Gonzalez v. El Dia, Inc.

• Decision Date: 05 September 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-2484.,01-2484.
• Citation: 304 F.3d 63
• Parties: Lydia GONZALEZ, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. EL DIA, INC., et al., Defendants, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 63

304 F.3d 63

Lydia GONZALEZ, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. EL DIA, INC., et al., Defendants, Appellees.

No. 01-2484.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard May 7, 2002.

Decided September 5, 2002.

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Javier A. Morales Ramos, with whom Juan F. Matos Bonet was on brief for appellant.

Pedro J. Manzano-Yates, with whom Fiddler, Gonzalez & Rodriguez, LLP was on brief for appellees.

Before LYNCH, Circuit Judge, COFFIN and CYR, Senior Circuit Judges.

CYR, Senior Circuit Judge.

Appellant Lydia Gonzalez challenges various summary judgment rulings which prompted the district court to dismiss the claims she filed against her employer, El Dia, Inc., alleging that it violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and various Puerto Rico statutes. The record facts are related in the light most favorable to Gonzalez. See Conto v. Concord Hosp., Inc., 265 F.3d 79, 80 n. 1 (1st Cir.2001).

I BACKGROUND

In 1991, at age 58, Gonzalez was hired as a reporter by El Nuevo Dia, a Puerto Rico newspaper owned by defendant-appellee El Dia. During the ensuing years, her supervisor, Maria Luisa Ferre, frequently stated, inter alia, that (i) Gonzalez' demeanor and couture were "[o]ut of style" and "colorless," and her coiffure ("like Phyllis Diller") was old-fashioned (viz., "manias de vieja," or "old person's ways"); (ii) she should have retired and gone to live with her grandchildren in Florida long ago; and (iii) due to her age she would not live long enough to see her grandson play major league baseball.

On another occasion, after Ms. Ferre balked at Gonzalez' expression of interest in covering fashion shows, Gonzalez stated: "You want me to look like a Vogue model?" Rather than responding, Ms. Ferre simply stared at Gonzalez. Moreover, Ms. Ferre routinely assigned younger reporters to cover the fashion shows and often told Gonzalez: "Dona Lydia, I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

Similar remarks were made to Gonzalez by Jorge Mercado, the director of the human resources department, who frequently stated that Gonzalez had "manias de vieja." Moreover, often as Gonzalez arrived at work in the morning, Mr. Mercado would accost her in the lobby and inquire: "Mom, can I help you?" or "What did you come here for, to visit or to request a job?" In addition, when Mr. Mercado visited the department in which Gonzalez worked, he would make such comments as: "Are you still here?" or "I thought you had been discharged or terminated a long time ago."

Following a serious work-related injury in April 1997, Gonzalez applied to the State Insurance Fund (SIF) for workers' compensation benefits. The SIF determined that Gonzalez should take medical leave while receiving treatment and rehabilitative therapy. Apparently concerned about Gonzalez' extended absence from work, Ms. Ferre contacted the El Dia human resources department regarding retirement packages which might be offered Gonzalez.

On June 12, 1997, Gonzalez discussed her health problems and her job with Ms. Ferre. At one point, Ms. Ferre asked Gonzalez whether she would like to retire, adding: "Look, [ ] you are already 63 years old and your health is not good." When Gonzalez responded that she did not wish to retire and instead offered to return to work immediately, Ms. Ferre rejected her offer and advised Gonzalez to take a vacation and return to work on July 1. As Gonzalez had no remaining paid-vacation time, however, and Ms. Ferre was well aware that Gonzalez was in difficult financial straits, Ms. Ferre offered to make an advance on Gonzalez' salary. Gonzalez promptly related the conversation to her former supervisor, Iris Landron. On the following day, El Dia issued a $6,000 check to Gonzalez. Although Gonzalez was surprised by the large amount and concerned about her ability to repay it, she nevertheless applied the entire advance toward her delinquent real estate mortgage.

On June 16, Mr. Mercado asked Gonzalez to come to his office, where she was presented with a resignation, release, and compensation agreement. Mr. Mercado asserted that during her June 12 meeting with Ms. Ferre, Gonzalez had agreed to execute these documents. Gonzalez denied any such agreement, refused to sign, and informed Mr. Mercado that she planned to return to work on June 19, rather than July 1. Upon returning to work on June 20, Gonzalez asked Mr. Mercado to draft an agreement, which she then signed, promising to repay the $6,000 advance by June 27.

On June 27, Gonzalez and her union representatives met with Mr. Mercado to explain that Gonzalez had been unable to obtain a bank loan with which to repay her $6,000 debt to El Dia. Mr. Mercado rejected Gonzalez' alternative offer either to tender certain valuable artwork in lieu of cash or repay the loan through payroll deductions. After asserting that Gonzalez had breached the repayment agreement in "bad faith," Mr. Mercado suspended her without pay, albeit with benefits (viz., e.g., health and life insurance), until such time as she repaid the $6,000 advance.

As Gonzalez was left without a source of income, yet required to mitigate damages, she accepted a position as a staff reporter with The San Juan Star, an El Nuevo Dia competitor, then submitted a grievance against El Dia pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). During the grievance proceeding, Gonzalez admitted to having worked for The San Juan Star. Thereafter, on July 15, 1997, Mr. Mercado terminated Gonzalez, citing the conflict-of-interest provision in the CBA; viz., "[r]eporters working for the newspaper shall work exclusively on reporting news for [the newspaper], and thus shall not write articles and/or columns for any newspaper other than [El Nuevo Dia]."¹ (Emphasis added.)

In August 1998, Gonzalez initiated the present action against El Dia, Ms. Ferre, and Mr. Mercado in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, alleging inter alia that her employment had been terminated in violation of the ADEA, the ADA, and various Commonwealth of Puerto Rico statutes. El Dia counterclaimed for its $6,000 advance to Gonzalez.

Ultimately, the district court entered summary judgment for El Dia, dismissed all claims in the Gonzalez complaint, and awarded El Dia summary judgment on its counterclaim.² On appeal, Gonzalez challenges the district court rulings which presaged the dismissal of her complaint.

II DISCUSSION

Summary judgment rulings are reviewed de novo, after all the competent evidence and attendant reasonable inferences have been assessed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Conto, 265 F.3d at 80 n. 1.³ Moreover, rather than weigh the credibility of the testimony, we presume that a rational factfinder would accept it as stated by the witness. See Santiago-Ramos v. Centennial P.R. Wireless Corp., 217 F.3d 46, 55 (1st Cir.2000).

A. The ADEA Claim

Under the ADEA, an employer may not "discharge ... or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to [her] compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of [her] age." 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1).⁴ Gonzalez was required to comply with the familiar burden-sharing paradigm established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Thus, at the outset she needed to tender enough evidence to establish a prima facie age-discrimination claim. See Dominguez-Cruz v. Suttle Caribe, Inc., 202 F.3d 424, 430 (1st Cir. 2000).⁵ For present purposes, El Dia acknowledges that Gonzalez established a prima facie case under the ADEA. See id.

The required prima-facie-case showing generates a rebuttable presumption that the defendant-employer violated the ADEA. Whereupon, the burden of production — as distinguished from the burden of proof — shifts to the defendant-employer to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory basis for its adverse employment action. Once this limited burden has been met by the defendant-employer, the presumption which attended the prima facie case vanishes and the claimant must adduce sufficient creditable evidence that age was a motivating factor in the challenged employment action. See id. The plaintiff-employee may meet her burden of proof by showing that the employer's proffered reason for the challenged employment action was pretextual, see id. at 430 n. 5, from which the factfinder in turn may, but need not, infer the alleged discriminatory animus. See Fite v. Digital Equip. Corp., 232 F.3d 3, 7 (1st Cir.2000) (citing Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000)).

El Dia plainly met its circumscribed burden of production by identifying a nondiscriminatory basis for the Gonzalez discharge: i.e., her acceptance of employment as a reporter for a competing newspaper, in direct violation of the conflict-of-interest provision in the CBA. Cf., e.g., King v. Preferred Tech. Group, 166 F.3d 887, 893 (7th Cir.1999) (Family and Medical Leave Act) (noting that violation of CBA provision by employee was legitimate nondiscriminatory basis for adverse employment action taken by employer); Burmistrz v. City of Chicago, 186 F.Supp.2d 863, 873-74 (N.D.Ill.2002) (same, under ADA). Accordingly, the burden then shifted back to Gonzalez to prove that the nondiscriminatory basis assertedly relied upon by El Dia was merely a pretext, and that age animus was the real reason for her termination.

At this stage in the proceedings, Gonzalez cannot dispute that she knowingly failed to comply with the pertinent CBA provision, thereby entitling El Dia to discharge her. See Mechnig v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 864 F.2d 1359, 1365 (7th Cir. 1988) ("[Federal courts] do `not sit as a super-personnel department that reexamines an entity's business decisions.' `No matter how medieval a firm's practices, no...