Martínez v. Novo Nordisk Inc.

• Citation: 992 F.3d 12
• Decision Date: 29 March 2021
• Docket Number: No. 19-1928,19-1928
• Parties: William Puig MARTÍNEZ; Meralys Colón; Hernan Méndez Nazario; Conjugal Partnership Méndez-Colón, Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. NOVO NORDISK INC., Defendant, Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit)

992 F.3d 12

William Puig MARTÍNEZ; Meralys Colón; Hernan Méndez Nazario; Conjugal Partnership Méndez-Colón, Plaintiffs, Appellants,

v.NOVO NORDISK INC., Defendant, Appellee.

No. 19-1928

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

March 29, 2021

Mónica Vega Quintana, with whom Mónica Vega Quintana Law Office, Rubén T. Nigaglioni, San Juan, PR, and Nigaglioni Law Office, P.S.C., were on brief, for appellants.

Melissa C. Rodriguez, New York, NY, with whom William R. Peterson, Houston, TX, Mary Grace Patterson, Boston, MA, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP were on brief, for appellee.

Before Howard, Chief Judge, Kayatta, Circuit Judge, Casper,^* District Judge.

KAYATTA, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs William Puig Martínez and Hernan Méndez Nazario are former employees of Novo Nordisk Inc. During a global reorganization, Novo Nordisk terminated plaintiffs from their Puerto Rico-based jobs and did not select them for post-reorganization positions. Plaintiffs contend that their termination and non-selection violated Puerto Rico's statutes prohibiting age discrimination in employment, Act No. 100 of June 30, 1959, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, §§ 146–51 ("Law 100"), and penalizing termination without just cause, Act No. 80 of May 30, 1976, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, §§ 185a – 185m ("Law 80"). The district court disagreed and granted summary judgment in favor of Novo Nordisk. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.

We refer to the undisputed material facts set out in the district court's summary judgment decision. See Martínez v. Novo Nordisk, 397 F. Supp. 3d 207 (D.P.R. 2019). Novo Nordisk is a healthcare company specializing in diabetes care that operates in several countries. Id. at 215. In April 2007, Novo Nordisk hired Puig and Méndez as salespeople (also called Diabetes Care Specialist IIIs or DCS IIIs) in its Puerto Rico district. Id. In September 2016, the Puerto Rico district had a sales staff of fourteen DCS IIIs, including plaintiffs. Id.

To cut costs, Novo Nordisk undertook a global reorganization that ultimately resulted in the termination of about one thousand employees during the fall of 2016. See id. By the reorganization's end, Novo Nordisk had (1) eliminated the Puerto Rico district and all fourteen of its DCS positions; and (2) created three new DCS positions that would handle all Puerto Rico sales and report to Novo Nordisk's "South Miami Florida district." Id.

On October 3, 2016, Novo Nordisk distributed a list of responses to "Frequently Asked Questions" about the reorganization. See id. The FAQs advised that Novo Nordisk's workforce would shrink by about one thousand employees worldwide and that Novo Nordisk planned "to do notifications by the end of October" to inform employees whether they "ha[d] a job." The FAQs also stated that "[a]ffected employees" could apply for open positions at the company and would "receive a list of available opportunities when notified and instructions on how to apply, if interested."

On October 24, 2016, Novo Nordisk sent letters informing Puig, Méndez, and the other salespeople in the Puerto Rico district that their "department has decided to eliminate [their] position[s] and, therefore, [their] employment will end effective November 18, 2016." Id. at 216. The termination letters stated that Novo Nordisk would pay severance in accordance with Law 80, if applicable. Id. at 216.

The letters also noted that "[a]s a result of the consolidations and restructurings that took place, there are open positions throughout the organization," and the letters "strongly encourage[d]" terminated employees, including plaintiffs, "to apply for any open positions for which [they were] qualified" by October 27. The open positions included the three Puerto Rico-based DCS positions that would report to the "South Miami Florida district." Id. at 215. According to Novo Nordisk, successful candidates would have "proven leadership and decision-making abilit[ies]"; "be [ ] self-starter[s]"; and "be able to evaluate options and make decisions on [their] own with minimal supervision." Id. (last alteration in original).

Nelson Almérico and John Thrasher conducted the interviews for the post-reorganization DCS positions covering Puerto Rico. Id. After interviewing Puig (age fifty-seven) and Méndez (age forty-eight) on November 1 and 2, respectively, the interviewers assigned each one a rating of "Meets Expectations." Id. at 215–16. Almérico and Thrasher opined that Puig had significant experience but lacked "a high enough level of probing and engaging skills" and did not present "as strong a plan as others." Id. at 216. And the interviewers noted that Méndez had "[g]reat collaboration [skills]" and "[a]ppeared coachable," but that he was "[n]ot a strong closer," and that he was not able to provide examples of how he would adapt to the changing market. Id. at 216 (alterations in original). The three candidates ultimately selected -- Jose Velázquez Faccio (age forty-three), Jose Cruzado (age forty-seven), and Carmen Irizarry (age forty-seven) -- received "Exceeds Expectations" ratings.

On or about November 18, 2016, Novo Nordisk sent letters to plaintiffs confirming their separation from the company. See id. at 216. Each letter enclosed a "Confidential Agreement, Release and Waiver," which, if signed, would entitle plaintiffs to certain enumerated benefits. But the letters pledged that Novo Nordisk would pay plaintiffs "severance in accordance with Law 80" in an amount specified in an attached exhibit regardless of whether they signed the document. Id. True to its word, Novo Nordisk paid $82,137.27 to Puig and $67,845.96 to Méndez. See id. at 217.

Plaintiffs filed this action alleging (i) discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 – 634 ; (ii) unlawful cancellation of benefits in violation of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1161 – 1169 ; (iii) age discrimination in violation of Law 100; (iv) unjust dismissal in violation of Law 80; and (v) a derivative claim by Méndez's spouse, Meralys Colón, under Puerto Rico's general tort statute, Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 5141. The district court granted summary judgment in Novo Nordisk's favor on all of plaintiffs' claims. Plaintiffs appealed.

II.

We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the nonmovants and drawing all reasonable inferences in their favor. Rodríguez-Cardi v. MMM Holdings, Inc., 936 F.3d 40, 46 (1st Cir. 2019). Summary judgment is appropriate where "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).

Plaintiffs do not contend that the district court improperly granted summary judgment on their ADEA and COBRA claims, so we do not review those rulings. Nor do we have reason to analyze separately Meralys Colón's derivative claim for tort damages because, as plaintiffs acknowledge, it depends entirely on the success of her spouse's claims. See Ramos-Santiago v. WHM Carib, LLC, 919 F.3d 66, 69 n.2 (1st Cir. 2019). Rather, plaintiffs train their challenge on the district court's grant of summary judgment in Novo Nordisk's favor on plaintiffs' Puerto Rico law claims under Law 100 and Law 80. We address each claim in turn.

A.

Law 100 provides a cause of action for persons who suffer employment discrimination due to their age. Ramos-Santiago, 919 F.3d at 72. Law 100's protections against age discrimination are "coterminous" with the ADEA's protections, but call for an idiosyncratic burden-shifting scheme to analyze discrimination claims. See Dávila v. Corporación de P.R. para la Difusión Pública, 498 F.3d 9, 18 (1st Cir. 2007). In the district court and on appeal, plaintiffs devote considerable effort to establishing that the burden of proof settled on Novo Nordisk. We sidestep that issue entirely by assuming without deciding that Novo Nordisk bore the burden of proving that plaintiffs' discharge was not the result of age discrimination. The pivotal question then becomes whether the record would preclude any reasonable jury from finding that Novo Nordisk failed to carry this burden by showing that age discrimination was not the reason for plaintiffs' discharge. See Cardona-Jimenez v. Bancomercio de P.R., 174 F.3d 36, 43 (1st Cir. 1999) (requiring judgment in favor of employer who was assumed to bear the burden of proof because no reasonable jury could have found that plaintiff was dismissed on account of age). For the following reasons, we agree with Novo Nordisk that the record is devoid of evidence that would allow a reasonable jury to find in favor of plaintiffs, no matter who bears the burden of proof.

As to Méndez, the discrimination claim defeats itself when stated in concrete terms; i.e., the interviewers selected forty-seven-year-old candidates for two of the three positions instead of the forty-eight-year-old Méndez because of his age. This is simply not a scenario that invites even speculation of age discrimination. See O'Connor v. Consol. Coin Caterers Corp., 517 U.S. 308, 313, 116 S.Ct. 1307, 134 L.Ed.2d 433 (1996) (explaining that an inference of age bias "cannot be drawn from the replacement of one worker with another worker insignificantly younger").

The fifty-seven-year-old Puig, by contrast, can at least say he was significantly older than the chosen candidates. But there is no evidence to support his claim that he was not given a fair shot because of his age.

Puig argues that the interviewers -- Thrasher and Almérico -- displayed age-based animus by saying that the ideal candidate would have "energy," be "dynamic," and possess "stamina." We can certainly imagine a context in which such comments might suggest age-based bias. Here, though, the comments were voiced in the context of discussing three positions that would be responsible for a sales territory...