Landrau-Romero v. Banco Popular De Puerto Rico

• Decision Date: 04 January 2000
• Docket Number: APPELLANT,PLAINTIF,No. 99-1708,LANDRAU-ROMER,99-1708
• Citation: 212 F.3d 607
• Parties: (1st Cir. 2000) FELIX A., v. BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, DEFENDANT, APPELLEE. Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 607

212 F.3d 607 (1st Cir. 2000) FELIX A. LANDRAU-ROMERO, PLAINTIFF, APPELLANT,
v.
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, DEFENDANT, APPELLEE. No. 99-1708 United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit Heard January 4, 2000
Decided April 6, 2000
Order on Rehearing May 24, 2000

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Luis R. Mellado Gonzalez on brief for appellant.

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Pedro J. Manzano-Yates with whom Fiddler Gonzalex & Rodriquez, LLP was on brief for appellee.

Before Selya, Circuit Judge, Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge, and Stahl, Circuit Judge.

Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Felix Landrau-Romero ("Landrau") appeals from the district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of Landrau's employer, defendant-appellee Banco Popular. We affirm in part and vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

We set forth the relevant facts in the light most favorable to the appellant. See New York State Dairy Foods, Inc. v. Northeast Dairy Compact Comm'n, 198 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir. 1999). Landrau, a black man, was employed by Banco Popular from 1981 until his resignation in 1995. He began as a clerk in the collection department, and was transferred in 1988 to the insurance unit of the mortgage department for the remainder of his employment.

On April 1, 1993, Landrau's supervisor, Carmen Sandn, retired from her position as supervisor of the mortgage insurance services. Several Banco Popular employees applied for the vacant position, including Landrau. In April, 1993, a white man, Jaime Bou, was selected and became Landrau's supervisor.

Bou subjected Landrau's work to closer scrutiny than that of the other employees in the unit, and closely monitored Landrau's whereabouts. This monitoring included forcing Landrau to leave a note on his desk every time he went on break, to the bathroom, or to get a drink of water. At one point after June 30, 1994, Bou verbally admonished Landrau for taking a break without providing notification of his whereabouts ("the break incident"). When Landrau brought co-workers to explain to Bou that Landrau had in fact informed them of his whereabouts, Bou "said nothing."

Bou criticized and "yelled" at Landrau more frequently than other employees, sometimes in front of Landrau's co-workers. Moreover, after Landrau suffered an injury at work and returned from disability leave on December 29, 1993, Bou assigned him physically strenuous tasks in disregard of an accommodation ordered by the State Insurance Fund. This disregard of Landrau's disability continued through June or July, 1994.

In March or April, 1994, Landrau received a written reprimand for misidentifying the date on certain paperwork, which caused duplicate payments to be made. On June 30, 1994, Bou gave Landrau another reprimand for continuing to repeat these mistakes. Landrau's performance evaluations, which had been excellent under his previous supervisors, declined. Landrau contends that the errors were due to the bank's failure to provide him with adequate computer training, which his co-workers received.

Landrau alleges other harassment, including Bou's attempt to "frame" him in June, 1994, by using Landrau's computer to commit errors for which Landrau was blamed. Bou and other supervisors made jokes and comments about his race, including remarking upon his "kinky hair." One of the supervisors also complained in writing about Landrau's meeting with other Banco Popular employees to discuss filing a race discrimination complaint.

In an attempt to remove himself from these circumstances, Landrau submitted applications for other positions within Banco Popular, but was not hired. ¹ Landrau complained to Banco Popular about the

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alleged harassment and racial discrimination. In a letter dated March 7, 1994, Landrau stated that he had been unfairly subjected to reprimands after Bou replaced Sandn, and that "work became hell." On June 14, 1994, Landrau wrote a letter to general manager Felipe Franco alleging that Bou was mistreating him due to race discrimination; on August 26 of that year, Landrau wrote another letter to Franco complaining that he had been turned down for Sandn's position and that his performance evaluations had fallen since Bou became his supervisor.

Banco Popular investigated the allegations, and, in a report dated November 3, 1994, concluded that Landau's problems were not caused by discrimination. Landrau's job duties, pay, and physical working environment did not change while Bou was his supervisor.

On February 15, 1995, Landrau submitted a letter of resignation stating that he was leaving Banco Popular because he had another job opportunity. On February 28, 1995, the day that resignation was to be effective, he submitted another letter, this time stating that the true reason for his resignation was discrimination.

Landrau filed charges of discrimination with the Anti-Discrimination Unit of Puerto Rico's Labor Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on or about March 9, 1995. ² The EEOC issued him a "right-to-sue" letter on January 16, 1996. On April 16, 1996, Landrau filed employment discrimination claims against Banco Popular in the District Court for the District of Puerto Rico pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. and Puerto Rico's anti-discrimination statute, Law 100, P.R. Laws Ann. 29, § 146 et seq. ³ He appears to have alleged three adverse employment actions on the basis of his race and color: (1) that Banco Popular failed to promote him to Sandn's position; (2) that he was subjected to harassment after Bou became his supervisor; and (3) that the harassment became so intolerable that it resulted in his constructive termination.

On August 11, 1997, Banco Popular moved for summary judgment on the grounds that (1) Landrau could not adduce sufficient evidence to support his constructive discharge claim; and (2) Landrau's failure-to-promote claim was time-barred because he did not file a charge of discrimination within the 300-day time limit set forth in Title VII. Landrau opposed the summary judgment motion, contending that his working conditions amounted to actionable harassment and constructive discharge, and that Banco Popular's failure to promote him was discriminatory. Landrau did not, however, explicitly counter defendants' time bar argument or address the state law claims.

In support of his opposition to Banco Popular's summary judgment motion, Landrau submitted, inter alia, affidavits by Sandn and another former supervisor that discussed a general climate of racial discrimination at Banco Popular. Specifically, Sandn stated in her affidavit that she "always had the impression that black candidates like Mr. Landrau were not welcome [sic] by the top management of Banco Popular for trainee positions in management nor for supervisory positions." The other former...