Gonzalez-Oyarzun v. Caribbean City Builders, Inc.

27 F. Supp. 3d 265, 2014 WL 2885027, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87910
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJune 25, 2014
DocketCivil No. 14-1101(GAG)
StatusPublished

This text of 27 F. Supp. 3d 265 (Gonzalez-Oyarzun v. Caribbean City Builders, 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
Gonzalez-Oyarzun v. Caribbean City Builders, Inc., 27 F. Supp. 3d 265, 2014 WL 2885027, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87910 (prd 2014).

Opinion

GUSTAVO A. GELPÍ, District Judge.

“In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law” U.S. Const, amend. VII.

This right applies within the states, commonwealths, and territories of the United States.

OPINION AND ORDER

Faustino Gonzalez-Oyarzun (“Plaintiff’) sued Caribbean City Buildings, Inc. (“Caribbean”), Me Salve, Inc. (“Me Salve”), GIB Development, LLC (“GIB”), John Doe, and Insurance Company X (collectively “Defendants”) for age discrimination and retaliation under both federal and Puerto Rico law. (See Docket No. 1.) After various motions and orders, the court allowed Plaintiff-to amend the complaint to include a right to sue letter he received from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). (See Docket No. 32.) On March 26, 2014, Plaintiff timely submitted an amended complaint in which he requested a jury trial and which Defendants moved to dismiss for several reasons, including inclusion of a forum-selection clause in a termination agreement (“termination agreement” or “agreement”) directing the parties to the San Juan Court of First Instance. (See Docket Nos. 34 & 36.) Plaintiff opposed the motion and Defendants replied. (See Docket Nos. 38 & 41.)

On May 1, 2014, the court ordered both parties to provide supplemental briefing as to one of the issues Plaintiff raised in his opposition to the motion to dismiss: whether the Seventh Amendment right to a civil jury trial has been incorporated within the states, commonwealths, and territories of the United States. (Docket No. 44.) The court also ordered the parties to serve the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“Commonwealth”) and Puerto Rico’s Office of Courts Administration (“Office of Courts Administration”) with a copy of the complaint, the motion to dismiss, and the court’s order so as to join them as necessary parties. (Id.) Plaintiff informed the court on May 7, 2014, that he properly served the Commonwealth and Office of Courts Administration. (See Docket No. 47.) Plaintiff, Defendants, the Commonwealth, and the Office of Courts Administration timely complied with the court’s order for supplemental briefing. (See Docket Nos. 65, 67, 78, & 79.)

For the following reasons, the court GRANTS the motion to dismiss at Docket No. 36, as the forum-selection clause is valid. In so holding, the court answers whether and finds in the affirmative that the Seventh Amendment has been incorporated within the states, commonwealths, and territories of the United States. This case is DISMISSED without prejudice.

I. Standard of Review

“The general rules of pleading require a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Gargano v. Liberty Intern. Underwriters, Inc., 572 F.3d 45, 48 (1st Cir.2009) (citations omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). “This short and plain statement need only ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’ ” [268]*268Id. (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)).

Under Rule 12(b)(6), a defendant may move to dismiss an action against him for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter “to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. The court must decide whether the complaint alleges enough facts to “raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. In so doing, the court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts and draws all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor. Parker v. Hurley, 514 F.3d 87, 90 (1st Cir.2008). However, “the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “[WJhere the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged — but it has not ‘show[n]’ — ‘that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ ” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2)).

A plaintiff need not allege sufficient facts to meet the evidentiary prima facie standard. See generally Rodriguez-Reyes v. Molinar-Rodriguez, 711 F.3d 49 (1st Cir.2013). Prima facie elements “are part of the background against which a plausibility determination should be made.” Id. at 54 (external citations omitted). “[T]he elements of a prima facie case may be used as a prism to shed light upon the plausibility of the claim.” Id. (emphasis added).

II. Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiff invokes federal question jurisdiction pursuant to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 et seq., diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, and supplemental jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367. (See Docket No. 34 at 1.) He lodges claims for violations of several Puerto Rico laws, including Law 100, 29 P.R. Laws Ann. tit. § 146 et seq.; Law 80, 29 P.R. Laws Ann. tit. § 185e, and; Law 115, 29 P.R. Laws Ann. tit. § 194. Plaintiff asserts he exhausted the necessary procedural and administrative -prerequisites. (Id. at 2.) Elaborating, Plaintiff claims:

A charge of age discrimination was filed [with] the Puerto Rico Antidiscrimi-nation Unit (“ADU”) and the [EEOC] on March 15, 2013. Said filing was done within the [statute of limitations].... The ADEA differs from Title VII in allowing parties to file suit without a right to sue letter from the EEOC, as long as the charging party waited 60 days after the filing of the charge with the EEOC. The required 60 day[ ] waiting period was satisfied in this case. The original charge was subsequently amended to raise a claim for retaliation under the ADEA and Puerto Rico law. The amended fil[ing includes] a retaliation claim [that] is like or reasonably related to the original charge and did not require exhaustion of administrative remedies. The 60 day[ ] waiting period as to this amend[ment] shall [expire] on March 29, 2014 ... [and a] right to sue letter was issued by the EEOC on March 19, 2014....

(Id.)

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Bluebook (online)
27 F. Supp. 3d 265, 2014 WL 2885027, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87910, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzalez-oyarzun-v-caribbean-city-builders-inc-prd-2014.