Garlick v. Bloomingdale Twp.

• Decision Date: 06 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. 2-17-1013,2-17-1013
• Parties: Warren R. GARLICK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BLOOMINGDALE TOWNSHIP, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2018 IL App (2d) 171013

127 N.E.3d 193

430 Ill.Dec. 957

Warren R. GARLICK, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.BLOOMINGDALE TOWNSHIP, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 2-17-1013

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

Opinion filed September 6, 2018

Rehearing denied October 3, 2018

Warren R. Garlick, of River Forest, appellant pro se.

Bond, Dickson & Conway, of Wheaton (Sean Conway, of counsel), for appellee.

JUSTICE JORGENSEN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Plaintiff, Warren R. Garlick, pro se , sought, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) ( 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq. (West 2016) ), from defendant, Bloomingdale Township, an electronic copy of all publicly disclosable data within the township's property-assessment software system, in its native file format. The township provided certain data to plaintiff, but plaintiff filed a complaint for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and civil penalties, arguing that the data was not provided in the format that he had requested. The township moved to dismiss, and the trial court granted the motion, finding that plaintiff's claim was moot and barred by collateral estoppel. The trial court also granted the township's request for sanctions under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 137 (eff. July 1, 2013) against plaintiff, awarding $31,336.50 in attorney fees and $196 in costs. Plaintiff appeals. We affirm the trial court's dismissal on mootness grounds and its assessment of sanctions, but we deny the township's motion for appellate sanctions under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 375 (eff. Feb. 1, 1994).

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 A. Prior Litigation

¶ 4 On November 16, 2015, plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to the township, seeking certain property parcel information. He referenced the township's web portal, where individual property parcel records could be retrieved, and specifically requested " ‘a copy of the database containing this data in its native file format.’ " (Emphasis omitted.) Garlick v. Bloomingdale Township , 2017 IL App (2d) 160994-U ¶ 4, 2017 WL 2570028 ( Garlick I ). The township informed plaintiff that he could access the information on its web portal, and plaintiff responded that he could do so only one parcel at a time, which was too laborious. He asked the township to reconsider, and the township responded that fulfilling his request would not be feasible and would present an undue burden. Plaintiff sued the township, seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief. He alleged that he had " ‘requested a copy of the entire database containing the data that was being made available online in its native file format.’ " (Emphasis omitted.) Id. ¶ 10. He also argued that retrieving the data from the web portal would be very laborious and did not constitute reasonable access under the FOIA. 5 ILCS 140/8.5(a) (West 2016). The township wrote to plaintiff, stating that copyright law and proprietary claims prohibited furnishing the data in its native file format. However, the township offered to provide it in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. The township also noted that the data was maintained in the " ‘Assessors IMS-Computer Aided Mass Appraisal’ " (CAMA) software, owned by JRM Consulting, Inc (JRM). Garlick I , 2017 IL App (2d) 160994-U, ¶ 11. The township also moved to dismiss plaintiff's complaint, arguing that the requested information in its native file format was exempt from disclosure under the FOIA. 735 ILCS 5/2-619(a)(9) (West 2016).

¶ 5 Subsequently, the township provided plaintiff a copy of the data that he requested, in an Excel spreadsheet. Plaintiff responded that the Excel spreadsheet, as opposed to an " ‘SQL Server database, as requested,’ " was not responsive to his FOIA request. Garlick I , 2017 IL App (2d) 160994-U, ¶ 18. Apparently, this was the first time that plaintiff had referred to the native file format as being synonymous with an SQL Server database. Id. Thereafter, the township provided the data in an SQL Server file format. It also filed an amended motion to dismiss, arguing that plaintiff's complaint was moot because he possessed the requested data. The trial court granted defendant's motion.

¶ 6 This court affirmed, holding that plaintiff's claim was properly dismissed on mootness grounds because the township provided him the data he requested (the web portal data in its native file format). Id. ¶ 33. This court rejected plaintiff's argument that he had requested a copy of the township's entire property-assessment database, not merely the data available on its web portal, because he raised this argument when the motions to dismiss were filed, not in his original request (which was clarified shortly thereafter to specify the desired format). Id. ¶ 32.

¶ 7 B. Current Litigation

¶ 8 On June 16, 2017, plaintiff sent a new FOIA request to the township, seeking all publicly disclosable data within the township's CAMA property-assessment software system. He noted that the CAMA software used an SQL Server database to store property-assessment data, all of which, he asserted, was publicly disclosable. Plaintiff also stated that his request was not for commercial purposes.

¶ 9 In a June 19, 2017, "addendum," plaintiff stated that he wanted the data "in its native file format," which he believed was the Microsoft SQL Server format. He noted that, in the past, there were "difficulties receiving the data in its proper data type format" and that the township had converted the data into a fixed-length text format. Plaintiff asserted that this was not acceptable, nor was it "the format in which it is maintained" ( 5 ILCS 140/6(a) (West 2016) ) by the township. "Any data elements (data points) should be provided in the data type in which they are stored within the database." Plaintiff also requested that the township "preserve the existing tables from which these data elements (data points) are extracted without concatenating or otherwise altering this structure." He objected to JRM's allegation of copyright protection over the table and field names, because, in his view, there is no copyright protection for single words or phrases. Alternatively, plaintiff stated that he was "open to the possibility of these descriptors being changed."

¶ 10 On June 26, 2017, the township extended its time to respond by five business days, until July 3, 2017, stating that a timely response would be unduly burdensome and interfere with its operations. Specifically, the township asserted that it had to collect a substantial number of records, search extensively for the records, and determine if any exemptions apply.

¶ 11 On July 3, 2017, the township responded to plaintiff's June 19, 2017, FOIA request, providing data in the Microsoft SQL Server format. (In its memorandum in support of its motion to dismiss filed on September 15, 2017, the township stated that the data it provided on July 3, 2017, was in the same format as its disclosure in Garlick I .)

¶ 12 On July 26, 2017, in a second "addendum" to his request, plaintiff advised the township that the data he had received was not in the format in which it is maintained. Plaintiff conceded that the township had provided the data with the existing table formats and the table and field names. However, as to the data elements, plaintiff asserted that they were in the varchar data type. "There are many data elements that contain integer values (i.e. [,] whole numbers), others that contain float values (i.e. [,] real numbers)." According to plaintiff, the varchar data type "is the character data type. It is completely different from integer, float[,] and date types." "Additionally[,] there are data elements that contain data values (i.e. [,] datetime)." Plaintiff stated that he requested the data as it existed in the township's SQL Server database. "[I]f the data elements are stored within the database as whole numbers [they] should be provided in that format[.]" Plaintiff concluded that, "[r]ather than treat [the township's response] as a denial of my FOIA request , warranting immediate judicial review, I have chosen instead to draw this matter to your attention, asking how you propose to address the matter." (Emphasis added.)

¶ 13 On August 1, 2017, the township's counsel e-mailed plaintiff that he was working on the matter and would get back to him by August 4, 2017. In an e-mail response, plaintiff voiced no objection and stated that an answer by August 4, 2017, "would be appreciated." On August 4, 2017, the township advised plaintiff that it had asked JRM to again export the database using the original data type formats. It advised in separate correspondence that it would reply to plaintiff no later than August 9, 2017.

¶ 14 However, on August 7, 2017, plaintiff filed a complaint against the township for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and civil penalties, alleging that there was no good reason why the township could not fully comply with his FOIA request. He sought an order directing the township to provide the requested data and assessing $5000 in civil penalties, fees, and costs.

¶ 15 On August 9, 2017, the township responded that (1) the data type in which the data was maintained was exempt from public disclosure, because it was JRM's proprietary, trade-secret, and copyright-protected information and, (2) notwithstanding this position, JRM had authorized the township to release the data type to plaintiff "for the limited and sole purpose of [his] own inspection" and without waiving its rights under the law or authorizing further reproduction, use, or dissemination of the data type. The township also stated that plaintiff's lawsuit was not warranted under the law and was filed for the purpose of harassing the township and causing it to incur needless litigation expenses. The township alleged that, when plaintiff filed his suit, his July 26, 2017, "addendum," which it characterized as a new FOIA request, had not been denied and the township had notified him that counsel was evaluating his request and would...