New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) allows the agency which is subject to a FOIL request to charge $0.25 per photocopy for copies made to comply with a FOIL request (see Public Officers Law § 87 [1][b][iii]).
Last week in Matter of Fenstermaker v Edgemont Union Free School Dist., 2008 NY Slip Op 01343, the Second Department held that an article 78 proceeding to challenge the fee collecting practice allowed by Public Officers Law § 87 [1][b][iii] constituted frivolous litigation. In that case, the petitioner challenged the FOIL fee collecting practices of the respondent Edgemont Union Free School District. The Second Department held that the Supreme Court was within its discretion for imposing costs, including an attorney's fee, against the petitioner for commencing a frivolous proceeding. The petitioner was ordered to pay $15,960.
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