Valentin-Almeyda v. Municipality of Aguadilla

• Decision Date: 09 May 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-2413.,No. 04-2414.,04-2413.,04-2414.
• Citation: 447 F.3d 85
• Parties: Blanca VALENTÍN-ALMEYDA, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. MUNICIPALITY OF AGUADILLA; Justo Cruz, Defendants, Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

447 F.3d 85

Blanca VALENTÍN-ALMEYDA, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. MUNICIPALITY OF AGUADILLA; Justo Cruz, Defendants, Appellants.

No. 04-2413.

No. 04-2414.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard March 8, 2006.

Decided May 9, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Yvonne M. Menéndez-Calero, with whom Quiñones, Sánchez & Guzman, P.S.C. was on brief, for appellant Justo Cruz.

Lizabel M. Negrón for appellant Municipality of Aguadilla.

Juan Rafael González Muñoz, with whom González Muñoz & Vicéns Sánchez, Victor Miranda Corrada, and Miranda Corrada Law Office were on brief, for appellee Blanca Valentín-Almeyda.

Before SELYA, Circuit Judge, HANSEN,^* Senior Circuit Judge, and LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

The Municipality of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and one of its police officers, Sgt. Justo Cruz, appeal from respective jury awards against them totaling over $1 million. The sums were awarded to Blanca Valentín-Almeyda, a municipal police officer, on her Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and Puerto Rico Law 17, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 155 et seq., claims of sexual harassment, retaliation, and violation of due process.

The defendants argue that the evidence was insufficient to support either liability or the damages awarded, and, as a result, the district court erred in denying their motion under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 50(b) and 59(a) for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, remitittur, or a new trial.

The Municipality also attacks the verdict form, arguing that it led the jury to award duplicate damages, and the court's failure to instruct the jury on the affirmative defense recognized in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 118 S.Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998), and Burlington Industries v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 118 S.Ct. 2257, 141 L.Ed.2d 633 (1998). The Municipality concedes that it has forfeited these claims by decisions it made at trial.

The defendants also mount unsuccessful attacks on the district court's rulings that the Law 17 claim against Cruz was not time-barred, that certain evidence was inadmissible, and that reinstatement was proper. In short, the defendants lost this case at trial and they cannot win it here. We affirm.

I.

We recount the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. See Arrieta-Colon v. Wal-Mart P.R., Inc., 434 F.3d 75, 79 (1st Cir.2006).

Valentín worked for the Municipal Police of Aguadilla from February 15, 1997 until January 27, 2003, when her employment was terminated.¹ She was trained at the Police Academy, where she graduated at the top of her class. She worked for a two-year probationary period before she became a permanent employee. Her supervisors, including Cruz, and her coworkers agreed she was a good police officer.

Cruz was an administrative sergeant whose duties included checking the officers' entry and exit logs. He kept track of attendance and could impose sanctions for attendance problems. At times, he had direct supervisory authority over Valentín. He also had some power to affect her work assignments. He worked in a small shared space with a secretarial pool of four or five secretaries, including Norma Gonzalez and Norma Ortiz.

In February 2000, Valentín, then aged thirty-six, separated from her husband; they ultimately were divorced in March 2001. In August 2000, Cruz began a crude campaign to win her affections. His comments were mild initially. He told her on several occasions that she had "pretty eyes" and "nice hair" and that her husband did not appreciate what he was leaving behind. He also told her she looked beautiful in the morning. Valentín objected to Cruz' remarks. But instead of stopping, Cruz escalated matters in September and October of 2000. He told Valentín she had "great legs" and twice told her she had "horny" eyes. Although Valentín was upset and tried to discourage him, he persisted, telling her many times that she was "hot-hot-hot." He then told her that her legs were "pretty enough" to have "hooked over his shoulders."

A number of people at the station knew that Cruz was chasing Valentín. Norma Ortiz, one of the secretaries, confirmed that Cruz made the reported comments about Valentín's hair, smile, and legs; that Cruz made such comments only to Valentín; and that Valentín "looked upset" because of his approaches.

Valentín complained to Officer Hector Villanueva, a friend of hers and a foot patrolman in the municipal police department, that since her divorce, Cruz was constantly "after her." Villanueva observed Valentín become upset after Cruz said something to her in the hallway. He noticed that Cruz always went out of his way to be near Valentín and to "sidle up next to her."

Cruz took to driving by Valentín's house multiple times on the same day and honking his horn. He admitted doing this to Villanueva, who also observed him do it.²

Although the defense denied that the Police Commissioner, Reynaldo Fernández, was aware of the situation, that was contradicted by Villanueva's testimony that the Commissioner told Cruz, in front of Villanueva and another officer, to get "that little girlfriend of yours" (emphasis added) under control. The other officer was Sgt. David Ferrer, who was second in the police hierarchy and Cruz' good friend.

Valentín testified that in early October 2000, she complained about Cruz' comments to Norma Gonzalez, the secretaries' supervisor and designated complaint-receiver. The Commissioner had told the female police officers that if they had any problems with male officers, they should go to Gonzalez, who reported directly to him. After that complaint, Cruz' approaches to Valentín stopped for a few weeks.³

Also in October 2000, Valentín attempted to meet with the Commissioner to complain about Cruz, who had become upset with her because she never greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. She testified that this was the first, but not the only, occasion on which she tried to meet with the Commissioner. The Commissioner greeted her at the door, but instead of hearing her complaints against Cruz, he told her to meet with Lt. Juan Vélez, an internal affairs investigator charged with handling equal employment opportunity charges for the municipal police. She met with Vélez that same day; he put his arm over her shoulders and said Cruz was not at fault, "that it was [her] fault because [she] had him bedazzled." Cruz and Vélez were good friends. The Mayor, Carlos Méndez, testified that Vélez and the Commissioner did not at that time bring the allegations to his attention, even though Vélez' job was to bring sexual harassment allegations to the Commissioner, who was supposed to bring them to the Mayor.

After her first attempt to complain to the Commissioner, Valentín testified, she suffered two forms of retaliation. Between October 2000 and January 2001, she was assigned more than five double shifts, although such assignments were uncommon in the Aguadilla police force. She was also transferred in October 2000 from the traffic unit, which was regarded as "privileged," to the rotating shifts assignment and then to Las Cascadas water park, which was regarded as "punishment" because it was remote and the work was solitary. Although it was common for officer "working shifts" to be assigned to Las Cascadas a few times per week, Valentín was permanently assigned there for a one-month period spanning the holidays, ending in early January 2001.⁴ Two weeks into her posting at Las Cascadas, while she was on duty, Cruz visited and told her that "[w]henever [she] stop[ped] being such a spoiled rotten kid, [he] could get [her] out of there."

Cruz' approaches recommenced in November 2000, when he left a note under the wiper of Valentín's car saying that she was "his" and that she should not be giving rides to fellow officers. In December 2000, he began to repeatedly ask Valentín if her divorce was final yet, telling her that he wanted to marry her and offering her money to help finalize the divorce.

Valentín felt uncomfortable and continued to rebuff Cruz' approaches. In approximately January 2001, when Valentín again said she was not interested in him, he became angry and told her she would be "screwed" — that she "had to be more affectionate with him" or else he and his friend Ferrer would exact retribution.⁵ Ferrer was in charge of work assignments, and Cruz also had some assignment authority.

In January 2001, Valentín attempted to complain directly to the Mayor. She told him she wanted to discuss Cruz, and that she had already attempted to speak with the Commissioner, who had paid no attention. The Mayor told her "he wouldn't have anything to do with [her]," because the Commissioner "was like his brother."⁶

On February 10, 2001, Valentín was at the mall with her son, and she noticed that Cruz was behind her. She accused him of following her, saying this was the third or fourth time such a thing had happened, but Cruz denied any such thing. Valentín told him she might complain again to the Commissioner. By this time Valentín had already tried to complain to the Commissioner twice (in October 2000 and on another date unclear from the record).

On February 14, 2001, Valentín went to the station house, intending to try yet again to meet with the Commissioner and to pick up her paycheck before beginning her shift in the town square. Just before noon, as she was en route, Cruz called her on her cellular phone and told her not to show up. He told her that she had to go to Las Cascadas and should not come to the station house. Valentín told Cruz that she was going to meet with the Commissioner. She did go to the station house, where she collected her paycheck, but was thereafter prevented from complaining to the Commissioner by the trio of Cruz, Ferrer, and Vélez.

Ferrer told her not to leave, whereupon Cruz gave her a warning letter about her tardiness on an earlier occasion. Valentín said she wanted to speak with the Commissioner, and...