Carrero-Ojeda v. Autoridad de Energia Electrica

870 F. Supp. 2d 313, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89931, 2012 WL 2432594
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJune 27, 2012
DocketCivil No. 11-2072 (FAB)
StatusPublished

This text of 870 F. Supp. 2d 313 (Carrero-Ojeda v. Autoridad de Energia Electrica) 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
Carrero-Ojeda v. Autoridad de Energia Electrica, 870 F. Supp. 2d 313, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89931, 2012 WL 2432594 (prd 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER1

BESOSA, District Judge.

Plaintiff Minerva Carrero-Ojeda brings this action against her former employer, [315]*315Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica (Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority) (“PREPA”), and against Victor Ruiz-Perez (“Ruiz”), Miguel Cordero (“Cordero”), and unnamed persons (collectively, “defendants”), pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq. (“FMLA”); the Puerto Rico Whistle Blower Act as provided by Law 115, 29 L.P.R.A. § 194 (“Law 115”); and Law 426, 1 L.P.R.A. § 601 (“Law 426”). Plaintiff invokes subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, and seeks supplemental jurisdiction for her Commonwealth claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

Pending before the Court is defendants’ motion to dismiss. (Docket No. 18.) For the reasons set forth below, defendants’ motion is GRANTED.

1. Background

Plaintiff was a managerial employee of PREPA. Until the time of her discharge on October 31, 2010, she held the position of administrative coordinator in the PREPA Aguadilla Technical Office, where she reported directly to her supervisor, defendant Ruiz. (Docket No. 1 at ¶¶ 8 & 10.) Both plaintiff and defendant Ruiz held inferior positions to defendant Cordero, who acted as executive director of PREPA. Id. at ¶ 36. Plaintiff alleges that from November 2007 until October 2010, defendants Ruiz and Cordero, in concert with many other PREPA employees, undertook elaborate means to harass, threaten, unjustly discipline, and ultimately discharge plaintiff from her position at PREPA. Id. at ¶ 9. In a complaint filed on October 31, 2011, plaintiff offers the following account of her misfortunes.

Plaintiff alleges, essentially, that she was discharged from PREPA in retaliation for her good moral fortitude. In August 2007, PREPA’s Internal Affairs Office commenced an administrative investigation of the Aguadilla Technical Office on grounds of employee corruption. Id. at ¶ 10. Among the PREPA personnel targeted by the investigation was defendant Ruiz. Id. Despite the obvious potential for fallout, plaintiff cooperated in the investigation by offering information and testimony. Id. It was after plaintiff testified before investigators that defendants Ruiz and Cordero allegedly “commenced a pattern of discriminatory acts against [p]lain-tiff[,] affecting the terms, conditions, benefits and privileges of her employment.”2 Id. at ¶ 11.

Plaintiff points to many examples of harassment perpetrated by a vast web of PREPA employees. For instance, plaintiff alleges that, on March 14, 2008, the PREPA Labor Affairs Office refused to grant her travel allowance for a trip from Aguadilla to San Juan. Id. at ¶ 14. Plaintiff denies having encountered this problem before, and proposes that the Labor Affairs Office acted in league with the defendants. Id. In response to the allowance refusal, plaintiff “filed an administrative revision before the Court of Appeals,” which ordered a “hearing to solve the controversy.” Id. Nevertheless, PREPA did not comply “with the judgment entered by the Court of Appeals.”3 Id.

[316]*316On April 3, 2008, the Internal Affairs Office summoned plaintiff to give a testimonial statement regarding the prenominate corruption investigation. Id. at ¶ 15. Plaintiff alleges that on May 14, 2008, defendant Ruiz instructed a PREPA security guard to withhold from plaintiff a particular report that she intended to offer the Internal Affairs Office as part of her testimony. Id. at ¶ 16. Plaintiff does not clarify whether or not she ever received the report, and if she did, by what means.

In June 2008, plaintiffs mother fell and injured herself in her home. Id. at ¶ 17. The severity of the injury required plaintiff to take leave from work and attend to her mother. Plaintiff provided a medical certificate to PREPA and requested two months leave under the FMLA. Id. During plaintiffs leave, defendant Ruiz, now acting in concert with Maria de Lourdes Roman (“Roman”) and Jose Garcia-Fabian (“Garcia”),4 filed an administrative investigation against plaintiff. Id. at ¶ 18. Plaintiff alleges that defendant Ruiz’s investigation was contrary to “the provisions of [PREPA]’s Procedure for the Use of Family and Medical Leave ... ”, the FMLA, and Law 115. Id. In response to defendant Ruiz’s investigation, plaintiff filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), though a resolution was never issued.

Plaintiff also alleges that during her FMLA leave, Chief of Human Resources Alex Carvajal (“Carvajal”), Garcia, and Abraham Sanchez (“Sanchez”)5 interviewed and promoted three PREPA employees to superior positions in the Aguadilla Technical Office. Id. at ¶ 20. Plaintiff alleges that Carvajal, Garcia, and Sanchez conspired to deprive plaintiff of an opportunity for promotion in violation of the FMLA, “inasmuch [as the promotions] affected [plaintiff’s right to a promotion [] protected by [law].” Id. Plaintiff filed two complaints against Garcia and Sanchez, in addition to submitting a grievance to the Labor Affairs Office. Id. at ¶21. Again, no resolution was issued. Id.

On September 29, 2008, defendant Ruiz asked plaintiff to prepare absence letters for those employees who “demonstrated more than 6% absence in their work.” Id. at ¶ 24. Furthermore, in October 2008, defendant Ruiz assigned plaintiff the task of making photocopies of the personnel file of every employee in the Aguadilla Technical Office. Id. at ¶ 23. Plaintiff contends that both tasks were beneath her status as a manager, and better suited to “clerical personnel.” Id. at ¶ 24. Plaintiff also alleges that the appointment of these tasks constituted “employment harassment,” violating certain PREPA codes and procedures. Id. at ¶23. In response to this perceived harassment, plaintiff filed a “UTIER grievance”6 against defendant Ruiz, though again no resolution was issued. Id. at ¶ 24.

Plaintiff alleges that on May 6, 2009, defendant Ruiz, in conspiracy with unnamed personnel in the Labor Affairs Office, deducted “6 hours and 16 minutes from her payroll and made her use it as vacation leave.” Id. at ¶ 27. The plan was allegedly hatched while plaintiff attended an EEOC meeting concerning her FMLA grievance against Garcia and Sanchez. Id. [317]*317When plaintiff returned, she filed a complaint seeking redress; later, Director of Transmission and Distribution Jose Colon (“Colon”) ordered that plaintiff be reimbursed for the discounted hours. Id.

In September 2009, plaintiff submitted to the PREPA Accounting Office her travel expenses for the month of August, totaling $201.00. Id. at ¶29. Typically, the Accounting Office promptly reimbursed plaintiff for her work-related expenses; plaintiff alleges, however, that following the instructions of PREPA counsel Francisco Santiago (“Santiago”), the Accounting Office denied payment.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Beddall v. State Street Bank & Trust Co.
137 F.3d 12 (First Circuit, 1998)
Hodgens v. General Dynamics Corp.
144 F.3d 151 (First Circuit, 1998)
Rodi v. Southern New England School of Law
389 F.3d 5 (First Circuit, 2004)
Ocasio-Hernandez v. Fortuno-Burset
640 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 2011)
Alfredo Diaz v. Fort Wayne Foundry Corporation
131 F.3d 711 (Seventh Circuit, 1997)
Gale Edgar v. Jac Products, Inc.
443 F.3d 501 (Sixth Circuit, 2006)
Medina-Claudio v. Commonwealth of PR
292 F.3d 31 (First Circuit, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
870 F. Supp. 2d 313, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89931, 2012 WL 2432594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carrero-ojeda-v-autoridad-de-energia-electrica-prd-2012.