Settlement Reached on Customs Broker Exam Lawsuit, Test Taker to Receive Passing Grade for 2011 Exam
An aspiring customs broker will receive a long-awaited passing grade for her customs exam after the Justice Department agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against CBP in the Court of International Trade, according to a recently filed settlement agreement. CBP will give Linh Pittman, who took the exam in Atlanta in 2011, "written confirmation that she received a passing grade on the customs broker licensing exam," the settlement agreement said. Pittman, who is represented by Jon Fee, a lawyer with Alston Bird, filed her initial appeal with CBP in 2012.
CBP originally gave Pittman a score of 72.5 percent, just below the required 75 percent score required to pass. She then filed an appeal with the agency, asking it to reconsider five questions that CBP said were answered wrong. Agency regulations allow for two administrative appeals of broker exam results. CBP declined to change the score and Pittman filed a second appeal, which the agency also declined. The 2011 October exam had a passage rate of 25 percent (see 11120204).
The Justice Department settlement does not say which questions Pittman successfully appealed. The settlement also includes an agreement that Pittman drop the lawsuit and is prevented from "pursuing any other legal or equitable claim or remedy in any administrative judicial proceeding or forum regarding the claims raised in the compliant in this action," it said. Pittman filed the lawsuit in April after exhausting the administrative review process. The complaint sought reconsideration of four questions, including one that Pittman said would have required reference materials not mentioned by CBP as a source. The filing also argued against CBP's answers for questions on powers-of-attorney and warehouse regulations. The Justice Department did not immediately comment on the settlement. Fee declined to comment.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the settlement agreement and/or original complaint.