Colon v. Infotech Aerospace Services Inc.

869 F. Supp. 2d 220, 2012 WL 2355573, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86607
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJune 21, 2012
DocketCivil No. 10-2220 (FAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 869 F. Supp. 2d 220 (Colon v. Infotech Aerospace Services 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
Colon v. Infotech Aerospace Services Inc., 869 F. Supp. 2d 220, 2012 WL 2355573, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86607 (prd 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER1

BESOSA, District Judge.

Before the Court is a Report & Recommendation (“R & R”) issued by United States Magistrate Judge Velez-Rive. (Docket No. 104.) The R & R granted the motion for summary judgment filed by defendants Infotech Aerospace Service, Inc. (“IAS”), Luis Mercado (“Mercado”), Iveetzia Avilez (“Avilez”) and Jeffrey Tracey (“Tracey”) (hereafter “defendants”). (Docket No. 69.) After an independent review of the record and plaintiff Neysa Colon’s (“Colon”) objections to the R & R, (Docket No. 108), the Court ADOPTS the [222]*222R & R and GRANTS the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

1. Procedural Background

Plaintiff Colon filed a complaint on December 13, 2010, alleging that her employer, IAS, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.. § 2000e (2012) (“Title VII”); the Equal Pay Amendment, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1) (2012) (“EPA”); P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 146 (2009) (“Law 100”); and P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 194 (2009) (“Law 115”) by retaliating against her for engaging “in protected conduct.” (Docket No. 1 at p. 7.) Colon also alleged that defendants Mercado, Tracey and Avilez were personally liable pursuant to Article 1802 of the Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 5141 (2009), for their “conspiracy and engagement in discriminatory acts” in concert with IAS. Id. at p. 8. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss Colon’s Law 100 claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on November 14, 2011, claiming that Colon had failed to establish facts that could support judgment in her favor. (Docket No. 28.) The Court referred the motion to dismiss to Magistrate Judge Velez-Rive, who issued an R & R on December 21, 2011 that recommended granting the motion. (Docket No. 38, 2011 WL 8194853.) The Court adopted the R & R in full and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss Colon’s Law 100 without prejudice on January 10, 2012. (Docket No. 43.)

Colon’s remaining claims were pursuant to Title VII, the EPA, and Law 115. On April 2, 2012, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on those remaining claims. (Docket No. 69.) Colon responded with her opposition on April 25, 2012, (Docket No. 83), to which defendants filed a reply on May 10, 2012. (Docket No. 98.) Magistrate Judge Velez-Rive issued an R & R on May 21, 2012 that recommended granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and which is the subject of this order. (Docket No. 104, 2012 WL 3155140.)

A. Factual History

The complete factual record is contained in the R & R (Docket No. 104), and the Court will not rehash it here. The Court will instead highlight the material facts relevant to Colon’s remaining claims against the defendants and their motion for summary judgment.

Colon was an employee of IAS’s Human Resources (“HR”) department from April 30, 2007 through her resignation on March 18, 2010. (Docket No. 70 at ¶¶ 1, 97.) She was a “Generalist,” meaning that her role encompassed various responsibilities including oversight of the benefits and compensation of IAS employees. Id. at ¶ 2. In 2007, she was assigned to work on IAS’s Affirmative Action Plan (“AAP”), a necessary condition of IAS’s contract with the U.S. government. Id. at ¶ 4. In December, 2008 Colon gave a copy of her AAP report to Mercado, the HR Manager who considered the report to be “six months late”2 and “a draft.”3 Id. at ¶¶ 25, 29.

On February 23, 2009, IAS hired Ms. Janice Monge (“Monge”) to work on the AAP report for 2009 (annual AAP reports are required). Id. at ¶ 26. Mercado eventually asked Monge to analyze Colon’s previously submitted AAP in July 2009, after Colon had already resigned. (Docket No. 70-13 at p. 43:11-13 & Docket No. 70 at [223]*223¶ 28.) Monge informed Mercado that several aspects of Colon’s previously submitted AAP report were lacking or statistically deficient. (Docket No. 70-13 at p. 53:5-23.)

In December 2008, Mercado decided to cross-train certain HR employees to ensure an employee’s functions could still be performed by a back-up if necessary, and to have the employees gain experience and “learn other things.” (Docket No. 70-6 at pp. 36:2-4 & 43:3-12.) In January 2009, Colon and three other HR employees were rotated to different roles as part of this cross-training plan. (Docket No. 70 at ¶¶ 11, 13, 15.) This was not the first time that Colon had participated in cross-training; she had previously done so as part of a plan implemented in January 2008. Id. at ¶ 16. Colon was assigned “Business Partner” responsibilities, a “pretty busy job” that made her the HR contact person for potentially hundreds of IAS employees. Id. at ¶¶ 11-12. In addition to Colon, two other HR “Generalists” were also given “Business Partner” responsibilities at that time. Id. at ¶ 17. Colon’s evaluation and bonus for 2008 were favorable, and her salary and benefits were not changed while she cross-trained. Id. at ¶¶ 19-20.

In March 2009, Colon was asked to participate in the investigation of a claim raised by Ms. Anayanssi Diaz (“Diaz”), a female employee from one of the departments assigned to Colon as part of her “Business Partner” responsibilities. Id. at ¶¶ 35-38. Diaz alleged a pay disparity between herself and a male employee. Id. Because the investigation necessarily included an analysis of various employees’ salary and benefits, Mercado personally instructed Colon and the other investigators to keep all of that information confidential, and required his authorization pri- or to disclosing any of it. Id. at ¶¶ 39-40. At some point Colon asked to be removed from the investigation because she claimed to be Diaz’s close friend. Id. at ¶ 41.

In late May 2009, Colon was interviewed by the State Insurance Fund (“SIF”) because she had witnessed Diaz have a panic attack at work. Id. at ¶¶ 42-45. Colon was not asked to prepare a statement or report at that point in time. Id. Pursuant to IAS protocol, HR employee Ms. Hermy Rosario (“Rosario”) escorted SIF investigator Mr. Agrimalde Perez (“Perez”) throughout his time in the IAS building. Id. at ¶¶ 47-52. Accordingly, Rosario remained near but outside the room in which Perez interviewed Colon about Diaz’s panic attack and subsequent insurance claim. Id. Colon made no comments about the presence of Rosario at the time of the interview or after it. Id.

On June 12, 2009, Rosario informed Avilez (who in turn told Mercado) that she had found a fax transaction report indicating that someone had faxed confidential information from the investigation of Diaz’s claim to SIF investigator .Perez. (Docket No. 99 at ¶53.) Mercado interviewed Colon who admitted that she had faxed the information even though it was confidential and she had not requested pri- or approval from Mercado as he had instructed.4 (Docket No. 70 at ¶¶ 55, 64-65.) The IAS employee manual indicates that disclosing information deemed confidential by the company is a violation sanctionable by corrective disciplinary action. Id. at ¶¶ 63, 66. On June 16, 2009, Tracey and [224]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
869 F. Supp. 2d 220, 2012 WL 2355573, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86607, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/colon-v-infotech-aerospace-services-inc-prd-2012.