Munoz Rivera v. Walgreens Co., Civil No. 04-1766 (DRD).
| Decision Date | 04 April 2006 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 04-1766 (DRD). |
| Citation | 428 F.Supp.2d 11 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
| Parties | Mildred MUSÑOZ RIVERA, et al., Plaintiffs v. WALGREENS CO., et al., Defendants. |
Anibal Escanellas-Rivera, Escanellas & Juan, San Juan, PR, for. Mildred Munoz-Rivera, Cesar Perez-Fiorit.
Lillian Frattallone-Marti, Rivera Tulla & Ferrer, Hato Rey, Pr, for Walgreens Co.
Before the Court is a civil action (Docket No. 1) brought forth by plaintiffs, Mildred Muñoz and Cesar Perez, together with the conjugal partnership, against defendants Walgreens Co., under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990(ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 1211 et seq, the Age Discrimination in the Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., and section 704(a) of Title VII. Plaintiff, Mildred Muñoz, alleges she was discriminated by the defendants by reason of disability, requests for a reasonable accommodation, age, retaliation and violation of civil rights. Further, plaintiffs have filed other causes of action under supplemental jurisdiction, to wit, that include. Law Number 80 of May 30, 1976, P.R. Laws Ann. Tit.29 § 501 et seq; Law Number 115 of December 20, 1991, P.R. Laws Arm. Tit. 29 § 194(a) Law Number 100 of June30, 1959, as amended P.R. Laws Ann. Tit. 29 § 146 et seq, and Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. Tit. 31 § 1541.
Pending before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 10) moving the Court to dismiss plaintiffs' claims on account that: (a) the causes of action asserted in the complaint are barred in whole or in part, by the res judicata doctrine; (b)plaintiffs' failed to exhaust administrative remedies for the alleged discriminatory acts occurring before December 27, 2002; (c) plaintiffs' failed to amend the EEOC charge to include the termination claim; (d) plaintiff cannot be considered a "qualified individual with a disability" as that term is defined by ADA; (e) plaintiff has failed state a cause of action under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; (f) the court should decline to exert jurisdiction over the supplemental state law claims inasmuch as there are no federal claims pending; (g) plaintiffs' have failed to establish a cause of action under Law 80; (h) plaintiffs have failed to establish an action pursuant to Law 100; and (i) Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code does not provide a remedy to plaintiff's spouse. On June 8, 2005, the undersigned referred the instant case to the Magistrate Judges for a Report and Recommendation (R & R) on the pending motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 24).
On June 9, 2005 the Clerk of Court, through the random drawing assignment system, assigned Magistrate Aida M. Delgado said R & R (Docket No. 25). Magistrate Judge Aida M. Delgado issued her R & R on August 29, 2005 (Docket No. 26) recommending that defendant's motion for summary judgment be granted in part and denied in part.
On September 13, 2005, plaintiffs filed an Objection to the Report and Recommendation, (Docket No. 28), sustaining that the Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 26), should be rejected because the Magistrate Judge incorrectly concluded that: (a) defendants had a legitimate business reason for discharging Muñoz, and as a result, plaintiffs' claim under ADEA, Law Number 100, and Law Number 80, should be dismissed; (b) plaintiff Muñoz had to amend her discrimination charge before the EEOC, to include her termination claim; (c) plaintiff Muñoz is barred from raising a termination claim since she failed to raise the issue previously before the EEOC, and (d) plaintiff Muñoz was not a disabled individual under ADA. Plaintiffs, also, aver that the Report and Recommendation, failed to considered and never addressed, defendant's intentional actions against Muñoz, relating to its failure to provide a reasonable accommodation, as well as defendants' harassing and discriminatory actions, which resulted in creating a hostile work environment against Muñoz.
Defendants also timely filed a Partial Objection to Magistrate's Report and Recommendation, (Docket No. 29), contesting the Report and Recommendation on the res judicata issue and its consideration of the age discrimination hostile work environment as a viable cause of action.
For reasons stated herein, the Report and Recommendation is ACCEPTED IN PART and REJECTED IN PART. Hence, the Court hereby GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. (Docket No. 10).
The District Court may refer dispositive motions to a United States Magistrate Judge for a Report and Recommendation. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) (1993); FED. R.CIV.P. 72(b); Rule 72(a), Local Rules, District of Puerto Rico. See, Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 96 S.Ct. 549, 46 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976). Of course, an adversely affected party may contest the Magistrate's Report and Recommendation by filing its objections within ten (10) days after being served a copy thereof. See, Local Rule 72(d); FED.R.CIV.P. 72(b). Moreover, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) (1993), in pertinent part, provides that:
Within ten days of being served with a copy, any party may serve and file written objections to such proposed findings and recommendations as provided by rules of court. A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made. A judge of the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate.
The "written objections shall specifically identify the portions of the proposed findings, recommendations or report to which objection is made and the legal basis for such objections." Local Rule 72(d). Provided that Plaintiffs, have objected the Magistrate's determination, the Court shall make a de novo review of the conclusions contained in Magistrate's Report and Recommendation.
Summary judgment is appropriate when "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). Pursuant to the language of the Rule, the moving party bears the two-fold burden of showing that there is "no genuine issue as to any material facts," and that he is "entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Vega-Rodriguez v. Puerto Rico Tel. Co., 110 F.3d 174, 178 (1st Cir.1997). After the moving party has satisfied this burden, the onus shifts to the resisting party to show that there still exists "a trial worthy issue as to some material fact." Cortes-Irizarry v. Corporación Insular, 111 F.3d 184, 187 (1st Cir.1997). A fact is deemed "material" if it potentially could affect the outcome of the suit. Id. Moreover, there will only be a "genuine" or "trial worthy" issue as to such a "material fact," "if a reasonable fact-finder, examining the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences helpful to the party resisting summary judgment, could resolve the dispute in that party's favor." Id.
At all times during the consideration of a motion for summary judgment, the Court must examine the entire record "in the light most flattering to the non-movant and indulge all reasonable inferences in the party's favor." Maldonado-Denis v. Castillo-Rodriguez, 23 F.3d 576, 581 (1st Cir., 1994). There is "no room for credibility determinations, no room for the measured weighing of conflicting evidence such as the trial process entails, [and] no room for the judge to superimpose his own ideas of probability and likelihood . .." Greenburg v. Puerto Rico Mar. Shipping Auth., 835 F.2d 932, 936 (1st Cir.1987). In fact, "[o]nly if the record, viewed in [this] manner and without regard to credibility determinations, reveals no genuine issue as to any material fact may the court enter summary judgment." Cadle Co. v. Hayes, 116 F.3d 957, 960 (1st Cir., 1997).
Finally, when considering this motion, unsettled issues of motive and intent as to the conduct of any party—as may arise in actions under § 1983—will normally preclude the Court from granting summary judgment. Mulero-Rodriguez v. Ponte, Inc., 98 F.3d 670, 677 (1st Cir.1996) () (internal quotation marks omitted) (citation omitted); see also Tew v. Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., 728 F.Supp. 1551, 1555 (S.D.Fla.1990) ( ). See, Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, 368 U.S. 464, 473, 82 S.Ct. 486, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962); Cf Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, 288-290, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982)(discriminatory intent is a factual matter for the trier of fact); Stepanischen v. Merchants Despatch Transp. Corp., 722 F.2d 922, 928 (1st Cir.1983); Lipsett v. University of P.R., 864 F.2d 881, 895 (1st Cir.1988)(standing for the proposition that courts should act with caution in granting motions involving issues of motive and intent related to adverse employment actions). However, "even in cases where elusive concepts such as motive or intent are at issue, summary judgment may be appropriate if the nonmoving party rests merely upon conclusory allegations, improbable inferences [or] unsupported speculation." Ayala-Gerena v. Bristol Myers-Squibb Co., 95 F.3d 86, 95 (1st Cir.1996).
Plaintiff-Mildred Muñoz began to work at Walgreens, as a pharmacist, in ...
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