Lopez v. Padilla
| Decision Date | 30 September 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 98-1325(DRD).,98-1325(DRD). |
| Parties | Mirella Figueroa LOPEZ, et al. v. Leonicio Hilerio PADILLA, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
Frank D. Inserni-Milam, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.
Francisco J. Amundaray-Rodriguez, Mercado & Soto, San Juan, PR, Eric Perez-Ochoa, Martinez, Odell & Calabria, Hato Rey, PR, Victor M. Rivera-Torres, Santurce, PR, Gloria Robison-Guarch, Dept. of Justice of PR, Fed. Litigation Div., San Juan, PR, Carmen T. Ubarri-Nevares, Martinez, Odell & Calabria, Hato Rey, PR, Enrique Velez-Rodriguez, San Juan, PR, for defendant.
Pending before the Court is Co-defendants Northwest Security, Inc. and Wilson Forestier's joint motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 13) and Plaintiff's opposition thereof (Docket No. 30); and Co-defendants Leonicio Hilerio Padilla, Arturo del Valle and Hermán Sulsona's unopposed motion to dismiss1 (Docket No. 16).
On March 30, 1998, Plaintiffs filed the instant complaint for damages resulting from numerous incidents of sexual harassment and discriminatory retaliation. Following are the relevant facts derived from the complaint.
Between August 1995 and June 1996, while Plaintiff Mirella Figueroa ("Figueroa") was working as a Security Guard at the Mayaguez Port for the Puerto Rico Ports Authority ("PRPA"), Figueroa was allegedly subjected to numerous incidents of sexual harassment by the Port's Interim Administrator, Co-defendant Leonicio Hilerio Padilla ("Padilla"); and to incidents of undue pressure by the Mayaguez Airport's Supervisor, Co-defendant Arturo del Valle ("del Valle"), and by a PRPA Captain, Mr. Suárez. Sometime on or around June 1996 Figueroa reported the incidents to Mr. Guadalberto Capdeville, Chief of the Maritime Division of the PRPA. Figueroa also filed a complaint for defamation against Padilla with the Puerto Rico Police, but Padilla was soon acquitted from this charge. On April 9, 1997, Co-defendant Wilson Forestier ("Forestier"), Manager for Northwest Security, Inc. ("Northwest") and Figueroa's supervisor at the time, informed Figueroa that she was being transferred from the Mayaguez Port upon Padilla's and another officer of the PRPA's requests. Forestier explained to Figueroa that if she was not taken out of the Mayaguez Port the PRPA would cancel Northwest's service contract. Soon after Mirella Figueroa was transferred from the Mayaguez Port to the University of Puerto Rico's Campus in Aguadilla and her work hours were reduced. Plaintiffs allege that this transfer was a result of Northwest and Forestier's discriminatory retaliation for her pursuit of the sexual harassment claim against Padilla.
Co-defendants Northwest and Forestier move for partial summary judgment on three (3) grounds:
1) Figueroa was transferred to a different job site pursuant to the PRPA's request and not as retaliation for Figueroa's initiation of sexual harassment procedures. The PRPA was entitled to request Figueroa's transfer, and Northwest had to comply with the PRPA's request, under Northwest's service contract with the PRPA. Further, the PRPA's request was motivated by the return of Padilla to the Mayaguez Port.2 This action was a government decision out of the control of Northwest.
2) Plaintiffs' claim against Co-defendant Forestier should be dismissed for lack of a cause of action for individual liability under Title VII.
3) Plaintiffs' claims under Puerto Rico's general tort law should be dismissed because a plaintiff cannot maintain a claim for sexual harassment under Law No. 100, P.R.Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 146 et seq., and at the same time maintain an action against the same parties under Puerto Rico's general tort statute, P.R.Laws Ann. tit. 30, § 5492.
Co-defendants Padilla, Hermán Sulsona, and del Valle appear in their personal capacity and move for dismissal on five (5) grounds:
1) Plaintiffs' § 1983 action is time barred.
2) Plaintiffs have failed to state a cognizable cause of action under Title VII against the individual defendants.
3) Plaintiffs' § 1983 action is barred by defendants' qualified immunity
4) Figueroa's minor children lack standing to sue.
5) Title VII is the exclusive remedy for a civil rights violation.
Plaintiffs have opposed CO-defendants Northwest and Forestier's motion for summary judgment, not Co-defendants Padialla, Sulsona, and del Valle's motion to dismiss.3
The function of summary judgment is "to pierce the boilerplate of the pleadings and examine the parties' proof to determine whether a trial is actually necessary." Vega-Rodriguez v. P.R.T.C., 110 F.3d 174, 178 (1st Cir.1997). Accordingly, federal courts will grant summary judgment where "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).
To defeat a motion for summary judgment the resisting party will have to show the existence of "a trial worthy issue as to some material facts." Cortes-Irizarry v. Corporación Insular, 111 F.3d 184, 187 (1st Cir.1997). A fact is deemed "material" if the same "potentially affect[s] the suit's determination." Garside v. Osco Drug Inc., 895 F.2d 46, 48 (1st Cir.1990). "An issue concerning such a fact is `genuine' if a reasonable factfinder, examining the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences helpful to the party resisting summary judgment, could resolve the dispute in that party's favor." Cortes-Irizarry, 111 F.3d at 187. Nonetheless, "speculation and surmise, even when coupled with effervescent optimism that something definite will materialize further down the line, are impuissant on the face of a properly documented summary judgment motion." Ayala-Gerena v. Bristol Myers-Squibb Co., 95 F.3d 86, 95 (1st Cir.1996) (citations omitted)
The movant for summary judgment, of course, must not only show that there is "no genuine issue of material facts," but also, that he is "entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Vega-Rodriguez, 110 F.3d at 178. Further, the court is required to examine the record "drawing all reasonable inferences helpful to the party resisting summary judgment." Cortes-Irizarry. 111 F.3d at 187. There is "no room for credibility determinations, no room for the measured weighing of conflicting evidence such as the trial process entails, no room for the judge to superimpose his own ideas of probability and likelihood ..." Greenburg v. Puerto Rico Maritime Shipping Auth., 835 F.2d 932, 936 (1st Cir.1987). Courts must exercise "a cautious approach to summary judgment motions where issues of motive and intent must be resolved." Coll v. PB Diagnostic Systems, Inc., 50 F.3d 1115 (1st Cir.1995). The facts must be examined under the above criteria because on a potential appeal the appellate court examines "the undisputed facts in the light most congenial to the appellants and adopts their version of any contested facts which are material to our consideration of the issues." Vega-Rodriguez v. Puerto Rico Tel. Co., 110 F.3d 174, 178 (1st Cir.1997).
Rule 12(b)(6) of the FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE provides that a defendant may, in response to an initial pleading, file a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. It is well-settled, however, that a complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond any doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts which would support a claim entitling him or her to relief. Ronald C. Brown v. Hot, Sexy, and Safer Productions, Inc., 68 F.3d 525 (1st Cir.1995); Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); see also Miranda v. Ponce Federal Bank, 948 F.2d 41, 44 (1st Cir.1991). The Court must accept as true the well pleaded factual averments contained in the complaint, while at the same time drawing all reasonable inferences from the allegations in favor of the plaintiff. See McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transp. Co., 427 U.S. 273, 276, 96 S.Ct. 2574, 2577, 49 L.Ed.2d 493 (1976); Correa-Martinez v. Arrillaga-Beléndez, 903 F.2d 49, 51 (1st Cir.1990); Dartmouth Review v. Dartmouth College, 889 F.2d 13, 16 (1st Cir.1989); Vartanian v. Monsanto Co., 14 F.3d 697, 700 (1st Cir.1994). However, "[b]ecause only well pleaded facts are taken as true, we will not accept a complainant's unsupported conclusions or interpretations of law." Washington Legal Foundation v. Massachusetts Bar Foundation, 993 F.2d 962, 971 (1st Cir.1993).
In opposing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, "a plaintiff cannot expect a trial court to do his homework for him." McCoy v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 950 F.2d 13, 22 (1st Cir.1991). Rather, the plaintiff has an affirmative responsibility to put his best foot forward in an effort to present a legal theory that will support his claim. Id. at 23 (citing Correa-Martinez, 903 F.2d at 52; Dartmouth Review, 889 F.2d 13, 16 (1st Cir.1989); Ryan v. Scoggin, 245 F.2d 54, 57 (10th Cir.1957)). Plaintiff must set forth in his complaint "factual allegations, either direct or inferential, regarding each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable theory." Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 514 (1st Cir.1988).
Under the burden shifting framework set forth by McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), Plaintiff has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of discriminatory retaliation. In order to meet this burden, Plaintiff must demonstrate that: 1) she engaged in protected conduct; 2) she suffered an adverse employment action; and 3) there is a causal connection between the protected conduct and the adverse employment action....
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