Quinio v. Aala

• Decision Date: 25 September 2018
• Docket Number: 15-CV-4912 (PKC) (SB)
• Citation: 344 F.Supp.3d 464
• Parties: Maria Rossana Aala QUINIO, Plaintiff, v. Rustico AALA, and Lerma Aala, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

344 F.Supp.3d 464

Maria Rossana Aala QUINIO, Plaintiff,

v.Rustico AALA, and Lerma Aala, Defendants.

15-CV-4912 (PKC) (SB)

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed September 25, 2018

Richard Pu, New York, NY, for Plaintiff.

Mahir S. Nisar, Waldhauser & Nisar, LLP, Michael P. Hilferty, Law Offices of Mahir S. Nisar, Nina Alexandra Ovrutsky, Law Offices of Vincent White, New York, NY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

PAMELA K. CHEN, United States District Judge:

In 1986, Defendant Rustico Aala ("Rustico"), then aged 42, raped his sister Maria Rossana Aala Quinio ("Plaintiff"), then aged 16, and impregnated her. In 1987, Plaintiff gave birth to a child, who was placed for adoption immediately thereafter. Plaintiff kept the rape and pregnancy a secret from everyone in her family – except her siblings – until 2009. Rustico soon thereafter agreed to enter into a written contract ("the Agreement") with Plaintiff to compensate her with cash, a new car, a stake in his properties in the Philippines, and part of his retirement accounts.

In 2015, Plaintiff filed this action alleging that Rustico and his wife Defendant Lerma Aala ("Lerma") (collectively "Defendants") breached the Agreement by failing to perform their contractual obligations. The parties allege jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 because the parties are of diverse citizenship and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. Before the Court is Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment in which she seeks a finding of liability against Defendants, specific performance of Rustico's obligation to convey to Plaintiff his properties in the Philippines and 40% of his retirement accounts, including a joint account shared with Lerma, and a declaratory judgment binding Lerma to the Court's decision. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment.

BACKGROUND

I. Relevant Facts

Plaintiff was born on 1969 in the Philippines, and immigrated to the United States when she was fourteen. (Pl's. 56.1¹ , Dkt. 103-21, at ¶ I-1.) At some time in August of 1986, Plaintiff² was raped by her brother Rustico. (Id. at ¶ II-1.) At the time, Rustico was forty-two years old and Plaintiff was sixteen. (Id. at ¶ II-3.) Plaintiff gave birth to a child on or about May 13, 1987. (Id. at ¶ II-4.) The child was subsequently placed for adoption. (Id. at ¶ II-5.) Plaintiff does not know if the baby was a boy or a girl. (Id. at ¶ II-6.) Plaintiff's two sisters, Yolanda and Marie, handled the hospital paperwork and bills. (Deposition of Maria Quinio ("Plaintiff Dep."), Dkt. 103-2, at 142.) Plaintiff alleges that for twenty-three years she only told her siblings about the rape and the baby, but did not tell her parents. (Id. at 109.) Plaintiff told her husband Jesus Quinio ("Jess"), whom she married in 1996, in early November of 2009. (Id. at 104.)

On November 5, 2009, Jess and Plaintiff's sisters, Mary and Marie, met with Rustico and Lerma to discuss the incident. (Pl's. 56.1, at ¶ IV-5.) At that meeting, Jess gave Rustico a letter written by Plaintiff in which Plaintiff discloses the rape and recounts her years of secrecy. (Id. ) On November 15, 2009, Plaintiff wrote a letter to her family stating that Rustico raped her. (Amended Complaint, ("Am. Compl."), Dkt. 7, at ¶ 10.) On November 20, 2009, Plaintiff and Rustico entered into the Agreement whereby Rustico agreed to compensate Plaintiff. (Pl's. 56.1, at ¶ IV-5.) The Agreement consists of three sections, the first of which reads:

Term and Conditions:

1. All your assets, property, inheritance and income in the Philippines will be given to me provide power of attorney stating all asset, property, inheritance and income transfer all rights and will to me, Mrs. Maria Rossana Aala Quinio. Provide this document before November 30, 2009 Mail to:

Mrs. Rossana "Susan" Aala Quinio

P.O. Box 8035

Paramus, NJ 07653

Failure to comply, I will file a legal suite of "Rape of a child and incest"

2. Provide and surrender your U.S. passport to me. Provide this document before November 30, 2009 Mail to:

Mrs. Rossana "Susan" Aala Quinio

P.O. Box 8035

Paramus, NJ 07653

Failure to comply, I will file a legal suite of "Rape of a child and incest"

3. Purchase a new vehicle of my choice on before May 1, 2010 Failure to comply, I will file a legal suite of "Rape of a child and incest"

4. Provide documentation regarding your retirement plan, forty percent (40%) of your retirement plan will be given to me, Mrs. Rossana "Susan" Aala Quinio provide power of attorney stating rights and modification of your retirement plan. Provide this document on June 7, 2010 at 12:00 NN, failure to provide this document, I will file a legal suite of "Rape of a child and incest"

5. Provide lump sum damages that cause my life and suffering with the amount of $500,000 thousand dollars, see schedule of fee damages. A bank account number will be provided three days prior to schedule of dead line.

i. First payment of $70,000 dollars cash due on December 14, 2009 at 12:00 NN, (drop off to be determined & coordinated) failure to provide on this amount, I will file a legal suite of "Rape of a child and incest"

ii. Second payment of $200,000 dollars on December 5, 2011 at 12:00 NN, failure to provide this amount, I will file a legal suite of "Rape of a child and incest"

iii. Last and balance of payment with the amount of $230,000 dollars on December 3, 2012 at 12:00 NN, failure to provide this amount, I will file a legal suite of "Rape of a child and incest"

The terms and conditions are not negotiable. Again, failure to comply on my terms and conditions, you will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I will make sure with the help of my husband and in the name of our Aala sister's most specially our parents you will pay the price.

Your youngest sister,

Mrs. Rossana Aala Quinio

Date: November 20, 2009

(Dkt. 103-7, at ECF³ 1-2.) Plaintiff signed her name at the end of the first section of the Agreement. (Id. at 2.)

The second section of the Agreement is a seemingly random collection of five blank forms from the Family Court of the State of New York: (1) Order to Show Cause (id. at ECF 3); (2) Summons (id. at ECF 4); (3) Order of Protection, setting forth general information about potential arrest and criminal prosecution (id. at ECF 5); (4) Notice to Respondent Parent(s) in Child Abuse or Neglect Cases (id. at ECF 6); and (5) Warrant of Arrest (id. at ECF 7).

The third section is a one-page letter containing the signatures of both Plaintiff and Rustico. The letter states, inter alia :

This letter is to inform you that you, Mr. Rustico Aala, signed and agreed "Confidentiality agreement" per my husband meeting with Mrs. Lerma Aala, Ms. Maria Aala and Mrs. Guanlao present last December 15, 2009 at your house at 1:07 pm, both parties and witnesses verbally agreed "confidentiality regarding the meeting discussed.["]

* * *

Read and Accepted by:

I, Mr. Rustico Aala will comply with the terms and condition above no matter what happen and responsible to pay Mrs. Rossana "Susan" Quinio

(Id. at ECF 8.)

On June 30, 2015, Plaintiff and Jess called Rustico and had a conversation in Tagalog. Jess taped the conversation, which Plaintiff's lawyer had translated and transcribed. (See 6/30/15 Transcript, Dkt. 103-11.) In that conversation, Rustico acknowledged (1) his intention to make payments to Plaintiff, but claimed he did not have the money; (2) his obligation to convey his properties in the Philippines; and (3) that he was seeking Plaintiff's forgiveness. (Pl's. 56.1, at ¶ IV-12.)

In total, Plaintiff claims that she is entitled to $1,172,000 in damages. (Dkt. 103-21, at 10-11.)

II. Procedural History

Plaintiff filed her complaint in this action on August 20, 2015. (Dkt. 1.) The parties completed discovery on February 12, 2017. (Dkt. 65.) On March 24, 2017, Defendants moved to amend their answer to include a defense of mental incompetence as to Rustico. (See Dkt. 67.) On May 8, 2017, the Court granted Defendants leave to amend their answer. On May 10, 2017, Defendants filed an amended answer. (Dkt. 73.) On July 12, 2017, the Court held a Daubert hearing to determine the admissibility of the testimony of defense expert Dr. Sandlin Lowe regarding Rustico's alleged mental incompetence. On August 7, 2017, the Court precluded the testimony of Dr. Lowe, subject to Defendants submitting medical literature to support the doctor's opinions and testimony—which Defendants failed to do. On December 4, 2017, Plaintiff submitted her motion, seeking (1) summary judgment as to the breach of contract of claim; (2) to preclude Defendants from pursuing Defendants' affirmative defenses at trial; and (3) a declaratory judgment binding Lerma to the Court's decision. However, because neither party addressed the issue of whether the Agreement should be voided on public policy grounds, the Court requested supplemental briefing on that issue, which was completed on June 11, 2018. (Dkts. 107, 108, 109.)

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"Summary judgment is appropriate where there are no genuine disputes concerning any material facts, and where the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Summa v. Hofstra Univ. , 708 F.3d 115, 123 (2d Cir. 2013) (quoting Weinstein v. Albright , 261 F.3d 127, 132 (2d Cir. 2001) ); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) ; Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "Material" facts are facts that "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson , 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A "genuine" dispute exists "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. "The moving party bears the burden of establishing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact." Zalaski v. City of Bridgeport Police Dep't , 613 F.3d 336, 340 (2d Cir. 2010) (citing Celotex Corp. , 477 U.S. at...