Garnier v. RodrÍguez

• Decision Date: 22 October 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-2222.,06-2222.
• Citation: 506 F.3d 22
• Parties: Carlos Calderón GARNIER, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. Hon. Anabelle RODRÍGUEZ, in her personal capacity and as former Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, Defendant, Appellant, Hon. Roberto Sanchez Ramos, in his personal capacity and official capacity as acting Secretary of Justice; Pedro Goyco Amador, in his personal and official capacity as Prosecutor General of the Department of Justice; Cruz Estevez de Gonzalez in her personal and official capacity as District Attorney of the Puerto Rico Department of Justice; Hon. Sila Maria Calderón, in her personal and official capacity as former Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; John Doe, unknown persons who acted or conspired violating Plaintiff's constitutional rights and caused damages, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

506 F.3d 22

Carlos Calderón GARNIER, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. Hon. Anabelle RODRÍGUEZ, in her personal capacity and as former Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, Defendant, Appellant Hon. Roberto Sanchez Ramos, in his personal capacity and official capacity as acting Secretary of Justice; Pedro Goyco Amador, in his personal and official capacity as Prosecutor General of the Department of Justice; Cruz Estevez de Gonzalez in her personal and official capacity as District Attorney of the Puerto Rico Department of Justice; Hon. Sila Maria Calderón, in her personal and official capacity

as former Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; John Doe, unknown persons who acted or conspired violating Plaintiff's constitutional rights and caused damages, Defendants.

No. 06-2222.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard June 5, 2007.

Decided October 22, 2007.

Israel Roldán González, for appellee.

Eduardo A. Vera Ramírez, with whom Roberto Sanchez Ramos, Secretary of Justice, Salvador Antonetti Stutts, Solicitor General, Leticia Casalduc, Auxiliary Solicitor General, Eileen Landrón Guardiola, Luis A. Rodríguez Muñoz, Julio César Alejandro Serrano, and Landrón & Vera, LLP. were on brief for appellant.

Before LIPEZ and NEWMAN,^* Circuit Judges, and SELYA, Senior Circuit Judge.

NEWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Carlos Calderón Garnier was dismissed from his position as an Assistant District Attorney for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, by letter of dismissal from then Governor Sila Maria Calderón, dated May 12, 2004. On May 11, 2005, Mr. Calderón Garnier appealed to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, invoking 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and asserting that the dismissal, the events leading to it, and the process by which it was implemented, were politically motivated and in violation of his civil, constitutional, and statutory rights, including violation of the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, of Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Constitution and of Puerto Rico employment laws and laws prohibiting political discrimination, and of the terms of his employment. The defendants filed various motions; the district court dismissed some counts of the complaint, but ruled that the complaint alleged sufficient facts to state a claim based on violation of First Amendment rights, a claim under the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and claims under Puerto Rico law. The court denied the motions for dismissal on qualified immunity and statute of limitations grounds;¹ these denials are the subject of this appeal.

This interlocutory appeal is taken by Hon. Anabelle Rodríguez, a named defendant who was Secretary of Justice during most of the period at issue. Former Secretary Rodríguez argues that the district court erred in denying her motion for dismissal on the ground of qualified immunity. She also argues that the Puerto Rico one-year statute of limitations bars this action broadly, or at least excludes her as a party defendant because she left the position of Secretary of Justice more than one year before suit was filed.

We receive this appeal in accordance with the principles stated in Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 305, 116 S.Ct. 834, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996), that the denial of a claim of qualified immunity, if the claim turns on an issue of law, is an appealable interlocutory ruling. See Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 525, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985) ("the denial of a substantial claim of absolute immunity is an order appealable before final judgment, for the essence of absolute immunity is its possessor's entitlement not to have to answer for his conduct in a civil damages action"); Vazquez Rios v. Hernandez Colon, 819 F.2d 319, 320 (1st Cir.1987)(interlocutory review of denial of partial summary judgment based on claims of qualified immunity).

This review is limited to the issue of qualified immunity. As explained in Pedraza v. Shell Oil Co., 942 F.2d 48, 55 n. 10 (1st Cir.1991), "when presented with an interlocutory appeal from an order denying summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity, we have so far refrained from endorsing any form of pendent appellate jurisdiction over otherwise nonappealable interlocutory orders." See Domegan v. Fair, 859 F.2d 1059, 1061-62 (1st Cir.1988) ("Notwithstanding that we have jurisdiction to review the denial of qualified immunity midstream, `[a]ny additional claim presented to and rejected by the district court must independently satisfy the collateral order exception to the final-judgment rule in order for us to address it on an interlocutory appeal.'") (quoting Bonitz v. Fair, 804 F.2d 164, 173 (1st Cir.1986)). The denial of a motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds is such a nonappealable interlocutory order. See Rivera-Ramos v. Roman, 156 F.3d 276, 282 (1st Cir.1998).

The appeal as to the statute of limitations issue is dismissed for want of appellate jurisdiction.

I. BACKGROUND

In brief: in 1995 Mr. Calderón Garnier was appointed to the position of Assistant District Attorney by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Honorable Pedro J. Rosselló. In 1999 Governor Rosselló reappointed the plaintiff for the statutory term of twelve years. Governor Rosselló and the plaintiff were affiliated with the New Progressive Party. In 2001 the Honorable Sila Maria Calderón, affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party, became Governor. Soon thereafter Mr. Calderón Garnier's work schedule was changed to place him "on call" for twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week. He was then transferred from the District of Aibonito to the Fajardo office, an action that he states occurred without notice while he was on vacation; at the Fajardo office he was again placed on the twenty-four hour, seven day schedule. He states that this schedule was required of a few other district attorneys, all of whom were affiliated with the New Progressive Party. He also describes various controls and interventions into his activities as a district attorney, which he states were improper and politically motivated.

On October 30, 2003, during a Conference of the Public Ministry, the plaintiff conducted a "silent protest" of the twenty-four hour, seven day schedule by marching with a poster in the area where the Conference was taking place. Defendant Pedro Goyco Amador, then acting Prosecutor General, told Mr. Calderón Garnier that he would be fired if he continued the protest. Soon thereafter, Secretary of Justice Rodríguez ordered an investigation of Mr. Calderón Garnier's work performance, and on December 23, 2003, Secretary Rodríguez suspended his activities as a district attorney, stating in the letter:

Pursuant to the above, I am hereby informing you that as of receipt of this communication you are suspended as Assistant Prosecutor II. Such suspension is of employment and not of salary. I further inform you that I shall recommend to the Hon. Sila M. Calderon to dismiss you from your present position as Assistant Prosecutor II.

You have a term of fifteen (15) work days as of receipt hereof to request an informal administrative hearing and to present your version about the facts motivating the disciplinary action taken. In such informal hearing, you may [be] assisted by counsel. If you do not request the informal hearing within the time indicated above, it will be understood that you waive your right to the same and I shall proceed to recommend to the Governor your dismissal of the position you now hold without having the benefits of your version.

(Certified translation, filed on November 8, 2006).

Mr. Calderón Garnier states that his requests for a copy of the investigatory report before the hearing were denied, and that despite his requests to postpone the hearing due to his medical condition, the defendants held the hearing in his absence. By letter dated May 12, 2004, Governor Sila Calderón dismissed him from employment. Mr. Calderón Garnier filed this suit on May 11, 2005.

II. DISCUSSION

On de novo review of a dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), "assuming the truth of all well-pleaded facts . . . and indulging all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor," Nisselson v. Lernout, 469 F.3d 143, 150 (1st Cir.2006), a complaint is properly dismissed for failure to state a claim "only if the facts lend themselves to no viable theories of recovery." Luc v. Wyndham Mgmt. Corp., 496 F.3d 85, 88 (1st Cir.2007).

The qualified immunity of government officials is a shield against unwarranted charges that the official violated the Constitution in the course of performing the functions of the office. In Jordan v. Carter, 428 F.3d 67, 71 (1st Cir.2005), this court explained that "[i]n deference to the sensitive discretionary judgments that government officials are obliged to make, qualified immunity safeguards even unconstitutional conduct if a reasonable officer at the time and under the circumstances surrounding the action could have viewed it as lawful." The Court has stressed the importance of resolving issues of immunity at the start of the litigation, lest unwarranted lawsuits impede the proper functioning of government. Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 227, 112 S.Ct. 534, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991). As the district court observed, there is no heightened pleading standard in § 1983 actions unless specifically required by statute or rule. Educadores Puertorriqueños en Acción v. Hernández, 367 F.3d 61, 66-67 (1st Cir.2004).

The issue before the district court was whether, on the well-pleaded allegations, Secretary Rodríguez's actions were protected by qualified immunity. To grant the ...