Soto v. Chardon
Decision Date | 07 May 1981 |
Docket Number | Civ. No. 79-198. |
Citation | 514 F. Supp. 339 |
Parties | Juan Fumero SOTO, Plaintiff, v. Carlos CHARDON et al., Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
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Hiram Cancio, Jaime R. Nadal Arcelay, Jesus R. Rabell Mendez, Blanca Mera Roure, and Cancio, Nadal & Rivera, Hato Rey, P.R., for plaintiff.
Robert Cordova, Sally de Jesus Kellogg, San Juan, P.R., Ines Equia Miranda de Casanova, Puerto Rico Dept. of Justice, San Juan, P.R., for defendants.
Fifty-five school teachers and administrators, plaintiffs in these 55 consolidated cases, brought individual suits charging that they were unlawfully discriminated against and demoted due to their association with and membership in the Popular Democratic Party (PDP), a political party in the Commonwealth. Each plaintiff's theory is that Carlos A. Chardon, then Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth, and his Assistant Secretary for Personnel, Oscar Ramos, members of the governing New Progressive Party, unlawfully demoted each of the plaintiffs at dates ranging from May till June of 1977, in violation of the First and Fourteenth amendments, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and various Puerto Rican statutes. 18 L.P.R.A. §§ 249e,1 211 and 214 et seq. Actions under Puerto Rican law come within both § 1983 and its jurisdictional predicate, 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3). Examining Board of Engineers v. Flores de Otero, 426 U.S. 572, 96 S.Ct. 2264, 49 L.Ed.2d 65 (1976). It is impermissible to discriminate in the work place based upon a person's political affiliations. Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976); Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507, 100 S.Ct. 1287, 63 L.Ed.2d 574 (1980); Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972).2 These suits were brought against Chardon and Ramos in their individual and official capacities.3
Before trial, the individual plaintiffs, each represented by the same group of attorneys, indicated that a large portion of their proof at trial would consist of establishing a pattern of unlawful discrimination, requiring repetitious testimony from a number of plaintiffs. Inasmuch as the factual and legal issues, the attorneys and the parties were common to all these cases, these suits were ordered consolidated pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 42(a). Subsequently, other judges in this district transferred a number of "Chardon" cases for inclusion in the consolidated trial. This trial was bifurcated, and was to consider only the liability issues. Fed.R.Civ.P. 42(b). See Court Order, January, 1981. In essence, the jury's findings on the issue of liability in this captioned case was made binding upon the parties in all of the consolidated cases. The damages issues were not consolidated.
Each of the plaintiffs herein was demoted from the position of school principal or other supervisory position in which he or she did not have tenure. Upon demotion as ordered by the Department he or she was returned to the tenured position as school teacher or to lesser administrative rankings, as previously occupied. No one was discharged. While the complaints of most teachers requested declaratory relief, reinstatement, back pay and punitive damages, approximately ten to fifteen suits were filed by teachers who chose to leave the Department during the pendency of these lawsuits. These ex-teachers were no longer interested in the equitable relief of reinstatement, but in turn sought a more substantial monetary judgment than those who remained employees of the Department.
These cases were tried to a jury. With the agreement of counsel, the following instruction was given pertaining to the defendants' affirmative defense that they had acted in good faith while demoting each plaintiff, and thus were protected by a qualified official immunity:
The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff and against each defendant. The Court then defined malicious intent,6 and requested that the jurors return to their deliberations to answer the following interrogatory:
The jurors answered "No" with respect to each defendant. No objection was made regarding this interrogatory. It is noted here that the language in the prior charge and the special interrogatory is identical. The Court now must give effect, if possible, to both the general verdict for plaintiff, and the interrogatory answer that defendants lacked malicious intent.
The Supreme Court has construed 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to allow an award for compensatory damages. It has not, as yet, definitively ruled as to whether punitive damages are also available:
To the extent that Congress intended that awards under § 1983 should deter the deprivation of constitutional rights, there is no evidence that it meant to establish a deterrent more formidable than that inherent in the award of compensatory damages. See Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409 at 442, 96 S.Ct. 984 at 1000, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (White, J., concurring in judgment).
Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247, 256-57, 98 S.Ct. 1042, 1048-1049, 55 L.Ed.2d 252 (1978) (emphasis added) (footnote omitted). The footnote following this holding further explained the Court's position:
Id. at 257 n.11, 98 S.Ct. at 1049 n.11 (emphasis added).
The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has held that punitive damages are available against § 1983 defendants "when there are aggravating circumstances." Fact Concerts, Inc. v. City of Newport, 626 F.2d 1060, 1067 (1st Cir. 1980), citing Alicea Rosado v. Garcia Santiago, 562 F.2d 114, 121 (1st Cir. 1977) (bad faith) and Caperci v. Huntoon, 397 F.2d 799, 801 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 940, 89 S.Ct. 299, 21 L.Ed.2d 276 (1968) ( ). In Rosado, supra, it was stated: "Intentional interference with constitutional rights, standing alone, is not enough; there must also be `aggravating circumstances.'" 562 F.2d at 121. Citing the standards used by other circuits, the Rosado court continued: "and the Third Circuit has described the standard as `malicious and wanton disregard' of a plaintiff's rights." Id. (citation omitted).
The jury's answer to the interrogatories in this case ended any claim for punitive damages. As the plaintiff's attorneys acknowledged, the award of punitive damages is a decision for the trier of fact. Although the parties failed to raise the issue, any decision granting or denying punitive damages must include an assessment of the conduct in question, evidentiary inferences and evaluations pertaining to motive and knowledge. Alicea Rosado v. Garcia Santiago, supra. See also Lee v. Southern Home Sites Corp., 429 F.2d 290, 294 (5th Cir. 1970). See also Anno...
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