Rails ActionController::ParameterMissing error - ruby-on-rails

Question

I want to update the status field on a form independently of the form itself. In other words, the user can change the status via a pop up. Once they hit submit, the window with the form closes. I have a similar situation that works but can't duplicate it here.
I am calling the popup with.
<%= link_to( '<button>Change the status</button>'.html_safe,
"/complaints/edit_status",
'data-popup' => true,
remote: true,
:class => "button_class",
:onclick=>"window.open(this.href,'change the status', 'height=500, width=500');
return false;"
) %><br>
my applicable routes are
get 'complaints/edit_status' => 'complaints#edit_status'
post 'complaints/edit_status' => 'complaints#edit_status'
The edit_status method in my controller is
def edit_status
#complaint = Complaint.find($current_record_id)
respond_to do |format|
if #complaint.update_attributes(complaint_params)
format.html { render :text => '<script type="text/javascript">
alert("The status was updated");
window.close();
</script>' }
else # otherwise show a standard message
format.html { render :text => '<script type="text/javascript">
alert(" There was an error in saving");
window.close();
</script>'
}
end
end
end
my edit_status.html.erb is simply <%= render 'form_for_status' %>
My complaints form is
<%= form_for #complaint, :html => { :class => 'form-horizontal', multipart: true} do |f| %>
<% if #complaint.errors.any? %>
<div id="error_explanation">
<h2><%= pluralize(#complaint.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this complaint from being saved:</h2>
<ul>
<% #complaint.errors.full_messages.each do |message| %>
<li><%= message %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
</div>
<% end %>
<div class="field" id="refresh_status">
<%= f.label :status %><br>
<%= f.select :status, options_for_status, :prompt => 'Select One' %>
</div>
<div class="actions">
<%= f.submit %>
</div>
<% end %>
The error I am getting is
ActionController::ParameterMissing in ComplaintsController#edit_status
param is missing or the value is empty: complaint
Rails.root: C:/Users/cmendla/RubymineProjects/internal_complaints
Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace
app/controllers/complaints_controller.rb:252:in `complaint_params'
app/controllers/complaints_controller.rb:16:in `block in edit_status'
app/controllers/complaints_controller.rb:14:in `edit_status'
If I remark out the respond_to block, then the form works but it doesn't close when submitted.
If I leave the respond_to in (without the <% #complaint.errors.full_messages.each do |message| %> then the form simply closes.
If I have the respond_to and <% #complaint.errors.full_messages.each do |message| %> then I get the error indicated.
My log shows
Started GET "/complaints/edit_status" for ::1 at 2016-03-11 11:25:54 -0500
Processing by ComplaintsController#edit_status as HTML
[1m[35mUser Load (1.0ms)[0m EXEC sp_executesql N'SELECT [ic].[users].* FROM [ic].[users] WHERE [ic].[users].[id] = #0 ORDER BY [ic].[users].[id] ASC OFFSET 0 ROWS FETCH NEXT 1 ROWS ONLY', N'#0 int', #0 = 1 [["id", 1]]
[1m[36mComplaint Load (2.0ms)[0m [1mEXEC sp_executesql N'SELECT [ic].[complaints].* FROM [ic].[complaints] WHERE [ic].[complaints].[id] = #0 ORDER BY [ic].[complaints].[id] ASC OFFSET 0 ROWS FETCH NEXT 1 ROWS ONLY', N'#0 int', #0 = 1[0m [["id", 1]]
Completed 400 Bad Request in 13ms (ActiveRecord: 3.0ms)
ActionController::ParameterMissing (param is missing or the value is empty: complaint):
app/controllers/complaints_controller.rb:252:in `complaint_params'
app/controllers/complaints_controller.rb:16:in `block in edit_status'
app/controllers/complaints_controller.rb:14:in `edit_status'