Aguiar-Serrano v. Puerto Rico Highways & Transportation Authority

916 F. Supp. 2d 223, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7956, 2013 WL 175478
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJanuary 17, 2013
DocketCivil No. 12-1438 (FAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 916 F. Supp. 2d 223 (Aguiar-Serrano v. Puerto Rico Highways & Transportation Authority) 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
Aguiar-Serrano v. Puerto Rico Highways & Transportation Authority, 916 F. Supp. 2d 223, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7956, 2013 WL 175478 (prd 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BESOSA, District Judge.

Before the Court are the motions to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6) (“Rule 12(b)(6)”) of defendants Ruben Hernandez-Gregorat, Brenda I. Gomila-Santiago, Harold Cortes-Lacaustra, Vanessa L. CollazoSantiago, and Aaron Hernandez-Martinez, in their individual capacities. (Dockets No. 18, 28 & 40.) For the reasons discussed below, the Court GRANTS defendants’ motions.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

On August 24, 2012, plaintiff Magda L. Aguiar-Serrano (“plaintiff Aguiar”) filed a complaint alleging political discrimination pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“section 1983”). (Docket No. 1.) She alleges two constitutional violations associated with her employment: political discrimination pursuant to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and deprivation of a property interest without due process of law pursuant to the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Id. Plaintiff Aguiar sues the defendants for damages and also seeks injunctive relief for reinstatement with benefits and back pay. Id. at pp. 17-18. In addition, she asserts that the Court has supplemental jurisdiction over her Commonwealth law claims pursuant to Law 100, articles 1802 and 1803 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, and the Constitution of Puerto Rico. Id. at p. 2.

Defendants Hernandez-Gregorat, Gomila-Santiago, and Cortes-Lacaustra filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) on August 24, 2012, (Docket No. 18), and defendant Collazo-Santiago joined that motion on January 3, 2013, (Docket No. 40.) Plaintiff Aguiar filed a response in opposition on September 21, 2012. (Docket No. 27.) Defendant Hernandez-Martinez submitted a separate motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) on October 19, 2012, (Docket No. 28), and plaintiff Aguiar opposed the motion on November 5, 2012.1 (Docket No. 35.)

B. Factual Background

In her complaint, plaintiff Aguiar alleges the following facts:

1. Defendants and Their Treatment of Plaintiff Aguiar

Defendant Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority (“PRHTA”) is a public corporation in charge of the construction, operation and maintenance of [227]*227Puerto Rico highways. (Docket No. 1 at p. 5.) On or about 1996, PRHTA adopted a set of regulations (“PRHTA Personnel Regulations”) that are applicable to employees and other personnel. Id. Defendant Hernandez-Gregorat is an engineer-resident of Puerto Rico who was appointed as Executive Director of the PRHTA after the official installation of Governor Luis Fortuo; defendant Gomila-Santago served as the Auxiliary Executive Director of Human Resources at PRHTA; defendant Cortes-Laeaustra was the Executive Director of Infrastructure at PRHTA; and defendant HernandeznMartinez served as Director of the PRHTA Property Acquisitions Area. Id. at pp. 6-7. Defendants Hernandez-Gregorat, Gomila-Santago, Cortes-Laeaustra, and Hernandez-Martinez are all known members and activists of the New Progressive Party for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“the PNP”). Id.

On August 1, 2008, PRHTA’s Director of Human Resources publicized Job Announcement No. 2009-0444 for the position of Director of the Legal Division-Property Acquisition. (Docket No. 1 at p. 7.) Plaintiff Aguiar applied for the position, and the PRHTA human resources staff confirmed that her name was officially listed in the Eligibility Registry, as required by the PRHTA Personnel Regulations. Id. at pp. 7-8. On August 16, 2008, the Eligibility Certification document No. 09-041 listed four candidate names in the Eligibility Registry, one of which was plaintiff Aguiar’s name. Id. at p. 8. After having complied with all requirements for the Legal Director job, on September 2, 2008 plaintiff Aguiar was informed that she had been selected for the position. Id. at p. 9. She began work on September 2, 2008 and successfully completed the six-months probationary period on March 3, 2009. Id. Defendant Gomila-Santiago certified plaintiff Aguiar’s years of service in government for purposes of the Seniority Registry; as of September 16, 2009, plaintiff Aguiar had approximately 26 years of public service. Id.

Plaintiff claims to have been “bypassed as Legal Director of the Acquisitions Area” because she was not consulted on ordinary legal matters with respect to land acquisitions and takings for public use proceedings, and that she was consistently excluded from official meetings that directly related to her functions as Legal Director. Id. at p. 10. Defendants Hernandez-Gregorat and Hernandez-Martinez allegedly facilitated the process of leaving plaintiff Aguiar “in the dark on matters for which she was ultimately responsible” by communicating directly with officers under plaintiff Aguiar’s supervision. Id. This bypassing of plaintiff Aguiar’s supervision “depriv[ed] her of the opportunity of adequately and responsibly planning the work to be done by the office.” Id.

2. Plaintiff Aguiar’s Termination

On February 11, 2010, defendants Gomila-Santiago and Hernandez-Santiago hand-delivered a communication to plaintiff Aguiar from defendant HernandezGregorat. (Docket No. 1 at p. 10.) The communication notified her of PRHTA’s intention to dismiss her. Id. The notice stated (1) that the Eligibility Certification from which PRHTA hired plaintiff Aguiar contained only four candidates in violation of article 10.6(3) of the Personnel Manual, and (2) that an audit revealed that her recruitment did not comply with certain procedural requirements.2 Id. at p. 10.

[228]*228On April 22, 2010, defendants conducted an informal hearing regarding plaintiff Aguiar’s notice of dismissal before external counsel, who was appointed as the Official Examiner. (Docket No. 1 at pp. 12-13.) At the informal hearing, plaintiff Aguiar’s attorney argued that her dismissal was arbitrary and an act of political discrimination, and that it was not proper for her to carry the burden of proving the validity of PRHTA’s appointment process. Id. at p. 13. Plaintiff Aguiar alleges that in the informal hearing, she requested and was improperly denied documents and evidence of similar internal job announcements that resulted in the hiring of an employee from a list of fewer than five eligible candidates. Id. She also contends that in violation of the PRHTA Personnel Regulations, PRHTA denied her access to the documents used to generate her appointment and the audit report related to her employment. Id. at p. 12. On May 26, 2010, the Official Examiner confirmed the validity of plaintiff Aguiar’s dismissal, and on October 13, 2011 defendant Hernandez-Martinez publicly delivered a dismissal letter-dated October 5, 2011-to plaintiff Aguiar “in a hostile, defiant and inappropriate attitude.” (Docket No. 1 at p. 13.)

3. The Parties’ Political Affiliations

According to plaintiff Aguiar, defendants Hernandez-Gregorat, Gomila-Santiago, Cortes-Laeaustra, and Hernandez-Martinez are each known members and activists of the PNP. (Docket No. 1 at pp.

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916 F. Supp. 2d 223, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7956, 2013 WL 175478, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aguiar-serrano-v-puerto-rico-highways-transportation-authority-prd-2013.