Opinion ID: 494572
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Extra-agency Dissemination

Text: 18 Reuber also asserts a claim of disclosure of the reprimand letter to persons outside HHS. Section 552a(e)(6) prohibits such a dissemination unless reasonable efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of the records. 52 Reuber insists that possession of the letter by outside parties and its appearance on a public EPA bulletin board lead ineluctably to the conclusion that NCI breached its duties under the Privacy Act. 53 We disagree. 19 In the District Court proceedings, Reuber relied on circumstantial evidence in an effort to show that Dr. Hartwell of NCI was the likely source of the leak; he theorized that Hartwell must have been the anonymous sender of the packet mysteriously received by Dr. Hollis of NACA. After carefully examining the evidence and assessing the credibility of the witnesses, however, the District Court held that Reuber had not carried his burden of showing that NCI, rather than Litton or someone else, was responsible for disseminating the letter. 54 20 Reuber's argument on appeal is simply a restatement of his view of the evidence. 55 Our standard of review, however, demands detection of a clear error on the part of the District Court, and does not permit us to reexamine and overturn factual findings simply on the basis of a litigant's alternative version of the truth. 56 Perhaps anticipating our unwillingness to engage in untrammeled de novo review, Reuber invites us to shift the burden of proof on this issue to the agency. 57 We are aware of no authority for such a maneuver, 58 and we therefore must affirm the findings of the District Court. 59 21 Reuber also contends that he should have been awarded damages for EPA's maintenance of the letter on a public bulletin board. 60 This argument is fraught with deficiencies, perhaps the most serious of which is Reuber's failure to demonstrate any adverse effect therefrom. Given that Reuber argued in the District Court that the letter did not appear on the bulletin board, 61 this shortcoming is not surprising, but it is nonetheless fatal. 62 22