Ruiz-Casillas v. Camacho-Morales

• Decision Date: 30 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-1793.,04-1793.
• Parties: Nereida RUIZ-CASILLAS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Luis A. CAMACHO-MORALES, in his official capacity as Federal Programs Director of the Municipality of Humacao; Jane Doe; conjugal partnership Camacho-Doe; Marcelo Trujillo-Panisse, in his official capacity as Mayor of the Municipality of Humacao; Jane Doe; Conjugal partnership Trujillo-Doe, Defendants, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

415 F.3d 127

Nereida RUIZ-CASILLAS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Luis A. CAMACHO-MORALES, in his official capacity as Federal Programs Director of the Municipality of Humacao; Jane Doe; conjugal partnership

Camacho-Doe; Marcelo Trujillo-Panisse, in his official capacity as Mayor of the Municipality of Humacao; Jane Doe; Conjugal partnership Trujillo-Doe, Defendants, Appellees.

No. 04-1793.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Submitted January 4, 2005.

Decided June 30, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Marie Elsie López-Adames, on brief, for appellant.

Jorge Martínez-Luciano, with whom Gina Ismalia Gutiérrez-Galang, Law Offices of Pedro Ortiz-Álvarez, and Michael C. McCall, Civil Rights Legal Task Force, on brief, for appellees.

Before BOUDIN, Chief Judge, TORRUELLA and LYNCH, Circuit Judges.

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Nereida Ruiz-Casillas appeals the summary judgment entered in favor of defendants-appellees Mayor and Federal Programs Director of the Municipality of Humacao for claims of political discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Specifically, Ruiz contests the district court's finding that she occupied a policy-making trust position, thereby foreclosing her First and Fourteenth Amendment claims given the party affiliation requirement. Appellant also argues that, despite her dismissed causes of action, the district court erred in failing to address defendants' qualified immunity defense. After careful review, we affirm.

I. Background

Ruiz, an employee of the Municipality of Humacao, Puerto Rico and a member of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP), has served as Administrative Director of the Federal Programs Division of Humacao since 1985. Although her appointment as Administrative Director was initially transitory, the position was made permanent by virtue of a 1991 ordinance.¹

In January 2001, defendant-appellee Marcelo Trujillo-Panisse became the Mayor of Humacao and, as such, took responsibility for establishing the municipality's public policy, organization, and personnel regulation. Trujillo appointed defendant-appellee Luis Camacho-Morales as Director of the Municipality's Federal Programs Division that same year. Like Ruiz, both Trujillo and Camacho are members of the PDP.

Ruiz alleges that after defendants' assumption of power, they harassed and discriminated against her by, inter alia, stripping her of the job's functions and duties, denying her access to a phone line, telling other employees not to speak with her, and acting aggressively towards her. These actions were allegedly spurred by Ruiz's political beliefs, specifically, her support for the previous mayor and administration who were affiliated with the rival New Progressive Party (NPP).

On November 6, 2002, Ruiz filed a complaint in the federal district court for the District of Puerto Rico, which she amended on February 10, 2003 to add First and Fourteenth Amendment claims under § 1983. Defendants moved for summary judgment on September 11, 2003, arguing, inter alia, that the claim was barred by the statute of limitations defense, that Ruiz had failed to establish a prima facie case, and that they had qualified immunity.

On April 27, 2004, the district court granted defendants' summary judgment motion and dismissed Ruiz's claims. Ruiz-Casillas v. Camacho-Morales, No. 02-2640 (D.P.R. April 27, 2004). The court reviewed the record properly before it to find that the nature of Ruiz's tasks and her position's close involvement with high-level policymakers indicated that she was a policymaking trust employee, for whom party affiliation was an appropriate employment requirement. Id. at 13-23. The court also found that Ruiz's Fourteenth Amendment claim faltered because as a trust employee, she had no cognizable property interest in her trust employment for a due process claim, id. at 23-24, and her equal protection claim merely restated her failed First Amendment claim, id. at 24-25. Having dismissed all causes of action, the court declined to address the qualified immunity defense. Id. This appeal follows.

II. Analysis

A. First Amendment

Ruiz first argues that the district court erred in finding that she had occupied a "political" position, and thus lacked a colorable First Amendment claim for political discrimination on the basis of party affiliation. We are not convinced.

Summary judgment entries are reviewed de novo, viewing all facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and granting all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. See, e.g., Torres v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co., 219 F.3d 13, 18 (1st Cir.2000). Such judgments are upheld "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Summary judgments will also be upheld "if the nonmoving party rests merely upon conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation," Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990). Finally, our inquiry as to whether a government position is "political," though fact intensive, presents a question of law requiring a de novo assessment of all relevant evidence. Ortiz-Pinero v. Rivera-Arroyo, 84 F.3d 7, 12 (1st Cir.1996).

In political discrimination cases, plaintiffs must first establish that party affiliation was a substantial or motivating factor behind the adverse employment action. See Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 287, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). Defendants then carry the burden to establish either a nondiscriminatory reason for the challenged action, see id. at 287, 97 S.Ct. 568, or that plaintiff held a "political position," for which party affiliation constitutes "an appropriate requirement for the effective performance of the public office involved," Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507, 518, 100 S.Ct. 1287, 63 L.Ed.2d 574 (1980). See Ortiz-Piñero, 84 F.3d at 12. Unlike non-policymaking career positions, "political positions" are terminable without cause when political affiliation is an appropriate requirement for the position. See, e.g., Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 362-63, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976); Galloza v. Foy, 389 F.3d 26, 28-29 (1st Cir.2004). This rule ensures that "representative government [will] not be undercut by tactics obstructing the implementation of policies of the new administration, policies presumably sanctioned by the electorate." Elrod, 427 U.S. at 367, 96 S.Ct. 2673.

In determining whether a position is "political," we engage in a two-step inquiry: (1) whether the governmental unit decides "issues where there is room for political disagreement on goals or their implementation," and (2) whether the position's responsibilities "resemble[] [those of] a policymaker, a privy to confidential information, a communicator, or some other office holder whose function is such that party affiliation is an equally appropriate requirement." Jiménez Fuentes v. Torres Gaztambide, 807 F.2d 236, 241-42 (1st Cir. 1986) (en banc); see also Galloza, 389 F.3d at 29-30; Duriex-Gauthier v. López-Nieves, 274 F.3d 4, 9 (1st Cir.2001).

In determining the second prong, we examine the position's "inherent attributes," for which the job description is the most useful starting point. Galloza, 389 F.3d at 31. Job descriptions that are broad or open ended — given the employee's latitude to exercise discretionary judgment — generally indicate a policymaking position, while job descriptions that are narrowly circumscribed inhibit freedom of action and generally indicate a non-policymaking position. Id. The job title, however, is not necessarily dispositive in the inquiry, Duriex-Gauthier, 274 F.3d at 8. Instead, we examine other indicia including "relative pay, technical competence, power to control others, authority to speak in the name of policymakers, public perception, influence on programs, contact with elected officials, ... responsiveness to partisan politics and political leaders ... [and] responsibilities that are not well defined or are of broad scope." Jiménez Fuentes, 807 F.2d at 242 (internal quotation marks omitted).

Before delving into our inquiry, we note that appellant has submitted voluminous documents to this court that were never introduced, or were never properly introduced,² before the district court. Our inquiry, therefore, is limited to the record properly before the court. See Fed. R.App. P. 10(a).

The resolution of the instant case revolves around the second prong described above, as "the OFP [Office of Federal Programs] unmistakably is a municipal department or agency whose overall functions involve decision making on issues where there is room for political disagreement on goals or their implementation." Ortiz-Piñero, 84 F.3d at 12-13 (internal quotation marks omitted).

Our examination of the second prong — for which the job description³ is the most useful starting point — indicates that appellant's responsibilities resemble those of a policymaker. Her duties are broad and open-ended: "[a]ny matter for the mayor referred to [her] regarding the [federal] programs." Docket Document No. 52. Moreover, Ruiz remained in continuous contact with the Mayor and the Director regarding the progress of projects, attended meetings, seminars, Housing and Development (HUD) orientation, and accomplished various tasks which demonstrate "technical competence, power to control others, authority to speak in the name of policymakers, ... influence on programs, [and] contact with elected officials."⁴ Jiménez Fuentes, 807 F.2d at 242. Furthermore, Ruiz's "relative pay," another factor we consider, see id., is only $100 less than the monthly salary of Director Camacho, whose position is indisputably a "political" trust position. We also note that when Camacho left the...