Mvm Inc. v. Rodriguez, Civil No. 07-2197 (FAB).

• Decision Date: 28 July 2008
• Docket Number: Civil No. 07-2197 (FAB).
• Citation: 568 F.Supp.2d 158
• Parties: MVM INC., Plaintiff, v. Marcial RODRIGUEZ, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

568 F.Supp.2d 158

MVM INC., Plaintiff, v. Marcial RODRIGUEZ, Defendant.

Civil No. 07-2197 (FAB).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

July 28, 2008.

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Carl E. Schuster, Jose J. Sanchez-Velez, Schuster & Aguilo LLP, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.

Lorenzo J. Palomares-Starbuck, Lorenzo Palomares PSC, San Juan, PR, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

BESOSA, District Judge.

Various motions are currently pending before the Court. Initially, the Court directed the parties to brief it on the issue of whether a corporation may bring a claim for defamation under Puerto Rico law. On March 28, 2008, plaintiff-counter defendant MVM, Inc. ("MVM") complied with the Court's order (Docket No. 24). Defendant-counter plaintiff Marcial Rodriguez ("Rodriguez") opposed MVM's brief on April 5, 2008 (Docket No. 27). MVM replied to Rodriguez's opposition on April 21, 2008 (Docket No. 31).

On April 30, 2008, MVM filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings (Docket No. 32). Rodriguez opposed it on May 3, 2008 (Docket No. 34), and MVM replied on May 19, 2008 (Docket No. 46).

On May 2, 2008, Rodriguez filed a motion entitled in part "judicial notice of adjudicative facts" (Docket No. 33). MVM opposed this motion on May 13, 2008 (Docket No. 41), and filed a "supplemental motion" on this issue (Docket No. 61).

On May 5, 2008 MVM filed a motion to stay the proceedings (Docket No. 35). The following day, Rodriguez opposed this motion (Docket No. 37).

On June 2, 2008 MVM filed a motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 47). Rodriguez opposed MVM's motion for summary judgment on June 5, 2008 (Docket No. 51). MVM replied to Rodriguez's opposition on June 20, 2008 (Docket No. 60). MVM also filed a motion to strike Rodriguez's statement of "disputed facts" filed pursuant to Local Civil Rule 56 (Docket No. 55) on June 16, 2008. Rodriguez opposed MVM's motion to strike two days later (Docket No. 56).

On June 30, 2008, in response to a request made by this Court at the pre-trial conference held on June 27, 2008, MVM filed a motion to which it attached evaluations of MVM by the United States Marshals Service in the various districts of the First Judicial Circuit (Docket No. 62).

For the reasons stated below, the Court TAKES NOTE of MVM's motion in compliance; GRANTS MVM's motion for judgment on the pleading; GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Rodriguez's motion to take note of the administrative law judge's decision in his NLRB proceeding; GRANTS MVM's motion to strike Rodriguez's Rule 56 statement of facts; DENIES MVM's motion for summary judgment; and DENIES as MOOT MVM's motion to stay the proceedings. In short, the Court dismisses this case in its entirety.

I. Local Civil Rule 56

As an initial matter, it is necessary to discuss Local Civil Rule 56. The rule requires a motion for summary judgment to be supported by a statement of material facts. L.Civ.R. 56(b). A party opposing summary judgment is then required to submit a statement of facts admitting, qualifying or denying the movant's 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." L.Civ.R. 56(c). The opposing statement may also contain a separate section of additional facts, set forth in separate numbered paragraphs and supported by record citations. Id. Nowhere in the rule does it state that a party may make legal arguments or conclusory statements of mixed law and fact regarding outstanding disputes between the parties. Rodriguez, nonetheless, has done precisely that.

In response to MVM's statement of uncontested material facts submitted in support of its motion for summary judgment, Rodriguez submits a statement of what he calls "disputed facts," separated into fourteen numbered paragraphs. As MVM notes in its motion to strike, these fourteen paragraphs do not correspond to the first fourteen (or any other set of fourteen) paragraphs submitted by MVM in its Rule 56 statement of facts. In fact, these fourteen paragraphs do not reference MVM's facts at all, and they certainly do not "admit, deny, or qualify" the facts MVM submits as undisputed, as required by the local rule. Moreover, Rodriguez's Rule 56 statement does not once cite to the record. Rather, Rodriguez inappropriately cites to legal authority, makes legal arguments, and takes it upon himself to highlight in conclusory form the factual and legal differences of opinion between the parties. In sum, Rodriguez's Rule 56 submission abjectly fails to comply with the rule.

A party's failure to comply with Local Civil Rule 56 may result in the Court denying that party's proposed facts and accepting the opposing party's proposed facts as admitted where those facts are properly supported. L.Civ.R. 56(e); see Arroyo-Audifred v. Verizon Wireless, Inc., 527 F.3d 215, 219-20 (1st Cir.2008); Alsina-Ortiz v. Laboy, 400 F.3d 77, 80 (1st Cir.2005); Garcia Sanchez v. Roman Abreu, 270 F.Supp.2d 255, 258-59 (D.P.R. 2003). Because every single paragraph of Rodriguez's submission fails in many respects to comply with the local rule, the Court GRANTS MVM's motion to strike Rodriguez's statement of contested facts. MVM's facts are deemed admitted where supported by proper record citation.

II. Judicial Notice

Rodriguez moves the Court to take judicial notice of the decision of the administrative law judge ("ALJ") in his NLRB case pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 201(a), which governs judicial notice of adjudicative facts. A judicially noticed fact is one "not subject to reasonable dispute" because it is either "generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court" or it is "capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned." Fed. R.Evid. 201(b). "Because the effect of judicial notice is to deprive a party of the opportunity to use rebuttal evidence, cross-examination, and argument to attack contrary evidence, caution must be used in determining that a fact is beyond controversy under Rule 201(b)." Int'l Star Class Yacht Racing Assoc. v. Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A., Inc., 146 F.3d 66, 70 (2d Cir.1998) (citations omitted).

Rodriguez's request pursuant to Fed. R.Evid. 201 is ambiguous, at best. Rodriguez initially requests that the Court "take judicial notice of the facts [sic] that the NLRB has rendered and [sic] adverse opinion against MVM, Inc. and found that MVM, Inc. violated the labor laws." (Docket No. 33, p. 2) It is not problematic to do so. Rodriguez goes on, however, to request judicial notice of sections of the ALJ's opinion, including findings of fact, conclusions of law and the remedies ordered by the ALJ. Id. In typical fashion, as with Rodriguez's other submissions in this case, he fails to cite a single case in favor of his motion. This may, in part, explain why he has requested the impossible.

Absent unusual circumstances, a court may not take judicial notice of the findings of fact contained in another court's order,¹ Nadherny v. Roseland Prop. Co., 390 F.3d 44, 51-52 (1st Cir.2004) (citing Int'l Star Class Yacht Racing Ass'n, 146 F.3d at 70-71); United States v. Jones, 29 F.3d 1549, 1553 (11th Cir.1994), primarily because "[f]acts adjudicated in a prior case do not meet either test of indisputability contained in Rule 201(b): they are not usually common knowledge, nor are they derived from an unimpeachable source." Int'l Star Class Yacht Racing Ass'n, 146 F.3d at 70. Secondly, allowing courts to rely on the factual findings from previous cases would render the doctrine of res judicata virtually superfluous. 21B Charles Alan Wright & Kenneth W. Graham, Jr., Federal Practice and Procedure: Evidence § 5106.4, at 235 (2005); see also Int'l Star Class Yacht Racing Ass'n, 146 F.3d at 71 (citing Wright & Graham); United States v. Jones, 29 F.3d at 1553 (same). Nonetheless, neither of these rationales prohibit the judicial notice of the fact that another proceeding took place, or of certain other undisputable aspects of those proceedings. Thus, courts may take judicial notice of another court's order for the limited purpose of recognizing the judicial act or the subject matter of the litigation. Jones, 29 F.3d at 1553 (citations omitted); see also Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 690 (9th Cir.2001) (citing Southern Cross Overseas Agencies, Inc. v. Wah Kwong Shipping Group, Ltd., 181 F.3d 410, 426-27 (3rd Cir.1999)).

Applying the existing case law to this case, the Court takes judicial notice of the fact that an ALJ ruled in favor of Rodriguez and against. MVM in a proceeding before it pursuant to the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), and that the ALJ found that MVM violated certain sections of the NLRA. The Court does not, however, take judicial notice of the ALJ's findings of fact, such as whether MVM acted with malice. It remains Rodriguez's responsibility to present evidence to the court in favor of his claims. See Guzman-Ruiz v. Hernandez-Colon, 406 F.3d 31, 36 (1st Cir.2005) ("plaintiffs cannot sidestep their neglect to offer evidence in this case by asking the court to rule on the basis of the record in another case."). Accordingly, Rodriguez's motion for judicial notice of the decision of the ALJ in his NLRB case is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

III. Factual Background

MVM provides services to the United States Marshals Service ("USMS") pursuant to a contract covering all of the federal courthouses within the First Circuit, including the District of Puerto. Rico. Pursuant to the contract, MVM provides Court Security Officers ("CSOs") to guard the Court and provide security to the judiciary in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the First Circuit. MVM terminated Rodriguez, a former CSO and union official for the CSOs in the District of Puerto Rico, from employment on March 1, 2007.

MVM...