Zappa v. Cabanillas

• Decision Date: 15 November 2000
• Docket Number: P,DIMARCO-ZAPP,No. 00-1155,CED-ALZAMORA,00-1155
• Citation: 238 F.3d 25
• Parties: (1st Cir. 2001) JOANNAlaintiff, Appellee, v. EUGENIO CABANILLAS; FEDERICO; MARY JO GONZ LEZ; EDDIE NIEVES; MAR A SOCORRO CINTR N, Defendants, Appellants, v. JUNTA EXAMINADORES DE CORREDORES DE BIENES RA CES, Defendant. Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 25

238 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 2001)

JOANNA DIMARCO-ZAPPA, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. EUGENIO CABANILLAS; FEDERICO CED-ALZAMORA; MARY JO GONZ LEZ; EDDIE NIEVES; MAR A SOCORRO CINTR N, Defendants, Appellants, v. JUNTA EXAMINADORES DE CORREDORES DE BIENES RA CES, Defendant.

No. 00-1155

United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit

Heard November 15, 2000

Decided January 19, 2001

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Hon. Jaime Pieras, Jr., U.S. Senior District Judge] [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] John F. Nevares, with whom Smith & Nevares was on brief, for appellants.

Jane Becker-Whitaker, with whom Law Offices of Jane Becker Whitaker, PSC was on brief, for appellee.

Before Torruella, Chief Judge, Lynch, Circuit Judge, and Garcia-Gregory,^* District Judge.

TORRUELLA, Chief Judge.

Appellants are members of the Puerto Rico Real Estate Examining Board who have been found personally liable in damages for violating the constitutional rights of appellee Joanna DiMarco-Zappa in connection with her application for a real estate license. We find appellants' arguments as to qualified immunity and §a1983 liability respectively unpersuasive or waived at the district court level. We also find that the district court correctly applied the relevant law as to the availability of compensatory and punitive damages, and did not abuse its discretion as to the amount of those damages. As a result, we affirm the district court decision in all respects.

BACKGROUND

Although the district court provided an extensive summary of the procedural history of this case, Zappa v. Cruz, 30 F. Supp. 2d 123, 124-26 (D.P.R. 1998), as has this Court, Harris v. RiveraaCruz, 20 F.3d 507, 509-10 (1st Cir. 1994), we revisit it at some length due to the waiver questions raised by the district court decision.

A. Early Case History

In April 1988, appellee Joanna DiMarco-Zappa ("DiMarco") joined a pending lawsuit¹ against members of the Real Estate Examining Board in Puerto Rico ("the Board"). Defendants-appellants were sued in both their personal and their official capacities pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §a1983.² DiMarco's complaint alleged that the policy and actions of the Board and Board members had violated constitutional guarantees. Specifically, the Board had made the English-language version of the real estate broker license examination substantially more difficult than the Spanish-language version. She sought injunctive relief to compel issuance of the license and to require the Board to continue giving the exam in English, as well as compensatory damages for lost income. The complaint further alleged that no applicant had passed the English-language exam and that certain unnamed defendants had made statements indicative of discrimination against non-Puerto Ricans.³

In March 1989, the district court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Board to continue offering the exam in both Spanish and English, and to insure that the two versions were equivalent. Harris v. Rivera Cruz, 710 F. Supp. 29 (D.P.R. 1989). In response to an August 1989 pre-trial order, DiMarco provided an analysis indicating differences between the English and Spanish versions of the exams, as well as a showing of mathematical errors on the grading of her individual exam. Id. The Board did not rebut these allegations. Id. The district court granted a permanent injunction requiring the Board to continue giving an equivalent English exam. It then noted in a March 22, 1990 "Status Conference Order" that "the only remaining issue is whether the plaintiffs passed the exam." In a subsequent order, issued Aprila19, 1991, the court concluded that "[DiMarco has] passed the real estate examination." The court stated: "because both parties have previously agreed that this was the only remaining issue in this case, Judgment shall be entered accordingly." The court premised its order on DiMarco's mathematical analysis, including adjustments for mistranslations and ambiguities in the English-language test. No explicit finding was made as to whether an equal protection violation had occurred, whether defendants incurred personal or official liability under §a1983, or whether DiMarco was entitled to monetary damages. The order also did not indicate whether the judgment was final as to all claims, or if the case was finally complete. Harris, 20 F.3d at 509.

Although DiMarco was forced to file several motions for contempt to gain compliance, the Board ultimately issued her real estate license in August 1992. DiMarco then requested a date for a trial on damages. The district court, relying on a Maya11, 1993 status conference and on the previous Marcha22, 1990 Status Conference Order, concluded that "[j]udgment was entered in this case based on a settlement between the parties, without the imposition of damages," and that DiMarco's failure to appeal the judgment resulted in closure of the litigation without any damages consideration. DiMarco appealed, seeking an opportunity to pursue her damages claim. This Court reviewed, and found first that "it is not possible to tell for certain whether DiMarco's claim for damages was settled or waived on March 19 1990, but it is possible to say with assurance that the record does not demonstrate such a settlement or waiver." Id. at 510. We also concluded that the April 23, 1991 judgment was not clearly a final judgment, and thus DiMarco's appeal was timely. Id. at 511. As a result, we remanded, with a direction to the district court to hear any new evidence proffered by the Board as to DiMarco's waiver of her damages claim. Id. at 512. We also "express[ed] no views" as to "[w]hether defendants are liable for damages." Id.

B. Post-Remand Procedural History

On remand, the district court held a hearing to determine whether DiMarco had in fact waived her right to damages. The court concluded that the Board failed to carry its burden based on its failure to produce evidence of any waiver agreement or consideration for a waiver. The district court then set a bench trial⁴ on damages and issued an order noting that "the only remaining issue in this case is plaintiff's claim for damages." Accordingly, the parties were instructed to "inform[] the Court of the legal contentions of the parties and their theories of the case" at a future scheduling conference.

On December 2, 1996, appellants filed a response to the district court request, in which they argued that "defendants in the instant case acted only in their official capacity" and that "the appearing defendants were not personally involved in the events that gave rise to the complaint." They also claimed that they were entitled to qualified immunity because "the law regarding the constitutional validity of restricting official documents to any given language was unclear and undecided," and thus the constitutional right at issue was not clearly established under Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 (1982).⁵ Appellants did not challenge the court's characterization of the upcoming proceeding as solely about damages, nor did they object to the procedure of the district court with respect to that proceeding. In her response, DiMarco pointed out (for not the last time) that appellants had "grossly mischaracterize[d]" the case, and that she had alleged "that the entire process of examining potential real estate brokers was tainted with ethnic bias and that her examination was deliberately misgraded" because of that bias.

The Court heard evidence and arguments as to damages on September 18, 1997. The hearing focused entirely on the question of damages, with no evidence presented as to whether defendants were personally involved in the alleged discrimination.

C. The District Court Decision

The district court first concluded that the Eleventh Amendment barred damages claims against appellants in their official capacities. Zappa, 30 F. Supp. 2d at 126-27. It then turned to the question of qualified immunity. In an extensive section, the court reprimanded appellants for "muddl[ing] the right at issue in this case--the right to equal protection of the law--with laws 'regarding a state's prerogative in establishing an official language in which all state government transactions have to be conducted.'" Id. at 127. The court noted that the constitutional violation it had found was not the failure to provide a test in English, but rather "the disparate treatment given to Plaintiffs based on an impermissible classification--Plaintiffs' status as continental Americans." Id. The district court then cited a host of case law demonstrating why such a classification was illegitimate and thus "clearly violate[d] the Equal Protection Clause." Id. at 127-31. Appellants' qualified immunity claim was thus denied. To the extent that the court discussed appellants' personal liability, it noted in its findings of fact that:

As outlined in the procedural history of this case, stated at length, supra, it was established long before the bench trial in this case that Defendants . .a. violated DiMarco's constitutional right to equal protection of the law when they discriminated against her based upon her heritage, ancestry and/or national origin.

Id. at 131.

The court then turned to the issues of compensatory and punitive damages. It found that DiMarco should receive $39,404.43 in compensatory damages for lost income, and $50,000 in compensatory damages for mental and emotional suffering. Id. at 132. It also awarded DiMarco $50,000 in punitive damages based on the "callous indifference to federally protected rights" of appellants in their "willful mistreatment of persons based on their heritage." Id. The district court also awarded DiMarco reasonable attorneys' fees, a decision not appealed here. Id. at 133-35.

D. Motion to Alter or Amend [Motion for Reconsideration]

Appellants then moved for reconsideration under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 52(b)...