Gilmore v. Lujan
Ninth Circuit
947 F.2d 1409 (9th Cir. 1991)
After the BLM (defendant) selected Reed Gilmore's (plaintiff) oil and gas application in a random drawing, it gave him thirty days to sign and return lease forms, warning that noncompliance meant rejection; Gilmore mailed the signed forms by certified mail well before the deadline, but when his secretary couldn't confirm BLM had received them by the deadline day, she had a telecopied (faxed) version of the lease form delivered instead. BLM rejected the offer the next day because the telecopied signature wasn't the required holographic signature, and the Interior Board of Land Appeals and the district court both affirmed that rejection before Gilmore appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
Whether a court will overturn an agency's decision to reject a lease application for failing to comply with a clearly stated regulatory signature requirement, where the result is harsh but within the agency's discretion.