Lafont-Rivera v. Soler-Zapata, LAFONT-RIVER
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit) |
| Writing for the Court | Before TORRUELLA and STAHL; STAHL |
| Citation | 984 F.2d 1 |
| Parties | Manuellaintiff, Appellant, v. Joseicardo Torres Munoz, Armando Troche, Defendants, Appellees. . Heard |
| Docket Number | LAFONT-RIVER,No. 92-1656,SOLER-ZAPAT,R,P,92-1656 |
| Decision Date | 05 November 1992 |
Page 1
v.
Jose SOLER-ZAPATA, Ricardo Torres Munoz, Armando Troche,
Defendants, Appellees.
First Circuit.
Decided Jan. 20, 1993.
Enrique J. Mendoza Mendez with whom Jose Enrique Mendoza Vidal was on brief, for plaintiff, appellant.
Vannessa Ramirez, Asst. Sol. Gen., with whom Anabelle Rodriguez, Sol. Gen., Dept. of Justice, was on brief for defendants, appellees.
Before TORRUELLA and STAHL, Circuit Judges, and SKINNER, * Senior District Judge.
STAHL, Circuit Judge.
In this appeal, plaintiff Dr. Manuel Lafont-Rivera challenges the district court's dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint as time-barred. We affirm the judgment of the district court.
I.
When reviewing the dismissal of a complaint, we treat all allegations in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of plaintiff. See, e.g., Monahan v. Dorchester Counseling Ctr., Inc., 961 F.2d 987, 988 (1st Cir.1992). Plaintiff, an optometrist, worked part time for the Department of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("DOH") from March 5, 1951, to November 30, 1971. Sometime in 1984, plaintiff allegedly received a "[C]ertificate of Service" (the "Certificate") verifying his twenty-year term of employment with DOH. Plaintiff claims that the Certificate operated as an official acknowledgment that, as of 1982, the year in which he turned fifty-eight years old, he became qualified to receive a pension.
Page 2
Receiving a Certificate is, however, only the beginning of the pension application process in Puerto Rico. Apparently, DOH pension applicants with Certificates next must acquire from DOH a "Form OP-15" verifying that applicant's employment has terminated. According to the complaint, the Retirement Office does not process individual pension applications without the Form OP-15.
After receiving his Certificate, plaintiff attempted to secure a Form OP-15 from DOH. To that end, sometime in 1984, plaintiff--through his attorney--requested DOH to issue him a Form OP-15. Apparently, plaintiff's initial request went unheeded.
The complaint does not reflect further interaction between the parties in 1984-1986. The complaint does state, however, that on January 24, 1987, defendant Armando Troche, Head of DOH's Personnel Office, communicated to plaintiff that his case "was being referred" to the DOH Legal Department.
Again, more than two years passed without further communication between plaintiff and DOH. Then, on June 14, 1989, plaintiff reiterated his request that defendant Troche issue the Form OP-15. On June 26, 1989, Troche wrote a letter to plaintiff informing him that "nothing could be done" as his case "had been referred to the Legal Department six months before."
Sometime in 1990, plaintiff requested for a third time that DOH issue the Form OP-15. Contemporaneously, plaintiff also petitioned defendant Dr. Jose Soler Zapata, the Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to issue the Form. Apparently, defendant Soler did not respond to plaintiff's request.
Sometime thereafter, plaintiff began extensive negotiations over his employment status with officials in the DOH Legal Department. After these negotiations, an official in the Legal Department went to defendant Troche and recommended that he fill out plaintiff's Form OP-15. Defendant Troche ignored this recommendation and instead referred plaintiff's case to the "Office of Central Personnel."
After learning of this referral, plaintiff, on February 21, 1991, filed "an appeal" with defendant Soler again seeking his Form OP-15. Defendant Soler referred plaintiff's case to defendant Ricardo Torres Munoz, the Head of the DOH Legal Department. Defendant Munoz conferred with defendant Troche and, in May of 1991, wrote a...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Lopez v. Padilla, 98-1325(DRD).
...relevant period, unless local tolling and application rules are inconsistent with federal law or policies. Lafont-Rivera v. Soler-Zapata, 984 F.2d 1 (1st Cir.1993); Rivera-Muriente v. Agosto-Alicea, 959 F.2d 349 (1st Cir.1992); Street v. Vose, 936 F.2d 38 (1st Cir.1991); Rodríguez Narvaez v......
-
Armstrong v. Lamy, Civil Action No. 94-11426-REK.
...as a matter of state law, the accrual date of a § 1983 action is determined as a matter of federal law. Lafont-Rivera v. Soler-Zapata, 984 F.2d 1, 2-3 (1st Cir.1993); Rivera-Muriente v. Agosto-Alicea, 959 F.2d 349, 353 (1st Cir.1992); Rodriguez Narvaez v. Nazario, 895 F.2d 38, 41 n. 5 (1st ......
-
Educadores Puertorriquenos v. Rey Hernandez, Civil No. 03-2304 (RLA).
...v. Crispin Reyes, 118 F.3d 10, 15 n. 6 (1st Cir.1997); Muniz-Cabrero v. Ruiz, 23 F.3d 607 (1st Cir.1994); Lafont-Rivera v. Soler-Zapata, 984 F.2d 1 (1st Cir.1993); Rodriguez Narvaez v. Nazario, 895 F.2d 38 (1st Cir.1990). The underlying premise for the limitations period is to protect both ......
-
Ramos v. Roman, CIV. 93-2416(DRD).
...McIntosh v. Antonino, 71 F.3d 29, 34 (1st Cir.1995); Muniz-Cabrero v. Ruiz, 23 F.3d 607, 610 (1st Cir.1994); Lafont-Rivera v. Soler-Zapata, 984 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1993); Street v. Vose, 936 F.2d 38, 40 (1st Cir.1991) (the limitations period begins to run when a plaintiff "knows or has reaso......