Brugueras-Muñoz v. Puerto Rico Telephone Co.

972 F. Supp. 88, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12952, 1997 WL 530659
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedAugust 26, 1997
DocketCivil No. 96-1958CCC
StatusPublished

This text of 972 F. Supp. 88 (Brugueras-Muñoz v. Puerto Rico Telephone Co.) 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
Brugueras-Muñoz v. Puerto Rico Telephone Co., 972 F. Supp. 88, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12952, 1997 WL 530659 (prd 1997).

Opinion

ORDER

CEREZO, Chief Judge.

Plaintiffs Sandra Brugueras-Muñoz (Brugueras) and her husband, Edwin VillalónRodriguez (Villalón) filed this action against her former employers, Puerto Rico Telephone Company (hereinafter “PRTC”) and Puerto Rico Telephone Authority (hereinafter “PRTA”) for redress of allegedly discriminatory actions. Their action is brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990(ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Worker’s Compensation Act, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), Article 1802 of the Civil Code of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the unlawful discharge statute of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico known as Law Number 80, and the Constitutions and laws of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

A Motion for Partial Dismissal and Memorandum of Law in Support Thereof, (docket entry 4) was filed seeking dismissal of any COBRA, Title VII, Rehabilitation Act, Worker’s Compensation Act claims and of any federal claims by co-plaintiff Villalón.

Brugueras acknowledged in the opposition that.no causes of action exist under COBRA, 29 U.S.C. sec. 1161 et seq., or pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000(e). Co-plaintiff Villalón has admitted lack of standing to assert any claim pursuant to the federal statutes.1 Both plaintiffs have acknowledged that defendants, as insured employers under the State Insurance Fund, are immune from judicial claims based on work-related injuries. Accordingly, the Court need only consider the dismissal of the claims under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Defendants claim that plaintiffs have not explained the basis on which this Court has obtained Jurisdiction. Rule 8(a) states that “[a] pleading which sets forth a claim for relief ... shall contain ... a short and plain statement of the grounds upon which the court’s jurisdiction depends, unless the court [90]*90already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new grounds of jurisdiction to support it.”

Defendants, however, overstate a plaintiffs jurisdictional burden at the time of filing a complaint. The purpose of Rule 8(a) is to require plaintiffs to establish clearly the jurisdictional foundation instead of asserting it in a perfunctory manner. Creating obstacles which are surmountable only after a full scale analysis of the case on the merits goes beyond Rule 8(a) parameters. “The sufficiency of [a] jurisdictional allegation is dependent on the validity of the pleader’s assertion, which is determined by reference to the relevant federal statute, rather than in terms of whether the claim for relief is meritorious. Thus, if a party seeking to invoke federal jurisdiction asserts a substantial claim under a federal statute, both the Jurisdictional prerequisite and the pleading requirements of Rule 8(a)(1) are satisfied.” Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2d, sec. 1206.

It is averred in the complaint that “[t]he jurisdiction of this Court lies in and is invoked pursuant to section 107(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. sec. 12117(a) [], which incorporates by reference sec. 706(f)(1) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000e-5 and 28 U.S.C. sec. 1331.” Complaint, (docket entry 1), p. 2. An ADA claim justifies the jurisdiction of the Court not only as to that particular claim but .as to any other claim derived “from a common nucleus of operative fact.” United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966). The jurisdictional requirements of Rule 8(a)(1) have been met.

Defendants also base their dismissal request on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). However, “only well-pleaded facts are taken as true, [and as such the Court] will not accept a complainant’s unsupported conclusions or interpretations of law.” Washington Legal Foundation v. Massachusetts Bar Foundation, 993 F.2d 962, 971 (1st Cir.1993).

The First Circuit has repeatedly cautioned that “Rule 12(b)(6) is not entirely a toothless tiger ... plaintiffs are obliged to set forth in their complaint ‘factual allegations, either direct or inferential, regarding each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable legal theory.’ ” The Dartmouth Review v. Dartmouth College, 889 F.2d 13, 16 (1st Cir.1989). To avoid tarring defendants’ “reputations unfairly and to prevent potential abuses, we have consistently required plaintiffs to outline facts sufficient to convey specific instances of unlawful discrimination.” Id.

Conclusions may also give rise to claims, but only “when such conclusions are logically compelled, or at least supported, by the stated facts, that is, when the suggested inference rises to what experience indicates is an acceptable level of probability, that ‘conclusions’ become ‘facts’ for pleading purposes.” Id. The Court may dismiss a claim under 12(b)(6) “only if it clearly appears, according to the facts alleged, that the plaintiff[s] cannot recover on any viable theory.” Correa-Martinez v. Arrillaga-Beléndez, 903 F.2d 49, 52 (1st Cir.1990).

Plaintiffs state that their Rehabilitation Act claims arise under 29 U.S.C. secs. 791 and 794. Section 794 states the following:

No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 706(8) of this title, shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service.

29 U.S.C. sec. 794(a).

Rivera-Flores v. Puerto Rico Telephone Company, 64 F.3d 742 (1st Cir.1995), establishes that in the past the PRTC may have been the recipient of federal funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (hereinafter “FEMA”). It is possible that plaintiffs may have a Rehabilitation Act claim if they can show that such was the case at the time that plaintiff Brugueras was allegedly discriminated against. Plaintiffs are entitled to show whether PRTC was the recipi[91]*91ent of federal funds at the time of the alleged discrimination.

Defendants further claim that 29 U.S.C. sec. 793 does not create a private cause of action.2 Plaintiffs, however, have not brought their claims under 29 U.S.C. sec. 793 but pursuant to 29 U.S.C. sec. 794. A private cause of action does exist under said provision. 29 U.S.C. sec. 794a(a)(2) states the following:

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Bluebook (online)
972 F. Supp. 88, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12952, 1997 WL 530659, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brugueras-munoz-v-puerto-rico-telephone-co-prd-1997.