Adorno v. Gonzalez

678 F. Supp. 948, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12917, 1987 WL 42345
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedDecember 31, 1987
DocketCiv. No. 86-1234 (JP)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 678 F. Supp. 948 (Adorno v. Gonzalez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adorno v. Gonzalez, 678 F. Supp. 948, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12917, 1987 WL 42345 (prd 1987).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PIERAS, District Judge.

This is an action for back pay, damages, declaratory relief and injunctive relief brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff alleges a cause of action arising under the first and fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution for her dismissal from her position as Personnel Director of the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico (GDB). She claims that her dismissal resulted from her opposition to considering political affiliation as a job requirement for positions in the GDB.

The matter is before the Court on defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and opposition thereto. In support of their motion, defendants argue that plaintiff held a trust position and has no right to due process. Defendants also contend that plaintiff has no standing to sue for the constitutional violations of third parties, and therefore, has no cause of action under the first amendment. Defendants claim that they need not reinstate plaintiff pursuant to 3 L.P.R.A. § 1358 because this Court is barred from ordering such remedy under Pennhurst State School & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 104 S.Ct. 900, 79 L.Ed. 2d 67 (1984), and alternatively that 3 L.P.R. A. § 1338 exempts them from the requirements of § 1358. Finally, defendants claim entitlement to qualified immunity.

The Court held a Pretrial Conference on June 17, 1987, which counsel attended. The Court later continued sine die the trial set for June 29, 1987.

Summary judgment is proper “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 a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ. P. 56(c). Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the Court must view the record and draw inferences in the light most favorable to the opposing party. Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft v. Wheeler, 814 F.2d 812, 815 (1st Cir.1987).

The parties have stipulated to the following facts:

Plaintiff was employed in the Department of Housing as Executive Officer III, in the Personnel Division, a career position, from March 3, 1980, to February 16, 1985, earning $755.00 a month. José Ramón Oyóla, appointed by Governor Rafael Hernández Colón as the President of the GDB and a Popular Democratic Party (PDP) member, appointed plaintiff to the position of Administrative Aide to the President on February 10, 1985, a trust position with a starting salary of $2,689.17. About two weeks later, she was placed in the position [950]*950of Personnel Director, a trust position with no increase in salary-. The plaintiff was appointed Vice-President, retaining duties as Personnel Director, on April 1, 1985.

By letter signed by the new President José Ramón González, dated March 27, 1986, plaintiff was dismissed from her position as Personnel Director, effective April 1, 1986. Plaintiff is a member of the PDP, and during the 1984 electoral campaign she was a fund raiser for that party. Defendant José Ramón González was appointed as President of the GDB on March 15, 1986. The decision to separate plaintiff as Personnel Director was made by Mr. González as President of the GDB. During his tenure as Executive Vice-President of the GDB and after being named President, Mr. González perceived the office of Chief of the Personnel Division as involving sensitive, confidential, and important functions.

I. Personnel Director

A. Fourteenth Amendment

The due process clause of the fourteenth amendment guarantees the right to an informal hearing prior to discharge to public .employees with a property interest in continued employment. Brock v. Roadway Express, — U.S.-, 107 S.Ct. 1740, 95 L.Ed.2d 239 (1987); Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 542, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 1493, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). A property interest is created by “existing rules or understandings that stem from an independent source such as state law.” Loudermill, 470 U.S. at 538, 105 S.Ct. at 1491. The defendant argues that plaintiff did not hold a property interest in continued employment.

The local law governing the issue of the property right is the Puerto Rico Public Personnel Law, (“Act”) 3 L.P.R.A. § 1301, et seq. The Act divides government employees into two categories, career employees and trust or confidential employees. 3 L.P.R.A. § 1349. Confidential employees are “those who intervene or collaborate substantially in the formulation of public policy, who advise directly or render direct services to the head of the agency ...” 3 L.P.R.A. § 1350. Confidential employees are “of free selection and removal.” 3 L.P.R.A. § 1336(4) (Supp.1985). In contrast, career employees may only be dismissed for “good cause, after preferment of charges in writing.” Id.

Under the GDB’s Personnel Regulations, the Personnel Director of the GDB is a trust or confidential position. The job description of the Personnel Director reads that she is responsible for the supervision of the GDB’s personnel and for the formulation and development of the labor policy of the GDB. Additionally, she advises the President of the GDB on the formulation and implementation of personnel policy within the GDB. Furthermore, the Personnel Director actively participates in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and meets with union leaders to discuss union personnel.

Under the Personnel Act, a trust employee does not possess a property interest to continued public employment and therefore is not entitled to due-process protection pri- or to discharge. Laureano-Agosto v. Garcia Caraballo, 731 F.2d 101, 103 (1st Cir.1984). Accordingly, defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment on the due process claim is GRANTED, and the Court DISMISSES this claim.

B. First Amendment

This complaint presents a unique situation in that the plaintiff is not a member of the rivaling New Progressive Party (NPP), but is a member of the PDP. She complains that as Personnel Director she was forced by her supervisor to accept and hire political appointees to positions within the GDB, in violation of the merit principle. Her cause of action for political discharge is not based on her political affiliation, but on her refusal to put politics above the law.

The defendant argues that plaintiff has not alleged a violation of her own constitutional rights, but the constitutional rights of third parties, or employment candidates, and thus has no standing to sue. We do not see it this way. The plaintiff has established that she suffered an economic injury in fact, that she was dis[951]

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Elba Estrada-Adorno v. Jose R. Gonzalez, Etc.
861 F.2d 304 (First Circuit, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
678 F. Supp. 948, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12917, 1987 WL 42345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adorno-v-gonzalez-prd-1987.