Stauffer Chemical Company v. Food & Drug Administration

The district court found no jurisdiction because Stauffer failed to exhaust its administrative remedies.

Some exhaustion requirements are statutorily specified jurisdictional prerequisites. Others are judicially developed and courts have discretion to modify them. Montgomery v. Rumsfeld, 572 F.2d 250 , 252-53 & nn.2-3 (9th Cir. 1978). The FDA does not argue that exhaustion is statutorily prescribed here. As a result, the district court had jurisdiction and discretion to require exhaustion. In exercising its discretion a court balances “the interests of the agency in applying its expertise, correcting its own errors, making a proper record, enjoying appropriate independence of decision and maintaining an administrative process free from deliberate flouting, and the interests of private parties in finding adequate redress for their grievances.” Stratman v. Watt, 656 F.2d 1321, 1326 (9th Cir. 1981) (quoting Montgomery v. Rumsfeld, supra, 572 F.2d at 253 ).

The district judge balanced the relevant factors, though he erred in calling the question jurisdictional rather than discretionary. He held that “[t]he opinion letter from Mr. Quinn [did] not initiate any enforcement action by…