Rivera v. Hospital Interamericano De Medicina

• Decision Date: 05 December 2000
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 00-1185JP.,Civ. 00-1185JP.
• Citation: 125 F.Supp.2d 11
• Parties: Carmen Iris RIVERA, Plaintiff, v. HOSPITAL INTERAMERICANO DE MEDICINA AVANZA et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

Page 11

125 F.Supp.2d 11

Carmen Iris RIVERA, Plaintiff, v. HOSPITAL INTERAMERICANO DE MEDICINA AVANZA et al., Defendants.

No. Civ. 00-1185JP.

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

December 5, 2000.

Luis R. Rivera-Rodríguez, Hato Rey, PR, for plaintiff.

José H. Vivas, Héctor Ramírez Carbó, Vivas & Vivas, Ponce, PR, Fernando E. Agrait-Betancourt, San Juan, PR, Pedro J. Córdova-Pelegrina, San Juan, PR, for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

PIERAS, Senior District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

The Court has before it co-Defendants Dr. Rafael E. Medina Rivera and Instituto de Endoscopía Digestiva's ("IED Defendants") Motion for Summary Judgment Because of Lack of Diversity Jurisdiction (docket No. 37); Hospital Interamericano de Medicina Avanzada's ("HIMA") Motion Joining Motion for Summary Judgment for Lack of Diversity Jurisdiction (docket No. 45); Plaintiff's Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment due to Lack of Diversity Jurisdiction (docket No. 46); Plaintiff's Motion Supplementing Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment due to Lack for Diversity of Jurisdiction [sic] (docket No. 63); Co-Defendant HIMA's Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (docket No. 68); and Plaintiff Rivera Perez's Motion in Opposition to co-Defendant HIMA's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (docket No. 76).

Plaintiff Carmen Iris Rivera Perez ("Rivera") filed her original Complaint on February 9, 2000 under Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, alleging that she suffered injuries as a result of medical malpractice on the part of Defendants, and invoking diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 because she claims that she is domiciled in New York while all Defendants are domiciled in Puerto Rico. Thereafter, on June 16, 2000, Plaintiff amended her Complaint to include two new parties.¹ Plaintiff seeks a total of $3,300,000.00 (three million, three hundred thousand dollars) in damages, in addition to interest, expenses and attorney's fees.

The IED Defendants and co-Defendant HIMA contend that this Court does not have diversity jurisdiction over the instant case. Accordingly, they moved for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.² Defendants argue that Plaintiff had not established the requisite minimal contacts with New York, where she alleges that she was residing, at the time she filed the Complaint sufficient to warrant diversity of citizenship. Co-Defendant HIMA has also moved for Partial Summary Judgment on its own behalf arguing that Plaintiff's allegations against it are unsubstantiated and unfounded, and fail to amount to a cause of action for which relief can be granted.

A brief history of the proceedings in this case is now in order. On May 17, 2000, the Court held an Initial Scheduling Conference ("ISC") in which all of the parties were present. This case has been fraught with discovery problems as a result of each party's non-compliance with the orders of this Court. At the ISC, the Court set trial for January 16, 2001, the pre-trial conference for December 5, 2000 at 4:00 p.m. and allowed until October 31, 2000 for the filing of dispositive motions. Additionally, the Court granted until September 1, 2000 for the announcement of additional witnesses. The ISC Order specifically read:

If any party wishes to use any additional witnesses, it will be discretionary with the Court, provided that the parties state in writing on or before September 1, 2000 the following information regarding each additional witness: name and address with a short statement as to the subject matter of their testimony, and proof that the names of these witnesses, or the fact that their testimony was decidedly material, was not known at the time of this Initial Scheduling Conference, and the reason why they were not known. In the case of a proposed expert witness, the party requesting leave to amend the witness list shall also provide the expert's report to the Court and to the defendant within two weeks of the request, which must include all the information specified in Rule 26(2)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and any information requested in the Initial Scheduling Conference Call.

Despite the ISC Order's specific instructions and deadlines regarding expert witnesses, the IED co-Defendants attempted to introduce their proposed expert, Dr. Lawrence Brandt, and file his report on September 13, 2000, thirteen days after the deadline. In furtherance of effective pre-trial management, the Court denied the IED Defendants' motion for an extension of time in which to file said report, and also denied their subsequent motion for reconsideration.³

Shortly thereafter, on September 28, 2000, the Court dismissed the claims against co-Defendants Dr. Ramón Sotomayor and Dr. Miguel Palacios pursuant to Plaintiff's motion for voluntary dismissal. Pursuant thereto, on the same day, co-Defendant HIMA moved to include Dr. Sotomayor and Dr. Palacios as additional witnesses since it claimed that it anticipated that the doctors would have been parties in the action and as such, they could question them at trial without having to announce them as witnesses. The Court granted co-Defendant HIMA's request under the condition that HIMA demonstrate total compliance with the following:

[Dr. Sotomayor and Dr. Palacios] must each produce a expert medical report in accordance with Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure because in the Court's opinion, any doctor testifying as to his professional acts or the professional acts of others is an expert and cannot disentangle his expert opinion from the fact that he is also a witness. Further, ... if they are to be admitted as witnesses, they must file an expert report and curriculum vitae in accordance with Rule 26 on or before November 25, 2000, serving the other parties by same-day messenger.⁴

Order (docket No. 71).

While these discovery disputes were before the Court, Plaintiff twice cancelled the scheduled depositions of two of her expert witnesses, Dr. Joseph Garren and Dr. George Gusset. On October 16, 2000, it came to the Court's attention that these witnesses had never been produced by Plaintiff on the dates arranged for their respective depositions, and therefore had never been deposed by Defendants. Plaintiff's actions were in direct violation of the Court's ISC Order and its subsequent rescheduling Order (docket No. 39). Therefore, as a sanction for Plaintiff's non-compliance, the Court permitted the testimony of Dr. Brandt, Defendant's expert witness whose testimony was previously excluded by the Court. The Court also re-set the deposition dates for Dr. Gussett and Dr. Garren.

In addition, the Court is disturbed by the fact that it has had to order both parties to file English language translations to exhibits on numerous occasions throughout this case. Local Rule 108.1 requires that any document filed with this Court in a language other than English be accompanied by a certified translation. Despite this well-established rule, Plaintiff has opted to file her Motion in Opposition to co-Defendant HIMA's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (docket No. 76) with Spanish language exhibits. Because the deposition excerpt attached to Plaintiff's motion is in Spanish, and Plaintiff did not provide an English translation upon filing, the Court DECLINES to consider the exhibits as part of the record on summary judgment. The Court also WILL NOT accept the English translations filed nine days later. See Local Rule 108.1; see also Gonzalez-Morales v. Hernandez-Arencibia, 221 F.3d 45, 50 n. 4 (1st Cir.2000) (finding that appellants had waived arguments premised on documents for which they had not provided translations); U.S. for Use and Ben. of Elec. Machinery Enterprises of Puerto Rico, Inc. v. Fraya, S.E. and Continental Ins. Co., 145 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1998) (Pieras J.).

The primary summary judgment motion before the Court is for dismissal based on lack of diversity jurisdiction. For reasons stated herein, this Court GRANTS Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment based on Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction. The Court need only proceed to address findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect to diversity jurisdiction because, as a result of its finding that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this action, HIMA's partial summary judgment motion on the merits is rendered MOOT.

II. UNCONTESTED FACTS

Based on the record and the parties' contentions, the Court finds the following facts to be undisputed:

1. At the time that she filed the Complaint Plaintiff was 57 years old.

2. On August 12, 2000, Plaintiff was deposed.

3. During the August 12, 2000 deposition, when asked the question "Where do you live now?", Plaintiff replied "E-21 1 Street, Condado ... now? That thing is that that is my house."

4. Plaintiff's husband was in the United States Army.

5. Plaintiff married her husband in 1963. Her husband and adult daughter live in Puerto Rico.

6. Plaintiff lived in Caguas, Puerto Rico for all of her life except from 1963 to 1977 when she lived with her husband in New York. She returned to Puerto Rico in 1977.

7. On January 28, 2000, Plaintiff left Puerto Rico and moved into her cousin's home at 1335 Balcon Avenue in the Bronx, New York.

8. Plaintiff filed her Complaint in the instant action on February 9, 2000, approximately twelve (12) days after leaving Puerto Rico.

9. Plaintiff receives medical treatment in New York.

10. Plaintiff was issued two interim drivers licenses for the state of New York.

11. Plaintiff does not own any property in New York.

12. On February 9, 2000, Plaintiff was not registered to vote in New York.

13. Plaintiff is not employed in New York.

14. Plaintiff does not own any bank accounts in New York.

15. Plaintiff owns two properties in Puerto Rico; a home at Condado Moderno in Caguas, Puerto Rico and Seminar Child Care Center located at B-27...