Carreras v. Sajo, Garcia & Partners

• Decision Date: 23 February 2010
• Docket Number: No. 08-2068.,08-2068.
• Citation: 596 F.3d 25
• Parties: Erick CARRERAS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SAJO, GARCÍA & PARTNERS, Defendant, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

596 F.3d 25

Erick CARRERAS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SAJO, GARCÍA & PARTNERS, Defendant, Appellee.

No. 08-2068.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard September 9, 2009.

Decided February 23, 2010.

Victor P. Miranda-Corrada for appellant.

María Teresa Juan Urrutia for appellee.

Before LYNCH, Chief Judge, and GAJARSA^* and LIPEZ, Circuit Judges.

LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.

In this workplace discrimination and retaliation suit, the district court ruled that plaintiff, Erick Carreras, failed to comply with Puerto Rico's anti-ferret rule, D.P.R.R. 56(c). On this basis, it deemed as admitted portions of defendant Sajo, García & Partners' ("SGP") statement of uncontested facts and granted summary judgment to defendant. Carreras argues on appeal that the district court improperly invoked Local Rule 56 and erred in rejecting his claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213 ("ADA"), and various Puerto Rico anti-discrimination laws. We disagree and affirm.

I.

We begin with a recitation of the basic facts underlying the dispute, derived from the facts explicitly admitted by Carreras. SGP, a marketing agency, hired Carreras as an Art Director in December 2003. Carreras' responsibilities included preparing the creative art for products being marketed by SGP. In August 2004, Carreras and Sajo Ruíz, an SGP partner, exchanged heated emails about Carreras' alleged failure to complete work on time.¹ Carreras has type II diabetes, which he controls by taking insulin every morning and evening. At the commencement of his employment with SGP, Carreras filled out a form on which he indicated that he had diabetes and was dependent on insulin.

On October 21, 2004, Carreras emailed Ruíz informing him that he had worked late that evening and had been prevented from taking his insulin shot. Ruíz replied the next morning asking Carreras to clarify what had prevented him from taking his medicine and stating that there should be no obstacle to Carreras taking his treatment. In response, Carreras stated that he was prevented from administering his medicine because he had to stay late at the office.² SGP terminated Carreras' employment on October 25, 2004.

Carreras filed suit against SGP alleging that he had experienced discrimination based on his disability and retaliation for requesting a reasonable accommodation in violation of the ADA. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213. After discovery was complete, SGP moved for summary judgment and filed a separate Statement of Uncontested Facts in support of its motion. In response, Carreras submitted a document styled as "Plaintiff's Response and Objections to Defendant's Proposed Statement of Uncontested Facts." The district court found that statement to be defective under Puerto Rico Local Rule 56 because it failed to admit, qualify or deny certain facts proposed by SGP, it did not contain a separate section for the new facts it sought to introduce, and it did not contain appropriate citation to the record to support denied facts.

In accordance with the anti-ferret rule, the district court disregarded those portions of Carreras' opposition it found defective and deemed as admitted many of SGP's properly supported facts. See D.P.R.R. 56(e). With its recitation of the facts in its written opinion, the district court made clear the facts it deemed admitted. The court focused primarily on those facts pertaining to the effect, or lack thereof, of Carreras' diabetes on his work and daily life. In a footnote, the court explained that "the reason for [Carreras'] dismissal is in dispute. However, because it is immaterial for the resolution of this case, we will eschew any discussion in this regard." Hence, the court's recitation of "Uncontested Facts" in its opinion, where it sets forth the effect of its deeming analysis on the summary judgment record, does not focus on the retaliation claim.

After making its deeming determination, the district court granted summary judgment to SGP based on Carreras' failure to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether he is disabled within the meaning of the ADA. The court noted, however, that even if Carreras qualified as disabled, his arguments that SGP failed to accommodate his disability must fail because Carreras had neither requested nor been denied accommodation. For the same reason, the district court rejected Carreras' claim that he was retaliated against for making a request for reasonable accommodation.

Carreras appeals, contending that his statement complied with the local rule and that the district court erred in granting summary judgment based on its deeming order.

II.

Carreras argues that the district court improperly applied Local Rule 56(c), the District of Puerto Rico's anti-ferret rule. The rule states, in relevant part:

A party opposing a motion for summary judgment shall submit with its opposition a separate, short, and concise statement of material facts. The opposing statement shall admit, deny or qualify the facts by reference to each numbered paragraph of the moving party's statement of material facts and unless a fact is admitted, shall support each denial or qualification by a record citation as required by this rule. The opposing statement may contain in a separate section additional facts, set forth in separate numbered paragraphs and supported by a record citation as required by subsection (e) of this rule.

D.P.R.R. 56(c). Subsection (e) of the rule states that citations must be "to the specific page or paragraph of identified record material supporting the assertion." D.P.R.R. 56(e). Failure to comply with the anti-ferret rule permits the court to "disregard any statement of fact not supported by a specific citation to record material properly considered on summary judgment." D.P.R.R. 56(e). We review the district court's application of a local rule for abuse of discretion. See Sánchez-Figueroa v. Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, 527 F.3d 209, 213 (1st Cir.2008). While a district court may choose not to invoke the rule in response to every violation, we have consistently upheld the enforcement of the rule, and we treat the district court's decision to apply it with deference. See CMI Capital Market Inv. v. González-Toro, 520 F.3d 58, 62-63 (1st Cir.2008); Mariani-Colón v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 511 F.3d 216, 219 (1st Cir.2007); Cabán Hernández v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 486 F.3d 1, 7 (1st Cir. 2007). The rule is intended "to relieve the district court of any responsibility to ferret through the record to discern whether any material fact is genuinely in dispute." CMI Capital Market, 520 F.3d at 62. It prevents parties from "improperly shift[ing] the burden of organizing the evidence presented in a given case to the district court." Mariani-Colón, 511 F.3d at 219. As such, the rule is important to the functioning of the district court.

Here, Carreras did submit a response to SGP's Statement of Uncontested Facts. Although he argues that his response properly accepted or denied every fact with appropriate citation, Carreras properly denied only certain of SGP's facts. Accordingly, the district court stated that it would "partially disregard" Carreras' opposing statement of uncontested facts.³ The record shows that in many instances Carreras' response manifestly ignores the express requirements of the anti-ferret rule. Most blatantly, in at least two instances Carreras' opposition fails to "accept, qualify or deny" the fact listed by his opponent. Instead, it explains discursively why Carreras believes the fact to be irrelevant. Furthermore, Carreras' opposition frequently fails to support denied facts with appropriate citation to the record.

Finally, Carreras' response includes argumentation asserting numerous additional facts. Those facts are often unsupported by record citations, they are not numbered, and they are not "contain[ed] in a separate section." Carreras' argument that the rule does not require additional facts to be adduced in a separate section is unavailing. The plain language of the rule specifically requires that additional facts be put forward in a "separate section." D.P.R.R. 56(c). In light of these substantial failings, the district court acted well within its discretion when it deemed as admitted a portion of SGP's properly supported facts.

III.

To survive summary judgment on his discrimination and retaliation claims, Carreras must establish a genuine issue of material fact as to whether he experienced disability discrimination or was retaliated-against within the meaning of the ADA. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).⁴ Our review of the district court's grant of summary judgment is de novo. Cabán-Hernández, 486 F.3d at 8. We "draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmovant." Id. We will not, however, "draw unreasonable inferences or credit bald assertions, empty conclusions, [or] rank conjecture." Id. (emphasis in original).

A. Disability Discrimination under the ADA

The district court found that Carreras failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under the ADA because he could not establish that he is disabled within the meaning of the statute. Under the ADA, a disability is defined as: (a) a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of an individual's major life activities; (b) a record of such impairment; or (c) being regarded as having such an impairment. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1).⁵ We have employed a three-part test to determine whether an individual qualifies as disabled under the first definition, which is at issue here. First, does the plaintiff suffer a mental or physical impairment? Second, does the life activity limited by the impairment qualify as "major"? And finally, does the impairment, in fact, substantially limit that major life activity? See Calero-Cerezo, 355 F.3d at 20. The burden is on the plaintiff to establish these three elements. Id. Carreras contends that he is disabled because...