that Plaintiffs bring here. Furthermore, Plaintiffs have done nothing to support their corollary contention that this Court can review these claims because the USPS has acted "ultra vires " with respect to its resolution of the mail delivery dispute (see Am. Compl. ¶¶ 57, 60; see also Pls.' Opp'n at 28), as explained below.
*672. Plaintiffs Have Not Demonstrated Ultra Vires Action On The Part Of USPS
Where APA review is precluded and no other statutory basis for challenging USPS's determination regarding mail delivery exists, the only plausible cause of action that Plaintiffs could theoretically have against the USPS under the instant circumstances is an ultra vires claim-i.e. , a claim that USPS acted outside of the authority granted to it by Congress. See Mittleman ,
Plaintiffs instead appear to assert that USPS used flawed reasoning in coming to its decision regarding the mail delivery dispute at issue here and, by doing so, acted ultra vires. (See id. ¶¶ 53-56; 59; Pls.' Opp'n at 30.) But this patently misunderstands the nature of valid ultra vires claims. See Adamski v. McHugh ,
Here, Congress has plainly authorized USPS to resolve disputes between parties regarding mail delivery. See
3. Plaintiffs Have Not Identified A Statute Or Regulation That Authorizes Federal Courts To Require USPS To Adhere To Its Own Regulations
In Count III of the complaint, Plaintiffs pivot from the 'lack of reasoned decisionmaking' contention and attempt to challenge USPS's alleged "failure to follow [USPS's] prohibition on splitting mail addressed to post office boxes[.]" (Am. Compl. at 15.) However, just as with the claims in Counts I and II, Plaintiffs have not identified a source of law that authorizes the Court to review any such agency violation and grant the relief Plaintiffs seek here. In other words, Plaintiffs have not pointed to any cause of action that authorizes the Court to force USPS to follow its own rules.
To be sure, Congress has authorized USPS to issue regulations. See
This is not to say that an agency is free to disregard its own regulations. Cf. Friedler v. GSA ,
*69to follow its own regulations means that their request for relief based on USPS's alleged failure to abide by its own regulations (Count III) must be dismissed.
B. Plaintiffs Have Not Alleged Facts That, If True, Would State A Plausible Claim That USPS Violated Plaintiffs' Fifth Amendment Right To Due Process
In Count IV of their amended complaint, Plaintiffs contend that "USPS's administrative review provisions violate due process" because they do not "provide for reconsideration, based on after-arising grounds or evidence." (Am. Compl. ¶ 69.) Thus, the amended complaint appears to attempt to make out a claim that USPS violated Plaintiffs' procedural due process rights, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. See U.S. Const. amend. V ("No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"). Presumably because Plaintiffs seek only declaratory and injunctive relief, and "[t]here is no question that a cause of action may be stated under the procedural due process component of the fifth amendment for equitable relief[,]" Harper v. Blumenthal ,
To assess the sufficiency of the complaint's Fifth Amendment due process claim on the grounds that Defendants' motion raises, this Court must "apply a familiar two-part inquiry": it must determine whether the facts alleged, if true, would establish (1) that "plaintiffs were deprived of a protected interest, and, if so," (2) that they failed to "receive[ ] the process they were due." Barkley v. U.S. Marshals Serv. ex rel. Hylton ,
It is clear to this Court that Plaintiffs have come nowhere near to alleging facts that would support a plausible claim *70that USPS violated their procedural due process rights. First, the amended complaint contains no facts to support Plaintiffs' claim that USPS actually refused to provide for reconsideration of the JO's decision based on after-arising grounds or evidence, or otherwise. (See generally Am. Compl.; see also Defs.' Mot. at 24 (claiming that Plaintiffs "have never asked the Judicial Officer for reconsideration" (emphasis altered) ).) One would expect a plaintiff who seeks to challenge an agency's refusal to provide a certain procedure to allege facts that, if proven, would establish the agency's refusal. And the mere fact that the agency regulations do not specifically afford such a procedure (see Am. Compl. at 7) says nothing about whether the agency would have accommodated such a request under the circumstances presented here. See Reno v. Flores ,
Even if it sufficed for Plaintiffs to point to the absence of a reconsideration provision in the agency's regulations, it is clear that the Due Process Clause does not mandate any such process. Plaintiffs have not cited any case that states that the failure of an agency to provide for reconsideration after appeal is a due process violation. Moreover, in similar cases, courts have easily found the due process requirements of the Constitution to be satisfied where various procedures short of reconsideration are afforded to the parties as part of an administrative review process. See, e.g. , Barkley ,
In short, Plaintiffs' claim that USPS violated their constitutional right to due process clearly cannot survive USPS's motion to dismiss when Plaintiffs offer no facts to suggest that the requested procedure was ever denied, and even so, merely claim, without more, that due process requires that USPS "provide for reconsideration." (Am. Compl. ¶ 69.)
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, Plaintiffs have failed to identify a cause of action that would authorize this Court to grant the relief they seek as to three of the counts in their amended complaint, and have also failed to allege facts that support *71a claim that Defendants violated their constitutional right to due process. Thus, Plaintiffs' amended complaint "fail[s] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted[.]" Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Accordingly, and as set forth in the accompanying Order, Defendant's motion to dismiss is GRANTED , and Plaintiffs' action is DISMISSED .
Page-number citations to the documents that the parties have filed refer to the page numbers that the Court's electronic filing system automatically assigns.
The facts recited herein are drawn from the allegations in Plaintiffs' complaint, as well as from the written decisions in the underlying administrative proceedings, which the complaint incorporates by reference. See R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. USDA ,
The Administrative Judge declined to resolve the question of "who has the right to access and control P.O. Box 618," because he determined that he had "no authority to decide who owns or controls" a P.O. Box. (See Initial Dec. at 6.)
Section 507.2.1.5 states in relevant part "A change-of-address order cannot be filed or is restricted for the following: ... An addressee (e.g., an individual or a business entity or other organization) may not file a change-of-address order for mail originally addressed to the addressee at an organization, business, place of employment, or other affiliation. The organization or business may change the address (but not the addressee's name) on a mailpiece to redirect it to the addressee." Domestic Mail Manual § 507.2.1.5, https://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/507.pdf.
In addition to USPS and Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan (collectively, "Defendants" or "USPS"), the original complaint also named Eagle Forum as a defendant. (See Compl. at 1.) Eagle Forum filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that venue was improper (see Mot. to Dismiss or Transfer Venue, ECF No. 10 ), and USPS filed a separate motion to dismiss (see Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 17 ). The Court issued an order dismissing Eagle Forum from the action and allowing Plaintiffs to amend their complaint. (See Order, ECF No. 19, at 2-3.) It subsequently denied USPS's motion to dismiss as moot. (See Min. Order of Feb. 7, 2018.)
In their opposition brief, Plaintiffs assert that, "because USPS's position would violate [various] constitutional provisions, the claims that Plaintiffs raise indeed are 'ultra vires ' claims in the manner that USPS uses that term[.]" (Pls.' Opp'n at 28; see also
Plaintiffs do not claim that they received inadequate notice. (See Am. Compl ¶¶ 68-71.)
Reference
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- EAGLE TRUST FUND v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
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- Published