Gonzalez Pina v. Rodriguez
| Decision Date | 07 August 2003 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL NO. 01-2037 (JAG). |
| Citation | 278 F.Supp.2d 195 |
| Parties | Ernesto GONZALEZ PINA, Plaintiff, v. Jose Guillermo RODRIGUEZ; The City of Mayaguez, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
Israel Roldan-Gonzalez, Aguadilla, PR, for Plaintiff.
Juan R. Gonzalez-Munoz, Salvador J. Antonetti-Stutts, Pietrantoni Mendez & Alvarez, San Juan, PR, Carlos E. Lopez-Lopez, Llovet-Zurinaga & Lopez P.S.C., Glorianna S. Hita-Valiente, Llovet Zurinaga & Lopez, PSC, Hato Rey, PR, Carlos M. Aquino-Ramos, Fiddler, Gonzalez & Rodriguez, San Juan, PR, for Defendants.
On August 1, 2001, plaintiff Ernesto Gonzalez Pina ("Gonzalez") brought suit against the Municipality of Mayaguez, and its Mayor, Jose Guillermo Rodriguez ("Rodriguez")(collectively "defendants") under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the due process clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. He alleges that defendants have discriminated against him on account of his political beliefs. Gonzalez also sets forth certain supplemental state law claims.1
In essence, Gonzalez makes two allegations. First, he claims that defendants failed to give him a salary equivalent to his qualifications and experience and failed to promote him from the career position of Executive Officer I. Gonzalez had been appointed to this position as the result of a settlement in a previous political discrimination case between the parties. Secondly, Gonzalez alleges that defendants harassed him and failed to assign him any meaningful duties or responsibilities upon his return to the Municipality after the settlement of the previous case. As in the previous case, Gonzalez alleges that defendants have retaliated against him for his support of Rodriguez' political rival within the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) in the 1994 primary campaign.
Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on April 25, 2003 (Docket No. 34).Gonzalez opposed the motion on May 16, 2003 (Docket No 37). Defendants tendered a reply on May 22, 2003 (Docket No. 43). For the reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS defendants' motion.
The standard for summary judgment is governed by Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. The court should grant summary judgment only "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 judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see Santiago-Ramos v. Centennial P.R. Wireless Corp., 217 F.3d 46, 52 (1st Cir.2000). The party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A contested fact is `material' when it has the potential to change the outcome of the case. Vega-Rodriguez v. Puerto Rico Tel. Co., 110 F.3d 174, 178 (1st Cir.1997). An issue is genuine if a reasonable jury could resolve the dispute for the nonmoving party. Cortes-Irizarry v. Corporacion Insular, 111 F.3d 184, 187 (1st Cir.1997); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
In order to defeat a motion for summary judgment, the party opposing the motion must "present definite, competent evidence to rebut the motion." Maldonado-Denis v. Castillo-Rodriguez, 23 F.3d 576, 581 (1st Cir.1994). The non-moving party must show that a trial-worthy issue exists and must point to specific facts that demonstrate the existence of an authentic dispute. Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 822 (1st Cir.1991). "The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence is insufficient to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Furthermore, the Court "must view the entire record in the light most hospitable to the party opposing summary judgment, indulging all reasonable inferences in that party's favor." Griggs-Ryan v. Smith, 904 F.2d 112, 115 (1st Cir.1990). Nonetheless, the Court must never "weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter," Lipsett v. University of P.R., 864 F.2d 881, 895 (1st Cir.1988) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505), and "[n]o credibility assessment may be resolved in favor of the party seeking summary judgment." Woodman v. Haemonetics Corp., 51 F.3d 1087, 1091 (1st Cir.1995). The Court may safely ignore "conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation." Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990). "If, after this canvassing of the material presented, the district court finds that some genuine factual issue remains in the case, whose resolution one way or another could affect its outcome, the court must deny the motion." Lipsett, 864 F.2d at 895.
In compliance with Local Rule 311.12, defendants have submitted "a separate, short concise statement of material facts as to which the moving party contends there is no genuine issue to be tried and the basis for such contention as to each material fact, properly supported by specific reference to the record." D.P.R.R. 311.12. Plaintiff, however, filed a set of five (5) contested facts with generalized references to the record that do not specifically identify the evidence in the record to support his assertions. It is well-established that "a list of facts with no specific references to the record is of no use to the Court." Hogar Club Paraiso, Inc. v. Varela LLavona, 208 F.R.D. 481, 482 (D.P.R.2002). Plaintiffs cannot expect the Court to "ferret through the record, read all the answers to interrogatories, study all the attached documents and carefully scrutinize all the depositions for lurking genuine issues of material fact." Dominguez v. Eli Lilly & Co., 958 F.Supp. 721, 727 (D.P.R.1997).
Local Rule 311.12 provides that the "moving party's statement will be deemed to be admitted unless controverted by the statement required to be served by the Opposing Party." D.P.P.R 311.12. Clearly, "parties who ignore Rule 311.12 do so at their own peril," Hogar Club Paraiso, 208 F.R.D. at 482 (citing Velez v. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, 170 F.Supp.2d 158, 162 (D.P.R.2001)), and "once so warned, a party's failure to comply would . . . be grounds for judgment against that party." Nieves Ayala v. Johnson & Johnson, 208 F.Supp.2d 195, 198 (D.P.R.2002); Morales v. A.C. Orssleff's EFTF, 246 F.3d 32, 33 (1st Cir. 2001). Accordingly, the Court hereby admits all the facts, submitted by defendants, that have been adequately supported by references to the record as follows.
On April 27, 1995, Gonzalez filed an action for political discrimination against the Municipality of Mayaguez, and its Mayor, Hon. Jose Guillermo Rodriguez (Gonzalez Pina I) (see Civil No. 95-1527). On September 22, 1997, once the jury trial in the case had commenced, the parties reached a settlement agreement in open court. The parties agreed to file written stipulations but failed to do so, accordingly, the Court entered judgment on February 17, 1998 making reference to the terms stipulated to in open court (See Civil No. 95-1527, Docket No 87). The Municipality agreed to pay Gonzalez $61,200 in back pay, including all benefits accrued since his dismissal. Payment was due in 60 days. Moreover, the Municipality agreed to appoint plaintiff to a career position with a salary "for which he qualifies which will never be less than $1,400 monthly." On his part, Gonzalez agreed he would retire as a municipal employee after 30 years of service. The settlement provided that he was to "continue his efforts to complete the requirements for retirement" which he "estimated that the time would be approximately one year and nine months".
On February 3, 1998, the Municipality paid Gonzalez the principal amount of $61,200.00 plus interest less statutory deductions. The Municipality appointed Gonzalez to a career position as Executive Officer I with a monthly salary of $1,500.00 effective October 1, 1997.
On February 5, 1998, Gonzalez filed a petition to have defendants found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement (See Civil No. 95-1527, Docket No. 85). In addition to claiming that the Municipality had failed to pay the settlement amount in a timely fashion, Gonzalez alleged that he was not appointed to a position with the salary for which he qualified. He sought an appointment to a position of Executive Officer VII instead of Executive Officer I. Defendants concede that Gonzalez is qualified for this position and that it would entail a higher salary.
On August 20, 1998, Magistrate Judge Justo Arenas issued a Report & Recommendation (See Civil No. 95-1527, Docket No. 100; Docket No. 34, Exhibit D), recommending that Gonzalez' motion for contempt be denied. The Magistrate Judge found that defendants had substantially complied with the terms of the consent decree. He found that Gonzalez' position was not supported by specific and clear language and that any omissions or ambiguities in the agreement had to be construed in favor of defendants. Specifically, the Magistrate Judge stated that Gonzalez' appointment to the position of Executive Officer I satisfied the Municipality's obligations under the settlement agreement. The Court, noting that no objections had been filed to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, adopted it as its own on September 10, 1998 (See Civil No. 95-1527, Docket No. 101; Docket No 34, Exhibit E),
Gonzalez currently occupies the position of Executive Officer I with a monthly salary of $1,645. To date, he has more than 30 years in the service but he has not left his employment at the Municipality.2
Gonzalez filed this case on August 2, 2001 (...
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