Rey–cruz v. Forensic Sci. Inst. (icf)

Decision Date16 May 2011
Docket NumberCivil No. 10–1739(DRD).
PartiesRicardo Javier REY–CRUZ, Plaintiff,v.FORENSIC SCIENCE INSTITUTE (ICF), et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Julio E. Gil–De–Lamadrid, Gil–De–Lamadrid, PSC, Bayamon, PR, for Plaintiff.Angel E. Rotger–Sabat, Maymi, Rivera & Rotger–Sabat, Miguel A. Rangel–Rosas, Maymi, Rivera & Rotger, PSC, San Juan, PR, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

DANIEL R. DOMÍNGUEZ, District Judge.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The instant case involves claims of discrimination and failure to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12112 et seq., Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., along with several claims arising under the laws of Puerto Rico, over which this Court exercises supplemental jurisdiction. Currently before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 24). Plaintiff timely filed his opposition to Defendant's request for dismissal (Docket No. 27). The Court referred the instant motion to Magistrate Judge Camille L. Velez–Rive on April 4, 2011 (Docket No. 31), and she entered her Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 33) on April 14, 2011.

In her Report and Recommendation, the Magistrate recommended that Defendants' motion to dismiss be denied as to co-Defendant Forensic Science Institute (ICF) but granted as to co-Defendants Dr. María S. Conte–Miller, Juan E. Hernández–Dávila and José L. Carrasquillo–Pedraza. Specifically, the Magistrate found that Plaintiff alleged sufficient facts with sufficient detail to provide a factual predicate for a violation of Title VII and the ADA. The Magistrate Judge based this finding of employment discrimination on Defendants denying Plaintiff's reasonable requests to not work the overnight shift on account of his sleep apnea. Further, the Magistrate concluded that there is no individual liability under Title VII. While the First Circuit has not ruled if there is individual liability under the ADA, other circuits have so concluded and the Magistrate determined that the ADA should have an identical interpretation as Title VII. Accordingly, the Magistrate Judge recommended dismissal with the regard to the individual Defendants as no individual liability exists under Title VII and the ADA. Having reached this conclusion on individual liability, the Magistrate Judge found Defendants' assertion of qualified immunity was moot and therefore did not address those contentions. Lastly, Magistrate Judge Velez–Rive determined that Eleventh Amendment immunity is not applicable as Congress specifically abrogated such immunity in employment discrimination actions.

On April 20, 2011, Plaintiff requested a ten (10) day extension to file an opposition to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 34). On the same day, the Court granted Plaintiff's request. To date, neither Plaintiff nor Defendants have filed an opposition to the Report and Recommendation.

II. REFERRAL TO THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE

The Court may refer dispositive motions to a United States Magistrate Judge for a Report and Recommendation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). See also Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b); see also Local Rule 72(a); see also Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 96 S.Ct. 549, 46 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976). An adversely affected party may contest the Magistrate's Report and Recommendation by filing its objections. Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b). Moreover, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), in pertinent part, provides that

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.

“Absent objection, ... [a] district court ha[s] a right to assume that [the affected party] agree[s] to the magistrate's recommendation.” Templeman v. Chris Craft Corp., 770 F.2d 245, 247 (1st Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1021, 106 S.Ct. 571, 88 L.Ed.2d 556 (1985). Additionally, “failure to raise objections to the Report and Recommendation waives that party's right to review in the district court and those claims not preserved by such objections are precluded upon appeal.” Davet v. Maccarone, 973 F.2d 22, 30–31 (1st Cir.1992); see also Henley Drilling Co. v. McGee, 36 F.3d 143, 150–51 (1st Cir.1994) (holding that objections are required when challenging findings actually set out in a magistrate's recommendation, as well as the magistrate's failure to make additional findings); see also Lewry v. Town of Standish, 984 F.2d 25, 27 (1st Cir.1993)(stating that [o]bjection to a magistrate's report preserves only those objections that are specified”); see also Borden v. Sec. of H.H.S., 836 F.2d 4, 6 (1st Cir.1987)(holding that appellant was entitled to a de novo review, “however he was not entitled to a de novo review of an argument never raised”).

The Court, in order to accept unopposed portions of the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, needs only satisfy itself that there is no “plain error” on the face of the record. See Douglass v. United Servs. Auto, Ass'n, 79 F.3d 1415, 1419 (5th Cir.1996)( en banc )(extending the deferential “plain error” standard of review to the un-objected to legal conclusions of a magistrate judge); see also Nettles v. Wainwright, 677 F.2d 404, 410 (5th Cir.1982)(en banc)(appeal from district court's acceptance of unobjected to findings of magistrate judge reviewed for “plain error”); see also Nogueras–Cartagena v. United States, 172 F.Supp.2d 296, 305 (D.P.R.2001)(finding that the Court reviews [unopposed] Magistrate's Report and Recommendation to ascertain whether or not the Magistrate's recommendation was clearly erroneous”)(adopting the Advisory Committee note regarding Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b)); see also Garcia v. I.N.S., 733 F.Supp. 1554, 1555 (M.D.Pa.1990)(finding that “when no objections are filed, the district court need only review the record for plain error”).

After a careful analysis, the Court finds no “plain error” in the instant case and concurs with the Magistrate Judge's conclusions. Thus, rather than repeating the set of facts that pertain to the instant case in their entirety, the Court hereby ACCEPTS, ADOPTS AND INCORPORATES by reference the Magistrate Judge's findings of fact in toto, noting particularly that they remain unchallenged.

III. MOTION TO DISMISS

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) requires plaintiffs to provide “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). Under Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), a plaintiff must “provide the grounds of his entitlement [with] more than labels and conclusions.” Thus, a plaintiff must now present allegations that “nudge [his] claims across the line from conceivable to plausible” in order to comply with the requirements of Rule 8(a). Id. at 570; see e.g. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

When considering a motion to dismiss, the Court's inquiry occurs in a two-step process under the current context-based “plausibility” standard established by Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, and Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937. First, the Court must “accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint [,] discarding legal conclusions, conclusory statements and factually threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action. Maldonado v. Fontanes, 568 F.3d 263, 268 (1st Cir.2009)(quoting Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937) (internal quotation omitted).

Under the second step of the inquiry, the Court must determine whether, based upon all assertions that were not discarded under the first step of the inquiry, the complaint “states a plausible claim for relief.” Id. This second step is “context-specific” and requires that the Court draw from its own “judicial experience and common sense” to decide whether a plaintiff has stated a claim upon which relief may be granted, or, conversely, whether dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is appropriate. Id. Thus, [i]n order to survive a motion to dismiss, [a] plaintiff must allege sufficient facts to show that he has a plausible entitlement to relief.” Sanchez v. Pereira–Castillo, 590 F.3d 31, 41 (1st Cir.2009).

A complaint that rests on “bald assertions, unsupportable conclusions, periphrastic circumlocutions, and the like” will likely not survive a motion to dismiss. Aulson v. Blanchard, 83 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1996). Similarly, unadorned factual assertions are inadequate as well. Penalbert–Rosa v. Fortuno–Burset, 631 F.3d 592 (1st Cir.2011). “Specific information, even if not in the form of admissible evidence, would likely be enough at [the motion to dismiss] stage; pure speculation is not.” Id. at 596.

IV. ANALYSIS
A. Failure to State a Claim Under Rule 12(b)(6)

The Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge that Plaintiff's complaint, taking all allegations as true, could provide a reasonable factfinder to conclude under the “plausibility” standard that Defendants are liable for the alleged misconduct. See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Thus, Plaintiff is able to state a claim for relief as a matter of law. The Court briefly explains.

The Report and Recommendation summarizes the substantial details Plaintiff alleges in his complaint of employment discrimination and of the subsequent retaliation. Therein, Plaintiff avers that he informed his employer of a medical condition, made a request not to be scheduled for a certain shift as a result of his condition and his employer ignored those requests. Plaintiff further claims a host of injustices upon filing his notice of complaint: Plaintiff was threatened, an administrative investigation was launched about a non-work related matter,...

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