Opinion ID: 793644
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Intentional or Willful Disclosures.

Text: 52 In the alternative, Oja argues that while he knew of the USACE's posting in September 2000, his cause of action did not actually accrue until October 2001, when he claims he first learned that the USACE's posting was intentional or willful. 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g)(1)(D) provides that Whenever an agency . . . (D) fails to comply with any other provision of this section, or any rule promulgated thereunder, in such a way as to have an adverse effect on an individual, the individual may bring a civil action against the agency. . . . Section 552a(g)(4) predicates an award of monetary damages for a violation of § 552a(g)(1)(D) on the court determin[ing] that the agency acted in a manner which was intentional or willful.  (Emphasis added). Oja asserts that this reference to willful[ness] brings his claim within the exception to the statute of limitations provision, Section 552a(g)(5). That section states, in relevant part, that 53 An action to enforce any liability created under this section may be brought . . . within two years from the date on which the cause of action arises, except that where an agency has materially and willfully misrepresented any information required under this section to be disclosed to an individual and the information so misrepresented is material to establishment of the liability of the agency to the individual under this section, the action may be brought at any time within two years after discovery by the individual of the misrepresentation. 54 Id. (emphasis added). Thus, Oja asserts that the statute of limitations for his original Privacy Act claims did not begin to run until October 2001, placing them well within the limitations period. 55 The Privacy Act's statute of limitations commences when the person knows or has reason to know of the alleged violation. Because the accrual of the statute of limitations in part turns on what a reasonable person should have known, we review this mixed question of law and fact for clear error. Rose v. United States, 905 F.2d 1257, 1259 (9th Cir.1990) (internal citations omitted); see also Englerius v. Veterans Admin., 837 F.2d 895, 898 (9th Cir.1988) (We join the Seventh, Tenth and District of Columbia Circuits in holding that a cause of action under the Privacy Act does not arise and the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the plaintiff knows or has reason to know of the alleged violation.). To the extent that Oja avers that he was unaware that the USACE intentionally or willfully disclosed his personal information, we find that the record substantiates the magistrate judge's finding that Oja knew or had reason to know in September 2000 that the USACE intentionally posted his information on its Internet site. Indeed, the magistrate judge found that it would have been unreasonable for [Oja] to believe that the posting was anything but intentional. Accordingly, the magistrate judge concluded that, [w]hile the court allows for the possibility of an `accidental posting,' the chances of such an unintentional posting occurring are so small that the only reasonable assumption for plaintiff to make when he became aware of the posting was that it was done intentionally. We add to that assessment that the context in which Oja's information was posted compels the inference that the USACE's posting was intentional: As Oja himself notes in his First Amended Complaint, 19 his personal information was posted in conjunction with the USACE's response to a Washington Post article that was critical of the USACE and which referred to Oja's whistle-blowing activities during his tenure with the Alaska District. Moreover, the information the USACE posted on Oja was inconsistent with the Settlement Agreement, as Oja had claimed in his September 2001 Petition for Enforcement before the MSPB. Given the foregoing, there is no error in the magistrate judge's findings or conclusions. 56 Oja asserts that § 552a(g)(5) tolled the statute of limitations in his claim until he learned that the USACE admitted that its posting was intentional. Oja's argument incorrectly conflates the context in which the term willfulness operates in §§ 552a(g)(4) and (5). Section 552a(g)(4) provides that agency disclosure of personal information must be intentional or willful in order to permit the recovery of monetary damages. As discussed previously, § 552a(g)(5) requires that all claims for actionable agency disclosures be brought within two years of the disclosure unless the agency has materially and willfully misrepresented information that the Privacy Act requires the agency to disclose to an individual, and that misrepresentation is material to establishing the individual's Privacy Act claim. Nowhere in his argument has Oja asserted that the USACE materially or willfully misrepresented information that it was required to disclose to him and that this information was material to Oja bringing his Privacy Act claim; rather, Oja asserts that the USACE failed to inform him in 2000, and he did not learn until October 2001, that the USACE's disclosure was intentional or willful. The USACE may have acted improperly in posting Oja's personal information, but the Privacy Act does not require the USACE to disclose that improper posting to Oja. Moreover, as we have stated, it was clear from the outset that the USACE's disclosures were intentional or willful and that his claim arose when he learned of the disclosures in 2000. Consequently, § 552a(g)(5)'s tolling provisions are entirely inapposite to Oja's claims.