Rivera v. Fagundo, Civil No. 02-1999(JAG).
| Decision Date | 29 January 2004 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 02-1999(JAG). |
| Citation | 301 F.Supp.2d 103 |
| Parties | Frank Cepero RIVERA, et al., Plaintiff(s) v. Fernando E. FAGUNDO, et al., Defendant(s). |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
Fredeswin Perez-Caballero, Santurce, PR, Jesus M. Hernandez-Sanchez, Raul Barrera-Morales, Hernandez-Sanchez Law Firm, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiffs.
Beatriz Annexy-Guevara, Ineabelle Santiago-Camacho, Reichard & Escalera, Mariana Negron-Vargas, Commonwealth Department of Justice, Federal Litigation Division, Teresa M. Seda-Ramos, Sanchez Betances & Sifre, P.S.C., Zuleika Llovet-Zurinaga, San Juan, PR, for Defendants.
On June 27, 2002, Frank Cepero-Rivera ("Cepero-Rivera") and his daughter Jennifer Cepero-Salgado ("Cepero-Salgado")(collectively "plaintiffs") brought suit against the Puerto Rico Highway Authority ("PRHA"); Jose Izquierdo Encarnacion ("Izquierdo"), Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works; Fernando E. Fagundo ("Fagundo"), Executive Director of the PRHA; Harry Diaz Vega ("Diaz"), Area Director for PRHA's Human Resources Department; Roberto Santiago Cancel ("Santiago"), Auxiliary Director of PRHA's Human Resources Department; Eric Ramirez Nazario ("Ramirez"), Samuel de la Rosa ("De La Rosa"), and William Vega ("Vega"), all three members of PRHA's Appeals Committee; and Howard Phillip Figueroa ("Phillip"), Auxiliary Administrative Officer of the PRHA (collectively "defendants"), alleging political discrimination and violations of his constitutional rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 & 1985, as well as supplemental state law claims. (Docket Nos. 1, 13). On February 11, 2003, plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment, alleging due process violations. (Docket No. 18). On June 23, 2003, Ramirez, De La Rosa, and Vega moved for dismissal of plaintiffs' claims against them pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). (Docket No. 41). On October 21, 2003, defendants moved for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of plaintiffs' claims. (Docket No. 48). For the reasons discussed below, the Court hereby DENIES plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment (Docket No. 18); GRANTS Ramirez's, De La Rosa's, and Vega's motion to dismiss (Docket No. 41); and GRANTS defendants' motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 48). Furthermore, the Court sua sponte dismisses all claims against Diaz, Santiago, and Phillip for failure to state a claim.
Cepero-Rivera is a member of the New Progressive Party ("NPP"). All defendants are members of the Popular Democratic Party ("PDP"), which took over the Government of Puerto Rico following the 2000 elections. Cepero-Rivera was a career employee with the PRHA, where he held the position of Director of Labor Affairs since September 5, 1995. Diaz, PRHA's Director of the Human Resources Department supervised Cepero-Rivera's work as Director of Labor Affairs.
On September 24, 2001, Cepero-Rivera sent a letter to Fagundo requesting a salary increase pursuant to PRHA's regulations2 and alleging gender and age-based discrimination. In that letter, Cepero-Rivera stated that he possessed a list of the salaries and fringe benefits of several recently-appointed female employees, and claimed that the salary raises given to those female employees at the recruitment level violated the merit principle established in PRHA's Personnel Handbook. Furthermore, Cepero-Rivera stated that he was not an activist for any political party.
On January 2, 2002, Fagundo sent Cepero-Rivera a letter denying his request for a salary raise inasmuch as he had received six pay-raises in as many years in the PRHA. Fagundo further informed Cepero-Rivera that he had ordered the legal department to investigate possible violations of the Puerto Rico Penal Code and several articles of PRHA's Disciplinary Measures Handbook stemming from Cepero-Rivera's involvement in several incidents with other PRHA employees and his admitted possession of other employees' confidential information. The letter also informed Cepero-Rivera of Fagundo's intentions to file disciplinary measures, which could result in dismissal, and that an informal hearing was to be held on January 18, 2002. The January 2, 2002 letter was Cepero-Rivera's first notice of defendants' intentions to take disciplinary measures against him.
On January 10, 2002, Cepero-Rivera sent a letter to Fagundo requesting a specification of facts and additional information regarding the imputations as well as requesting a continuance of the informal hearing. Cepero-Rivera's request was never answered by defendants. On January 17, 2002, Cepero-Rivera sent Fagundo a hand-written note where he submitted his appearance to the informal hearing in writing. On February 22, 2002, Cepero-Rivera received a letter terminating his employment with the PRHA effective immediately.
Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint may not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. See Brown v. Hot, Sexy, and Safer Prods., Inc., 68 F.3d 525, 530 (1st Cir.1995). The Court accepts all well-pleaded factual allegations as true, and draws all reasonable inferences in plaintiff's favor. See Correa-Martinez v. Arrillaga-Belendez, 903 F.2d 49, 51 (1st Cir.1990). The Court need not credit, however, "bald assertions, unsupportable conclusions, periphrastic circumlocutions, and the like" when evaluating the Complaint's allegations. Aulson v. Blanchard, 83 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1996). When opposing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, "a plaintiff cannot expect a trial court to do his homework for him." McCoy v. Massachusetts Institute of Tech., 950 F.2d 13, 22 (1st Cir.1991). Plaintiffs are responsible for putting their best foot forward in an effort to present a legal theory that will support their claim. Id. at 23 (citing Correa-Martinez, 903 F.2d at 52). Plaintiffs must set forth "factual allegations, either direct or inferential, regarding each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable theory." Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 514 (1st Cir.1988).
The court's discretion to grant summary judgment is governed by Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 56 states, in pertinent part, that the court may grant summary judgment only 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 judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); See also Santiago-Ramos v. Centennial P.R. Wireless Corp., 217 F.3d 46, 52. (1st Cir.2000). Summary judgment is appropriate if "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).
Once a properly supported motion has been presented before the court, the opposing party has the burden of demonstrating that a trial-worthy issue exists that would warrant the Court's denial of the motion for summary judgment. For issues where the opposing party bears the ultimate burden of proof, that party cannot merely rely on the absence of competent evidence, but must affirmatively point to specific facts that demonstrate the existence of an authentic dispute. See Suarez v. Pueblo Int'l, Inc., 229 F.3d 49 (1st Cir.2000).
In order for a factual controversy to prevent summary judgment, the contested facts must be "material" and the dispute must be "genuine". "Material" means that a contested fact has the potential to change the outcome of the suit under governing law. The issue is "genuine" when a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party based on the evidence. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). It is well settled that "[t]he mere existence of a scintilla of evidence is insufficient to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment." Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. It is therefore necessary that "a party opposing summary judgment must present definite, competent evidence to rebut the motion." Maldonado-Denis v. Castillo-Rodriguez, 23 F.3d 576, 581 (1st Cir.1994).
In making this assessment, the court "must view the entire record in the light most hospitable to the party opposing summary judgment, indulging in all reasonable inferences in that party's favor." Griggs-Ryan v. Smith, 904 F.2d 112, 115 (1st Cir.1990). The court may safely ignore "conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation." Medina-Muñoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990).
Defendants Ramirez, De La Rosa, and Vega move the Court to dismiss the claims against them because plaintiffs have failed to provide factual allegations of their personal involvement in the alleged deprivation of Cepero-Rivera's federally-protected rights or that they acted under color of law. The Court agrees.
To prevail in a § 1983 claim, plaintiffs bear the burden of showing that the defendants, acting under color of state law, deprived them of their federal constitutional rights, privileges, or immunities. See, e.g., Romero-Barcelo v. Hernandez-Agosto, 75 F.3d 23, 32 (1st Cir.1996). It is well-established that political discrimination restrains freedom of belief and association, core activities protected by the First Amendment. See Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 354, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976); Padilla-Garcia v. Rodriguez, 212 F.3d 69, 74 (1st Cir.2000).
Accordingly, Cepero-Rivera must establish a prima facie case...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Cepero-Rivera v. Fagundo
...motion to dismiss. Although the district court in large part correctly described the motion to dismiss standard, see Rivera v. Fagundo, 301 F.Supp.2d 103, 106 (D.P.R.2004), it also stated that appellants' claims should be dismissed for failure to "establish a prima facie case of political d......