Guzman-Ruiz v. Hernandez-Colon, 04-1628.

• Decision Date: 27 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-1628.,04-1628.
• Citation: 406 F.3d 31
• Parties: Domingo GUZMÁN-RUÍZ, et al., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. Frankie HERNÁNDEZ-COLÓN, et al., Defendants, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

406 F.3d 31

Domingo GUZMÁN-RUÍZ, et al., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. Frankie HERNÁNDEZ-COLÓN, et al., Defendants, Appellees.

No. 04-1628.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard March 8, 2005.

Decided April 27, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Arturo Luciano Delgado for appellants.

Luis Villares Sarmiento with whom Sánchez-Betances, Sifre, Muñoz-Noya & Rivera, P.S.C. was on brief for appellees Hernandez-Colon and Maldonado-Arrigoitia.

Gary H. Montilla with whom Roberto Márquez-Sánchez was on brief for Arecibo.

Before SELYA, Circuit Judge, COFFIN, Senior Circuit Judge, and LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

COFFIN, Senior Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment in favor of Puerto Rico defendant municipality, Arecibo, its mayor and its director of human resources, in a political discharge suit brought by fourteen employees. Plaintiffs are members of the New Progressive Party (NPP) and the individual defendants are members of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP), which was restored to power after the election of 2000. The newly elected mayor, Frankie Hernández-Colón, allegedly facing a formidable municipal financial crisis, instigated the termination of many employees, including the plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs' complaint, seeking both injunctive relief and damages, invoked 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985(3), and other federal causes of action, as well as several Commonwealth provisions. Defendants submitted motions for dismissal and summary judgment supported by statements of municipal officers evidencing not only financial stringency but also implementation of a seniority-based layoff plan devised in contemplation of such an emergency by the prior mayor, an NPP member. The district court accepted the recommendations of a magistrate judge that summary judgment be granted in favor of the defendants.

After reviewing the evidentiary state of the record in search of material issues of fact and noting a series of procedural defaults, we affirm the rulings of the district court rejecting belated requests for discovery and concluding that the record is bereft of any evidence of political animus motivating the discharges. We review the former ruling for abuse of discretion, Torres-Rosado v. Rotger-Sabat, 335 F.3d 1, 5 n. 2 (1st Cir.2003), and the latter de novo, Rodriguez v. American Int'l Ins. Co. of Puerto Rico, 402 F.3d 45, 46 (1st Cir.2005).

We first consider plaintiffs' complaint, which the district court generously characterized as establishing a prima facie case of discrimination. The complaint described plaintiffs as NPP "activists," who served as NPP officers and delegates on election day in 2000 and assisted at rallies and meetings during the campaign. Their political beliefs were alleged, in conclusory terms, to be known by defendants. The fourteen plaintiffs were described as holding the following positions: carpenter (2), janitor (2), driver (2), clerk (3), secretary (2), coordinator, receptionist, and worker.

These allegations may very well describe plaintiffs' jobs as protected from politically motivated dismissal, see, e.g., Padilla-García v. Guillermo Rodríguez, 212 F.3d 69, 74 (1st Cir.2000) (non-policymaking employees are protected from employment decisions based on political affiliation), but job terminations are not unconstitutional solely "because those affiliated with one political party are disproportionately impacted," Sanchez-Lopez v. Fuentes-Pujols, 375 F.3d 121, 140 (1st Cir.2004).

In Acevedo-Diaz v. Aponte, 1 F.3d 62, 69 (1st Cir.1993), plaintiffs were described as playing prominent roles in "publicly and vocally supporting" a former mayor. Even so, we acknowledged that, "[s]tanding alone, even the circumstantial evidence that some plaintiffs were especially conspicuous targets for discriminatory employment action by defendants would give us serious pause." And, even more recently, in Gonzalez-De-Blasini v. Family Dep't, 377 F.3d 81, 85-86 (1st Cir.2004), we affirmed dismissal of a complaint, concluding that even though plaintiff was alleged to be a well known supporter of the NPP, had held a trust position under the previous NPP administration, and defendant had expressed interest in giving her position to a PDP member, this fell short of evidence that defendant knew of plaintiff's affiliation. See also Cosme-Rosado v. Serrano-Rodríguez, 360 F.3d 42, 48 (1st Cir. 2004) (statement of PDP mayor of intent to rid town of NPP activists insufficient to generate genuine issue of material fact); Figueroa-Serrano v. Ramos-Alverio, 221 F.3d 1, 8 (1st Cir.2000) (similar).

We note our doubt concerning whether plaintiffs had truly set forth a prima facie case to emphasize that it is at best not a strong one. Their task under the burden-shifting analysis applicable to political discrimination cases was to show that their constitutionally protected conduct was a substantial or motivating factor for the adverse employment decision. See, e.g., Padilla-García, 212 F.3d at 74 (citing Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 287, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977)). Assuming their skimpy showing met this standard, the allegations nonetheless lack any specific information that could bulwark a case for rejecting the genuineness of defendants' response that they "would have taken the same action regardless of the plaintiff's political beliefs," id. (referring to "the Mt. Healthy defense").

This sets the stage for the critical assessment of defendants' proffered justification. After considerable jousting by the parties over service of process and plans for discovery, the court set the date of May 7, 2003 for a status conference. A few days before that date, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment with a Statement of Uncontested Material Facts and a motion to dismiss. Unaccountably, plaintiffs' counsel did not attend the May 7 conference.

This was only the beginning of missed cues. Plaintiffs responded on May 14 to the motion for summary judgment only by requesting an extension of time beyond the customary ten day limit to June 11 to oppose the motions. That date passed without any effort to secure a further extension, or to conduct discovery, and without any statement of opposition or opposing statement of material facts, as required by local rules. Accordingly, on July 14, the court referred the case to the magistrate judge for a report and recommendation, which was to be considered "unopposed." Under the applicable local rule, facts in a statement of material facts, if supported by record citations, are deemed admitted unless properly controverted. See D.P.R. R. 56(e).

Three weeks later, on August 8, plaintiffs' counsel filed a motion for reconsideration of the order of reference. We have looked in vain for any support for such a motion except an appeal for sheer mercy. Counsel averred that it was "foreseeable that plaintiffs would need additional time [beyond June 11] to conclude the discovery" but did not explain why preventive anticipatory action was not attempted. Counsel had "coordinated" the tentative deposition of defendant Mayor Hernández but "the undersigner calendar [sic] during the months of June and July of 2003 prevented to do so." Finally, the request: "Plaintiffs deserve an opportunity to conduct further discovery .... It was our mistake not to request an additional extension of time to oppose said motion."

Counsel perhaps deserves high marks for candor, but to ask us to find that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to grant this motion is to ask us to use this sad case to make very bad law. Counsel for Arecibo appropriately calls our attention to Justice Harlan's thought in Link v. Wabash Railroad Co.: "[K]eeping this suit alive merely because plaintiff should not be penalized for the omissions of his own attorney would be visiting the sins of plaintiff's lawyer upon the defendant." 370 U.S. 626, 634 n. 10, 82 S.Ct. 1386, 8 L.Ed.2d 734 (1962) (emphasis in original). Now, if ever, are the teachings of such cases as Resolution Trust Corp. v. North Bridge Assocs., 22 F.3d 1198 (1st Cir. 1994), pertinent. There, we called attention to the safety valve of Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(f), which gives a party with an authentic need the opportunity to buy...