Summary of a Recent
Judicial Development in
Crop Insurance

Plaintiffs Fail to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
in Crop Insurance Dispute

Harrison M. Pittman
Research Assistant Professor of Law

In Buchholz v. Rural Community Insurance Company, No. 05C0115C, 2005 WL 1711153 (W.D. Wis. July 20, 2005), the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin held that plaintiffs lacked standing to bring an action against the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) and the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture because they failed to exhaust their administrative remedies. The plaintiffs asserted that they had no administrative remedies to exhaust since the FCIC "did not actually do anything about which plaintiffs could complain." Id. at *2. The court explained that "‘[n]o one is entitled to judicial relief for a supposed or threatened injury until the prescribed administrative remedy has been exhausted.'" Id. (citation omitted). It added that "[a]s a general rule, if one has nothing to complain about, one does not have a case." Id. The court therefore dismissed the plaintiffs' action as it pertained to the federal defendants.

The case was decided on July 20, 2005; this summary was posted July 29, 2005.