Federacion De Empleados Del Tribunal General De Justicia v. Torres, 84-1106

Citation747 F.2d 35
Decision Date29 October 1984
Docket NumberNo. 84-1106,84-1106
Parties117 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2914 FEDERACION DE EMPLEADOS DEL TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA, et al., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. Eulalio A. TORRES, et al., Defendants, Appellees.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit)

Juan Acevedo, Hato Rey, P.R., with whom Jose E. Carreras Rovira, and Carreras, Farinacci & Rodriguez, were on brief, for plaintiffs, appellants.

Reina Colon De Rodriguez, Asst. Sol. Gen., Dept. of Justice, San Juan, P.R., with whom Roberto Schmidt Monge, was on brief, for defendants, appellees.

Before CAMPBELL, Chief Judge, BREYER, Circuit Judge, and SELYA, * District Judge.

BREYER, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiffs in this case are employees or former employees of Puerto Rico's judicial branch. On August 1, 1980, they demonstrated for higher pay. The demonstration took place during working hours in front of a court building. Their employer, acting through Eulalio Torres, Administrative Director of the Courts of Puerto Rico, punished them. They then sued their employer, claiming that the punishment infringed their constitutionally protected rights of free speech.

The parties submitted the case to the district court on stipulated facts and cross-motions for summary judgment, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. The basic issue was whether the employer improperly punished some, or all, of them because of the mere fact that they expressed themselves (or because of the content of their expression), or whether the employer lawfully based its punishments upon other, legitimate, factors, such as the time and manner of the demonstration. See Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 152-53, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 1693, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983), citing Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District, 439 U.S. 410, 415, n. 4, 99 S.Ct. 693, 696 n. 4, 58 L.Ed.2d 619 (1979) (manner, time, and place as relevant factors in measuring degree of threat to institutional efficiency); cf. Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 571, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 1736, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968) (timing of letter considered in relation to institutional function). The district court found that the employer based its disciplinary actions upon legitimate factors not related to expression, for example, unauthorized absence from work. And, it entered judgment for defendant employer. The employees appeal, attacking the court's findings.

The record in this case reveals that the basic dispute between the parties concerns the factual inferences about the employer's motives that one might draw from the more basic facts to which the parties have drawn the court's attention. There are no significant disagreements about those basic facts. Nor has any party sought to introduce additional factual evidence or asked to present witnesses. The district court opinion indicates that the parties considered the matter to have been submitted below as a case ready for decision on the merits. Under these circumstances, as appellants agreed at oral argument, we should set aside the district court's factual inferences only if they are "clearly erroneous." See Vetter v. Frosch, 599 F.2d 630, 632 (5th Cir.1979) (Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a) applied in ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment where case could be treated as trial on a stipulated record); Starsky v. Williams, 512 F.2d 109, 111 (9th Cir.1975) (same). And, we conclude that they are not.

The record indicates that, after an administrative investigation and hearings, the employer imposed a set of individualized sanctions, ranging from reprimands to five-day suspensions and, in one instance (appellant Perez), a discharge. The employer concedes that the demonstration led to the discipline, but argues that it punished only unauthorized absence from work. Had the demonstration taken place during lunchtime, it says, it would have taken no disciplinary action. The disciplinary record supports this contention, for the employer did not discipline demonstration participants who had permission to be absent from work or were on vacation at the time. Moreover, the employer punished more...

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    • United States
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    ...pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) the Court may consider all papers of record as specified therein. Federacion de Empleados Del Tribunal General de Justicia v. Torres, 747 F.2d 35 (1st Cir.1984); Allen v. Carlotti, 400 F.Supp. 1037 (S.D.Fla.1975), aff'd., 552 F.2d 1086 (5th The Court is obliga......
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    ...to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) the Court may consider all papers of record as specified therein. Federacion De Empleados Del Tribunal General De Justicia v. Torres, 747 F.2d 35, 37 (1st Cir.1984); Allen v. Carlotti, 400 F.Supp. 1037, 1039 (S.D.Fla.1975), aff'd., 552 F.2d 1086 (5th The court has revi......
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    ...pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) the Court may consider all papers of record as specified therein. Federacion de Empleadas Del Tribunal General de Justicia v. Torres, 747 F.2d 35 (1st Cir.1984); Allen v. Carlotti, 400 F.Supp. 1037 (S.D.Fla.1975), aff'd., 552 F.2d 1086 (5th The Court is obliga......
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