Arroyo Otero v. Hernández Purcell, Civ. No. 92-1704 (JP).

• Decision Date: 14 October 1992
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 92-1704 (JP).
• Citation: 804 F. Supp. 418
• Parties: Ivan ARROYO OTERO, et al., Plaintiff, v. Pedro HERNANDEZ PURCELL, et al., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

804 F. Supp. 418

Ivan ARROYO OTERO, et al., Plaintiff, v. Pedro HERNANDEZ PURCELL, et al., Defendant.

Civ. No. 92-1704 (JP).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

October 14, 1992.

Zulma R. Rosario Vega, San Juan, P.R., for plaintiff.

María del C. Betancourt Vázquez, Rosa E. Palou, Federal Litigation Div., Dept. of Justice, San Juan, P.R., for defendant.

OPINION & ORDER

PIERAS, District Judge.

This is a civil rights action filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by twelve former employees of the Puerto Rico Land Administration (hereinafter "PRLA") against the PRLA, its Executive Director, its Deputy Minister, the members of its Governing Board, and various officials of the Rio Camuy Cave Park. Plaintiffs have sued each of the individual defendants in their personal and official capacities. The Court now has before it the unopposed Motion to Dismiss dated August 24, 1992, filed by defendants Pedro Hernández Purcell and the PRLA, which was joined by the other defendants by Motion dated September 1, 1992. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is hereby DENIED.

I. Background

Each of the plaintiffs was a career employee who worked at the Rio Camuy Cave Park until May 26, 1991, at which time they were informed of their dismissals. Plaintiffs aver that they were dismissed because of their activity in a campaign in favor of electing a labor union to represent the employees of the PRLA, particularly those employees working within the Rio Camuy Cave Park. In support of this averment, plaintiffs state that they were dismissed five days prior to a scheduled labor election and that immediately following their dismissals the PRLA requested that the Puerto Rico Labor Relations Board remove their names from the list of employees eligible to vote in the election. Plaintiffs' complaint alleges violations of their rights under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

The PRLA was created to carry out the public purposes of furthering the development of public works and social and economic welfare programs through the effective and full utilization and maintenance of land in Puerto Rico. 1962 L.P.R. pp. 13-14 (Legislative History); 23 L.P.R.A. §§ 311f(h) and (w).¹ The PRLA is a public corporation having a juridical personality separate from that of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 23 L.P.R.A. § 311b. It powers are exercised by a Governing Board comprised of various government officials, including the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Chairman of the Puerto Rico Planning Board, four cabinet officials, and four independent members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Puerto Rico Senate. 23 L.P.R.A. § 311b(b). The debts, obligations, contracts, and other financial activities of the PRLA are deemed to be its responsibility and not the responsibility of the Commonwealth. 23 L.P.R.A. § 311e. In carrying out its financial responsibilities, the PRLA may make contracts, borrow money, give security and issue bonds, and accept financial assistance on its own behalf or on behalf of the Commonwealth. 23 L.P.R.A. §§ 311f(i), (m) and (n). All funds of the PRLA must be deposited with recognized depositories of the funds of the Commonwealth to be kept in a separate account. 23 L.P.R.A. § 311h. This account must be examined at least once a year by the Commonwealth Comptroller. 23 L.P.R.A. § 311i. The PRLA must submit to the Puerto Rico Assembly at the end of each fiscal year a financial statement, a report on the transactions made by the Administration in the prior year, and a report on the status and progress of all activities of the Administration since its creation. 23 L.P.R.A. § 311s. The PRLA has the power to sue and be sued. 23 L.P.R.A. § 311f(f). Its property and accounts are exempt from all Commonwealth and municipal taxes. 23 L.P.R.A. § 311n.

II. Discussion

A. Dismissal Standard

Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a defendant may, in response to an initial pleading, file a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. It is well-settled, however, that "a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); see also Miranda v. Ponce Federal Bank, 948 F.2d 41 (1st Cir.1991). The court must accept as true the well-pleaded factual averments contained in the complaint, while at the same time drawing all reasonable inferences therefrom in favor of the plaintiff. See McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transp. Co., 427 U.S. 273, 276, 96 S.Ct. 2574, 2576, 49 L.Ed.2d 493 (1976); Correa-Martínez v. Arrillaga-Beléndez, 903 F.2d 49, 51 (1st Cir.1990); Dartmouth Review v. Dartmouth College, 889 F.2d 13, 16 (1st Cir. 1989). But see Chongris v. Board of Appeals, 811 F.2d 36, 37 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1021, 107 S.Ct. 3266, 97 L.Ed.2d 765 (1987) (quoting Snowden v. Hughes, 321 U.S. 1, 10, 64 S.Ct. 397, 402, 88 L.Ed. 497 (1944) (In reviewing complaint, Court should "eschew any reliance on bald assertions, unsupportable conclusions, and `opprobrious epithets.'")

In opposing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, "a plaintiff cannot expect a trial court to do his homework for him." McCoy v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 950 F.2d 13, 22 (1st Cir.1991). Rather, the plaintiff has an affirmative responsibility to put his best foot forward in an effort to present a legal theory that will support his claim. Id. at 23 (citing Correa-Martínez, 903 F.2d at 52; Dartmouth Review, 889 F.2d at 16; Ryan v. Scoggin, 245 F.2d 54, 57 (10th Cir.1957)) ("No amount of interpretive liberality can save chestnuts so poorly protected from the hot fire of dismissal.") Plaintiff must set forth in his complaint "factual allegations, either direct or inferential, regarding each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable theory." Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 514 (1st Cir.1988).

B. Eleventh Amendment Immunity

The Eleventh Amendment bars the commencement and prosecution in federal court of certain suits claiming money damages brought against any state, including Puerto Rico, without its consent. Accord In re San Juan Dupont Plaza Hotel Fire Litigation, 888 F.2d 940, 942 (1st Cir.1989) ("The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is treated as a state for Eleventh Amendment purposes."); see also Ramírez v. Puerto Rico Fire Service, 715 F.2d 694, 697 (1st Cir.1983); Fernández v. Chardón, 681 F.2d 42, 59 n. 13 (1st Cir.1982), aff'd, 462 U.S. 650, 103 S.Ct. 2611, 77 L.Ed.2d 74 (1983).²

1. Institutional Immunity

The Eleventh Amendment immunity is not limited to cases in which a state is a party of record. Accord Mt. Healthy City School Dist. Bd. of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). It may also apply in cases involving diverse governmental entities, including schools, cities, counties, state agencies, multi-state agencies, governors, and officers. 13 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure Civil 2d § 3524 at 128-29 (West 1984). When an action is brought against such an entity or individual, a court must consider whether the defendant is "`an arm or alter ego of the State partaking of the State's Eleventh Amendment immunity, or is instead to be treated as a municipal corporation or other political subdivision to which the Eleventh Amendment does not extend.'" Ainsworth Aristocrat Int'l Party, Ltd. v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico, 818 F.2d 1034, 1036 (1st Cir.1987) (quoting Mt. Healthy City School District Bd. of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 280, 97 S.Ct. 568, 572, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977)).

In addressing this issue to determine the "type of activity" engaged in by the defendant that is the object of plaintiff's claim (accord Puerto Rico Ports Authority v. M/V MANHATTAN PRINCE, 897 F.2d 1, 10 (1st Cir.1990)), the Court must consider:

local law and decisions defining the nature of the agency involved; whether payment of any judgment will come out of the state treasury; whether the agency is performing a governmental or proprietary function; the agency's degree of autonomy; the power of the agency to sue and be sued and enter into contracts; whether the agency's property is immune from state taxation and whether the state has insulated itself from responsibility for the agency's operations.

Id. at 9 (citing Ainsworth, 818 F.2d at 1037); see also Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 440 U.S. 391, 400-402, 99 S.Ct. 1171, 1176-1177, 59 L.Ed.2d 401 (1979); Durning v. Citibank, N.A., 950 F.2d 1419, 1423 (9th Cir. 1991); Figueroa-Rodríguez v. Aquino, 863 F.2d 1037, 1044 (1st Cir.1988)). These factors should not be applied mechanically but should instead be used to assist the Court in assessing whether the defendant "acted more like a private company, or more like the Commonwealth's government, in conducting the activities relevant to this ... suit." Royal Caribbean Corp. and Caribbean Cruise Line, Ltd. v. Puerto Rico Ports Authority, 973 F.2d 8, 10 (1st Cir. 1992) (citing M/V MANHATTAN PRINCE, 897 F.2d at 10; Jacintoport v. Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission, 762 F.2d 435, 442 (5th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1057, 106 S.Ct. 797, 88 L.Ed.2d 774 (1986)).

The Courts of this District have on many occasions held that the protections of the Eleventh Amendment extend to various agencies or instrumentalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that act as arms of the Commonwealth.³ On other occasions we have held that its protections do not extend to various agencies and instrumentalities of the Commonwealth whose activities are more proprietary than governmental.⁴ We have not had the opportunity to consider whether its protections extend to the PRLA. Even if a prior pronouncement existed, however, it would...