Educadores Puertorriquenos v. Rey Hernandez

• Decision Date: 28 August 2007
• Docket Number: Civil No. 03-2304 (RLA).
• Citation: 508 F.Supp.2d 164
• Parties: EDUCADORES PUERTORRIQUEÑOS, et al. v. Hon. Cesar REY HERNANDEZ, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

508 F.Supp.2d 164

EDUCADORES PUERTORRIQUEÑOS, et al. v. Hon. Cesar REY HERNANDEZ, et al.

Civil No. 03-2304 (RLA).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

August 28, 2007.

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Francisco R. Gonzalez-Colon, Esq., San Juan, PR, Plaintiff/Petitioner.

Eduardo A. Vera-Ramirez, Esq., Landron & Vera LLP, Guaynabo, PR, Jose Enrico Valenzuela-Alvarado, Esq., Department of Justice, San Juan, PR, Defendant/Respondent.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

RAYMOND L. ACOSTA, Senior Judge.

Defendants have moved the Court to enter summary judgment on their behalf and to dismiss the outstanding claims asserted against them. The Court having reviewed the evidence submitted by the parties as well as the applicable law hereby rules as follows.

This action was instituted by Educadores Puertorriqueños en Accion ("Educadores"), an association composed of Department of Education personnel, as well as 19 individuals¹ formerly employed at the English Immersion Laboratory and Spanish Redaction School ("English Immersion School") located at Ramey Base in Aguadilla.

Plaintiffs claim they were dismissed, demoted or illegally transferred from the English Immersion School to other positions due to political discrimination and without due process considerations in violation of their rights under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Additionally, plaintiffs allege violations of the Puerto Rico tort provisions, art. 1802 of the P.R. Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 5141 (1990) and Law No. 100 of June 30, 1959, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 146 (2002) ("Law 100") the local discrimination in employment statute.

Named defendants are the following individuals who, at the time, were employed by the Puerto Rico Department of Education in the following capacities: Cesar Rey Hernandez, former Secretary of Education, Ana Helvia Quintero, former Deputy Secretary of Education, Carlos Ivan Morales, Regional Director for the Mayaguez-Aguadilla Region, Ines Journet, former Director of the Immersion Program, Roberto Velez, Superintendent of the Aguadilla Education District and Jaime E. Alvarado, former Interim Director of the Immersion Program.

Plaintiffs demand both compensatory and punitive damages as well as equitable relief.

Defendants have raised the following grounds in support of their request for dismissal of parties and/or claims: (1) Educadores lacks standing to represent its members in this suit; (2) certain claims are time-barred; (3) plaintiffs have failed to establish a prima facie case of political discrimination under the First Amendment; (4) plaintiffs have no property right entitled to due process protection; (5) defendants are protected by qualified immunity; (6) Law 100 is inapposite, and (7) the court should decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Rule 56(c) Fed. R. Civ. P., which sets forth the standard for ruling on summary judgment motions, in pertinent part provides that they shall be `granted "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Sands v. Ridefilm Corp., 212 F.3d 657, 660-61 (1st Cir.2000); Barreto-Rivera v. Medina-Vargas, 168 F.3d 42, 45 (1st Cir.1999). The party seeking summary judgment must first demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact in the' record. De-Novellis v. Shalala, 124 F.3d 298, 306 (1st Cir.1997). A genuine issue exists if there is sufficient evidence supporting the claimed factual disputes to require a trial. Morris v. Gov't Dev. Bank of Puerto Rico, 27 F.3d 746, 748 (1st Cir.1994); LeBlanc v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 841 (1st Cir.1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1018, 114 S.Ct. 1398, 128 L.Ed.2d 72 (1994). A fact is material if it might affect the outcome of a lawsuit under the governing law. Morrissey v. Boston Five Cents Say. Bank, 54 F.3d 27, 31 (1st Cir.1995).

"In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court must' view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, drawing all reasonable inferences in that party's favor.'" Poulis-Minott v. Smith, 388 F.3d 354, 361 (1st Cir.2004) (citing Barbour v. Dynamics Research Corp., 63 F.3d 32, 36 (1st Cir.1995)).

Credibility issues fall outside the scope of summary judgment "`Credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts are jury functions, not those of a judge.'" Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). See also, Dominguez-Cruz v. Suttle Caribe, Inc., 202 F.3d 424, 432 (1st Cir.2000) ("court should not engage in credibility assessments."); Simas v. First Citizens' Fed. Credit Union, 170 F.3d 37, 49 (1st Cir.1999) ("credibility determinations are for the factfinder at trial, not for the court at summary judgment."); Perez-Trujillo v. Volvo Car Corp., 137 F.3d 50, 54 (1st Cir.1998) (credibility issues not proper on summary judgment); Molina Quintero v. Caribe G.E. Power Breakers, Inc., 234 F.Supp.2d 108, 113 (D.P.R.2002). "There is no room for credibility determinations, no room for the measured weighing of conflicting evidence such as the trial process entails, and no room for the judge to superimpose his own ideas of probability and likelihood. In fact, only if the record, viewed in this manner and without regard to credibility determinations, reveals no genuine issue as to any material fact may the court enter summary judgment." Cruz-Baez v. Negron-Irizarry, 360 F.Supp.2d 326, 332 (D.P.R.2005) (internal citations, brackets and quotation marks omitted).

In cases where the non-movant party bears the ultimate burden of proof, he must present definite and competent evidence to rebut a motion for summary judgment, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 256-257, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202; Navarro v. Pfizer Corp., 261 F.3d 90, 94 (1st Cir.2001); Grant's Dairy v. Comm'r of Maine Dep't of Agric., 232 F.3d 8, 14 (1st Cir.2000), and cannot rely upon "conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation". Lopez-Carrasquillo v. Rubianes, 230 F.3d 409, 412 (1st Cir.2000); Maldonado-Denis v. Castillo-Rodriguez, 23 F.3d 576, 581 (1st Cir.1994); Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990).

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The English Immersion School was founded in 1998 as a bilingual boarding school for children from all over Puerto Rico with the purpose of developing the students' English language skills.

The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) — favoring Commonwealth status — won the elections in November 2000 defeating the New Progressive Party (NPP) — promoting statehood.

During the 2000-2001 school year, the English Immersion School offered courses to approximately 300 students from 10th to 12th grades.

Commencing January 2001, there were rumors circulating among the faculty members regarding the possible closing down of the school by the new administration.

In March or April 2001, codefendant Jaime E. Alvarado, Interim Director of the Immersion Program at the time, delivered to the teachers a transfer and reassignment form to be filled out by them due to the uncertainty regarding the next school year.

On April 24, 2001, a press release issued by Ana Helvia Quintero indicated that: the English Immersion School was undergoing both a fiscal and administrative evaluation process; no new students would be admitted in the 2001-2002 school year and 11th and 12th grade students would attend school Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with an extended program from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. commencing in August 2001. In other words, the school would be operating with a regular schedule as opposed to a live-in system.

As a practical consequence, this measure excluded all students not residing in the school's immediate geographical area which entailed a drastic reduction in both student enrollment and staff.

In June 2001, plaintiffs and other teachers of the school attended a meeting in Rincon with codefendants Roberto Velez, Jaime Alvarado, Carmen Sanchez and Carlos Ivan Morales to discuss their relocation process pursuant to their respective transfer requests.

According to plaintiffs, no explanation was offered at the time regarding the future plans for the program except that apparently there was no money to keep operating the school as a boarding institution and not sufficient enrollment to retain the teachers.

In August 2001, the decision was taken to reopen and maintain the English Immersion School. Pursuant thereto, during that same month defendants engaged in a new effort to re-staff the school. Plaintiffs herein were not notified nor considered for those positions.

The School closed in August 2002 apparently due to the diminishing student enrollment.

On April 16, 2002, Educadores as well as 16 individuals² filed Civ. No. 02-1578(HL), a class action. On June 7, 2002, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in that case adding another three plaintiffs.³ Both pleadings identified Cesar Rey Hernandez, then Secretary of Education of Puerto Rico, as sole named defendant but also listed "Persons A to Z" as unnamed defendants "who were active participants in the events subject of this Complaint that are not identified at this moment." ¶ 17.

On October 15, 2003, plaintiffs sought leave to further amend the complaint to add Mayra Valentin Hernandez and Miguel A. Gonzalez Pratts as plaintiffs as well as Ana Helvia Quintero, Carlos Ivan Morales, Roberto Velez and Jaime E. Alvarado a...