Moreno Morales v. Ici Paints (Puerto Rico), Inc.

• Decision Date: 18 August 2005
• Docket Number: No. CIV. 03-2206(RLA).,CIV. 03-2206(RLA).
• Citation: 383 F.Supp.2d 304
• Parties: Wilfredo MORENO MORALES, Plaintiff, v. ICI PAINTS (PUERTO RICO), INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

383 F.Supp.2d 304

Wilfredo MORENO MORALES, Plaintiff, v. ICI PAINTS (PUERTO RICO), INC., Defendant.

No. CIV. 03-2206(RLA).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

August 18, 2005.

Anibal Encanellas Rivera, Maria T. Juan-Urrutia, Escanellas & Juan, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.

Oreste Ricardo Ramos Pruetzel, Heidi L. Rodríguez-Benítez, Pietrantoni Mendez & Alvarez, San Juan, PR, for Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ACOSTA, District Judge.

This is an age discrimination action instituted by plaintiff, WILFREDO MORENO MORALES ("MORENO"), pursuant to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634 ("ADEA") and its local counter-part, Act No. 100 of June 30, 1959, 29 P.R. Laws Ann. §§ 146-151 (2002) ("Act 100") as well as Puerto Rico's unjust termination statute, Act No. 80 of May 30, 1976, 29 P.R. Laws Ann. § 185a (2002) ("Act 80").

Defendant, ICI Paints (Puerto Rico), Inc. ("ICI"), has moved the Court to enter summary judgment in its favor and to dismiss the complaint. Additionally, defendant requests the Court to strike Plaintiff's Opposition to its Motion for Summary Judgment for failing to comply with Local Rule 56(c), commonly known as the anti-ferreting rule.

The Court having reviewed the respective memoranda hereby finds as follows.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Rule 56(c) Fed. R. Civ. P., which sets forth the standard for ruling on summary judgment motions, in pertinent part provides that they shall be granted "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 a judgment as a matter of law." Sands v. Ridefilm Corp., 212 F.3d 657, 660-61 (1st Cir.2000); Barreto-Rivera v. Medina-Vargas, 168 F.3d 42, 45 (1st Cir.1999). The party seeking summary judgment must first demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact in the record. DeNovellis v. Shalala, 124 F.3d 298, 306 (1st Cir.1997). A genuine issue exists if there is sufficient evidence supporting the claimed factual disputes to require a trial. Morris v. Gov't Dev. Bank of Puerto Rico, 27 F.3d 746, 748 (1st Cir.1994); LeBlanc v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 841 (1st Cir.1993) cert. den., 511 U.S. 1018, 114 S.Ct. 1398, 128 L.Ed.2d 72 (1994). A fact is material if it might affect the outcome of a lawsuit under the governing law. Morrissey v. Boston Five Cents Sav. Bank, 54 F.3d 27, 31 (1st Cir.1995).

In cases where the non-movant party bears the ultimate burden of proof, he must present definite and competent evidence to rebut a motion for summary judgment, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 257, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Navarro v. Pfizer Corp., 261 F.3d 90, 94 (1st Cir.2001); Grant's Dairy v. Comm'r of Maine Dep't of Agric., 232 F.3d 8, 14 (1st Cir.2000), and cannot rely upon "conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation". López-Carrasquillo v. Rubianes, 230 F.3d 409, 412 (1st Cir.2000); Maldonado-Denis v. Castillo-Rodríguez, 23 F.3d 576, 581 (1st Cir.1994); Medina-Muñoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990).

MOTION TO STRIKE

Before delving into the merits of ICI's summary judgment request, the Court will first consider defendant's petition to strike plaintiff's proposed statement of uncontested facts as defective for its failure to abide by the requirements of Local Rule 56(c) which, in pertinent part, reads:

A party opposing a motion for summary judgment shall submit with its opposition a separate, short, and concise statement of material facts. The opposing statement shall admit, deny or qualify the facts by reference to each numbered paragraph of the moving party's statement of material facts and unless a fact is admitted, shall support each denial or qualification by a record citation as required by this rule.

(emphasis added).

This provision specifically requires that in its own statement of material facts respondent either admit, deny, or qualify each of movant's proffered uncontested facts and for each denied or qualified statement cite the specific part of the record which supports its denial or qualification. As defendant correctly points out, respondent must prepare its separate statement much in the same manner as when answering a complaint.

The purpose behind the rule is to allow the court to examine each of the movant's proposed uncontested facts and ascertain whether or not there is adequate evidence to render it uncontested. See, Morales v. A.C. Orssleff's EFTF, 246 F.3d 32, 33 (1st Cir.2001) (summary judgment should not "impose [upon the court] the daunting burden of seeking a needle in a haystack"); see also, Leon v. Sanchez-Bermudez, 332 F.Supp.2d 407, 415 (D.P.R.2004).

Apart from the fact that Rule 56(e) itself provides that "[f]acts contained in a supporting or opposing statement of material facts, if supported by record citations as required by this rule, shall be deemed admitted unless properly controverted" in discussing Local Rule 311.12, its predecessor, the First Circuit Court of Appeals stressed the importance of compliance by stating that the parties who ignore its strictures run the risk of the court deeming the facts presented in the movant's statement of fact admitted. See, Cosme-Rosado v. Serrano-Rodríguez, 360 F.3d 42 (1st Cir.2004) ("uncontested" facts pleaded by movant deemed admitted due to respondent's failure to properly submit statement of contested facts). "[A]bsent such rules, summary judgment practice could too easily become a game of cat-and-mouse, giving rise to the `specter of district court judges being unfairly sandbagged by unadvertised factual issues.'" Ruiz Rivera v. Riley, 209 F.3d 24, 28 (1st Cir.2000) (citing Stepanischen v. Merchants Despatch Transp. Corp., 722 F.2d 922, 931 (1st Cir.1983)).

Upon review of plaintiff's statement we find that it does not fully comply with the clear terms of the rule in that it contains no admissions, denials or qualifications with direct reference to each numbered paragraph of Defendant's Separate Statement of Uncontested Facts. Instead, plaintiff submitted his own list of proposed facts with references only to his own declaration which mirrors his proposed statement of contested and uncontested facts. There are no references to deposition testimony or any other evidence.

Further, as defendant noted, paragraphs 45 through 73 of Plaintiff's Statement do not contain a single record citation in contravention of Rule 56(c) which provides that "the opposing statement may contain in a separate section additional facts, set forth in separate numbered paragraphs and supported by a record citation as required by subsection (e) of this rule."

Plaintiff's failure to strictly adhere to the rule's mandate has made the court's task of ascertaining which specific facts are in controversy a difficult one. Even though plaintiff essentially addressed the relevant facts it was not done in an orderly fashion. Plaintiff failed to make specific reference to each of defendant's proposed uncontested facts placing the onus on the court to go through the entire record to determine which ones were contested or which additional facts were being proposed. However, given plaintiff's partial compliance with the rule as well as the nature of this litigation the Court finds that striking his proposed facts is too harsh a sanction.

Accordingly, defendant's request to strike plaintiff's statement of facts is DENIED.

THE FACTS

MORENO was born on July 19, 1958 and commenced working for ICI on May 16, 1987. Initially, he worked for the Company as a warehouseman and subsequently as a retail clerk at company-owned Glidden Paint Centers. After approximately six years with the Company plaintiff was named manager of the Glidden Paint Center store in Humacao and thereafter, late 2001 beginning 2002 assigned to manage one of the Glidden Paint Center stores in Guaynabo.

ICI terminated plaintiff's employment on June 4, 2003. Upon being terminated, plaintiff was not substituted as store manager. Rather, his former store associate, ROBERT RIVERA assumed some of the responsibilities of MORENO's position, without assuming any title as store manager and without having his salary increased. MR. RIVERA remained at the Guaynabo store until its closing on January 5, 2004.

ADEA

The ADEA makes it "unlawful for an employer ... to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual ... because of such individual's age." 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1). Under the ADEA, an employer is liable if age was the motivating factor in the employer's decision. "That is, the plaintiff's age must have `actually played a role in [the employer's decision making] process and had a determinative influence on the outcome'." Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 141, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (citing Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins, 507 U.S. 604, 610, 113 S.Ct. 1701, 123 L.Ed.2d 338 (1993)). Thus, in this case, Plaintiff has the burden of establishing that defendant intentionally discriminated against him based on his age. See, Shorette v. Rite Aid of Maine, Inc., 155 F.3d 8, 12 (1st Cir.1998).

A plaintiff may prove his case through the use of direct evidence or absent direct evidence of discrimination, through the burden-shifting framework set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Rivera-Rodríguez v. Frito Lay Snacks Caribbean, 265 F.3d 15, 25 (1st Cir.2001); Suárez v. Pueblo Int'l, Inc., 229 F.3d 49, 53 (1st Cir.2000); Feliciano v. El Conquistador, 218 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir.2000). Under the McDonnell Douglas procedural framework, the plaintiff must prove that: (1) he was over forty (40) years of age; (2) his job performance was sufficient to meet his employer's legitimate job expectations; (3) he experienced an...