Aguirre v. Mayaguez Resort & Casino, Inc.

59 F. Supp. 3d 340, 30 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 879, 2014 WL 3734485, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104093
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJuly 28, 2014
DocketCivil No. 11-1549 (BJM)
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 59 F. Supp. 3d 340 (Aguirre v. Mayaguez Resort & Casino, Inc.) 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
Aguirre v. Mayaguez Resort & Casino, Inc., 59 F. Supp. 3d 340, 30 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 879, 2014 WL 3734485, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104093 (prd 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BRUCE J. McGIVERIN, United States Magistrate Judge.

Sarah Piazza Aguirre (“Piazza”) brings this action against Mayaguez Resort and Casino, Inc. (“MRC”), alleging employment discrimination and retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), 29 [345]*345U.S.C. § 2601, and corresponding Puerto Rico laws; unlawful termination under Law No. 80 of May 30, 1976 (“Law 80”), 29 L.P.R.A. §§ 185a et seq.; and damages under Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, 31 L.P.R.A. § 5141. Docket No. 4 (“Compl.”). Before the court is MRC’s motion for summary judgment, Docket No. 70 (“Mot.”), which Piazza opposed at Docket No. 79 (“Opp.”). MRC also filed a reply (Docket No. 81), and Piazza filed a sur-reply (Docket No. 86). The parties consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. Docket No. 33.

In light of the findings of fact and legal discussion set forth below, the summary judgment motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND

This summary of the facts is guided by the parties’ Local Rule 56 statements of uncontested facts. See Docket Nos. 58 (“SUM F”), 74 (“ASMF” at 36), 80.1 I note that both sides raise frivolous objections, and attempt to insert irrelevant facts and legal argumentation into the local rule’s statements of facts. This summary omits these glosses on the record; any sufficiently-developed disputes about the legal significance of record facts are addressed in this opinion’s discussion section.

MRC operates a hotel and casino in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Piazza began working as a Table Games Supervisor for MRC in January 2000. SUMF ¶ 1. In early 2001, she was promoted to Shift Manager for the Casino’s night shift, which began at eight o’clock in the evening and ended at four in the morning. SUMF ¶¶ 5, 9. Piazza remained in the night shift through 2009. Héctor Hernández was the Casino Manager in 2009 through April 2010. SUMF ¶ 12. Louis Muñoz was MRC’s General Manager at this time. SUMF ¶ 16.

In February 2009, Piazza’s father, a diabetic, suffered a heart attack, followed by another heart attack in September 2009. Later, in December 2009, one of his legs had to be amputated. Piazza claims that MRC management knew that her father had suffered a heart attack in February and that he had serious health problems. ASMF ¶¶ 27-28. According to Hernández, he and other MRC managers, including Louis Muñoz, were informed that Piazza’s father had a heart attack soon after it happened. ASMF ¶ 29. It is undisputed that by October 2009, Hernández knew Piazza’s father had suffered a heart attack. SUMF ¶ 24.

First Shift Rotation Decision in 2009

Sometime in 2008 or early 2009, the Casino’s revenues dropped at both table games and slot machines. Louis Muñoz believed that a change in shift managers could improve the Casino’s performance. SUMF ¶ 17. Around June 2009, he decided that instead of working the same shift every day, shift managers had to rotate through different shifts on a regular basis. SUMF ¶¶ 14, 16. Piazza claims she was first notified on October 7, 2009 of this shift rotation decision, which was to take [346]*346effect within in a few days. ASMF ¶ 31. That same day or immediately thereafter, Piazza talked to Hernández about her father’s health condition and requested that she remain on the night shift or have the shift change postponed. SUMF ¶ 20; ASMF ¶ 31. A few days later, Piazza met with Louis Muñoz, explained to him how she was her father’s primary caretaker, and reiterated her desire to remain on the night shift so she could take care of her father during the day. SUMF ¶¶ 28-29.2 According to Hernández, Muñoz did not think it important that Piazza had significant caretaker responsibilities. ASMF ¶ 33. A month later, in mid-November 2009, Piazza met with Arturo Lugo, then co-owner of MRC and President of the Board of Directors, and discussed with him her concerns regarding the shift rotation decision. SUMF ¶¶ 33, 51. It was around this time that Piazza first presented a medical certificate from her father’s doctor, which explained that he had a heart condition and Piazza was his primary caretaker during the day. SUMF ¶¶ 34, 36.

A week earlier, on November 7, 2009, Hernández issued a written admonishment against Piazza. ASMF ¶ 36. Louis Mu-ñoz instructed Hernández to write up the warning to Piazza. Id. That same month, Piazza claims that Hernández took away some of her significant supervisory and administrative duties, such as employee evaluations, scheduling, and participation in marketing activity. ASMF ¶ 37.

Ultimately, MRC postponed Piazza’s shift rotation such that she continued to work the night shift until January 2010. SUMF ¶ 22. In a letter dated January 10, 2010, Hernández informed her that she would be moved to the 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. shift, effective January 15. SUMF ¶ 54. The letter noted that while she was notified of this shift change back in June, because she had objected to the change at that time “for personal reasons,” MRC gave her six months to deal with her personal situation, and that management’s decision to start rotating her shift was final.3 Docket No. 58-9. Upon receipt of the letter, Piazza requested another meeting with Lugo, which took place on January 11. Present at the meeting were Piazza, Lugo, HR Manager Leslie Santoni, and Louis Muñoz. SUMF ¶ 59. Piazza explained that the 4:00 p.m. start time would require her to leave home at 2:00 p.m., which would prevent her from attending to all her father’s needs, and her father would be alone for four hours, from 2:00 until 6:00 p.m., when her brother returned from work. SUMF ¶¶ 62-64. • Shq expressed concern that she was being treated unfairly. At this meeting, Lugo offered to pay for the cost of having someone she trusted take care of her father during those hours when she had to be at work and her brother would not be home. SUMF ¶ 65. Plaintiff refused Lugo’s offer. SUMF ¶ 69. On January 15, 2010, she moved to the 4:00 p.m. shift. All other shift managers had their shifts changed at that time. SUMF ¶ 87. Jose Sanchez, then-Assistant Shift Manager, was assigned the 8:00 p.m. night shift. ASMF ¶ 67.

According to Piazza, this 4:00 p.m. start time caused her not to be in charge of any particular shift, and she was required to report to an assistant manager or another [347]*347shift manager in charge. ASMF ¶ 55. Moreover, she was relieved from certain duties of a shift manager, such as recording employee attendance, and conducting employee evaluations. ASMF ¶ 56.

Subsequent Changes to Piazza’s Shift Schedule and Responsibilities

In May 2010, Luis Cortés was hired as MRC’s new Casino Manager. Aftér he was hired, Louis Muñoz and Johnny Muñoz, a consultant to the Casino at the time, pressured Cortés to terminate Piazza. ASMF ¶¶ 74-75. In a senior management meeting on June 25, 2010, where Louis Muñoz, Johnny Muñoz, Arturo Lugo, Santos Alon-so,4 and MRC’s accountant were present, Louis Muñoz and Johnny Muñoz brought up Piazza, and discussed the possibility of terminating her employment. ASMF ¶¶ 79-81. That same day, Cortés notified plaintiff that her shift would start at noon, effective on July 1. ASMF ¶ 83.

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59 F. Supp. 3d 340, 30 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 879, 2014 WL 3734485, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104093, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aguirre-v-mayaguez-resort-casino-inc-prd-2014.