Cite as: 540 U. S. 614 (2004)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
"(A) actual damages sustained by the individual as a result of the refusal or failure, but in no case shall a person entitled to recovery receive less than the sum of $1,000; and
"(B) the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney fees as determined by the court."
The opening clause of § 552a(g)(4) prescribes two conditions on which liability depends. First, the claimant's suit must lie under § 552a(g)(1)(C) or (D); both provisions require an agency action "adverse" to the claimant. Section 552a(g)(1)(C) authorizes a civil action when an agency "fails to maintain [a] record concerning [an] individual with [the] accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness" needed to determine fairly "the qualifications, character, rights, or opportunities of, or benefits to the individual," if the agency's lapse yields a "determination . . . adverse to the individual." (Emphasis added.) Section 552a(g)(1)(D) allows a civil action when an agency "fails to comply with [a] provision of [§ 552a], or [a] rule promulgated thereunder, in such a way as to have an adverse effect on an individual." (Emphasis added.) Second, the agency action triggering the suit under § 552a(g)(1)(C) or (D) must have been "intentional or willful." § 552a(g)(4). If those two liability-determining conditions are satisfied (suit under § 552a(g)(1)(C) or (D); intentional or willful conduct), the next clause specifies the consequences: "[T]he United States shall be liable to the individual in an amount equal to the sum of" the recovery allowed under § 552a(g)(4)(A) and the costs and fees determined under § 552a(g)(4)(B).
The terms "actual damages" and "person entitled to recovery" appear only in the text describing the relief attendant upon the agency's statutory dereliction; they do not appear in the preceding text describing the conditions on which the agency's liability turns. Most reasonably read, § 552a(g)(4)(A) does not wend back to add "actual damages" as a third liability-determining element. See Davis v. Mich-
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