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Fedele v. Harris

Internal Disclosure of Tax Information Would Have Been for Proper Administrative Purpose

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MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDERI. Introduction Plaintiffs Thomas Fedele, Matthew Anderson, Gregory Aurigemma, Arturo F. Ramirez-Calle, and Alec Zef bring this action against defendants Marianne Harris, Kiaran Johnson-Lew, Mary Starr, Richard Ernst, Jamie Woodward, Honora Manion, Nancy Williams, Edward Chaszczewski, Richard Arnold, Argiroula O’Leary, Victor Vasta, Jr., Todd Wynne, and David Savoie pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §7431, alleging violations of the federal tax confidentiality statute.¹ (Compl., Dkt. No. 1.) Pending are defendants’ motion for summary judgment, (Dkt. No. 128), and plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A), (Dkt. No. 145). For the following reasons, defendants’ motion is granted and plaintiffs’ motion is denied.II. BackgroundA. Facts²In late 2010, an investigation conducted by the New York State Department of Tax and Finance’s (hereinafter “the Department”) Deputy Inspector General revealed that certain Department employees were claiming excessive job-related expense deductions on their New York State income tax returns. (Defs.’ Statement of Material Facts (SMF)21, Dkt. No. 128, Attach. 2.) Vasta, an investigative auditor for the Deputy Inspector General, notified Arnold, an Audit Division tax technician, of the suspicious deductions that possibly violated the law and the employee code of conduct. (Id.

16, 18, 23, 61-62.) Chaszczewski, Arnold’s superior in the Audit Division, thought these large deductions for job expenses were suspect because state employees were usually reimbursed for most job-related expenses. (Id.

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