Company names wrong defendant in attempt to sue over USDA decision

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted May 19, 2022 12:06 PM

Challenging a final decision that tossed it out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, RN & Sons Inc. sued Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the USDA. That was a mistake. A final decision from the department’s Food and Nutrition Service notified RN & Sons that it had a right to judicial review under 7 U.S.C. Sec. 2023, and that a complaint had to be filed — “naming the United States as the defendant” — within 30 days.Dismissing the complaint and rejecting a request for …

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