Laboy-Salicrup v. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority

244 F. Supp. 3d 266, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49908
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 23, 2017
DocketCIVIL NO. 15-2112 (GAG)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 244 F. Supp. 3d 266 (Laboy-Salicrup v. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority) 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
Laboy-Salicrup v. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, 244 F. Supp. 3d 266, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49908 (prd 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GUSTAVO A. GELPI, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Liliam Ivette Labóy-Salicrüp, Alexandra Alfaro-Laboy, and Adriana Michelle Larregui-Laboy (collectively “Plaintiffs”) filed this diversity suit under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) against the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (“PREPA”), ACE Insurance Company, John. D.oe, -and Jane Doe (collectively “Defendants”), alleging that PREPA intentionally caused the wrongful death of Hector Javier Laboy-Salicrup (“Hector Javier”). Plaintiffs seek redress under the local tort statute, Article 1802 of the Civil Code of Puerto Rico, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 5141. (See Docket No. 1 ¶¶ 1-8,15.)

Pending before the Court are Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment at Docket No. 27 and PREPA’s Cross Motion for Summary Judgment at Docket No. 34, After reviewing the parties’ submissions and pertinent law, Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is DENIED and PREPA’s Cross Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.

I. Relevant Factual and Procedural Background1

• Hector Javier worked for PREPA for close to twenty years before his tragic [268]*268death on November 13, 2014. (Docket Nos. 1 ¶ 10-11; 20 ¶ 10-11.) He was survived by his sister, Lilliam Ivette Laboy-Salierup, and his nieces, Alexandra Alfaro-Laboy and Adriana Michelle Lerregui-Laboy, the plaintiffs in this action. (Docket Nos. 1 ¶ 1-3, 17; 20 ¶ 1-3, 17.) All are domiciled outside of Puerto Rico. Id,

On November 13, 2014, Hector Javier was assigned to work at the top of an eighty-foot electric tower. (Docket Nos. 1 ¶ 9; 20 ¶ 9.) The tower collapsed as Hector Javier was working, causing his immediate death. (Docket Nos. 1 ¶ 18; 20 ¶ 18; 35 ¶ 16.)

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) conducted an investigation and found that PREPA committed six violations to Puerto Rico’s Occupational Safety and Health Act, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, §§ 361-362 (“PR-OSHA Act”) in connection to the incident. One was determined to be a “willful-serious” violation. (Docket Nos. 1 ¶ 17; 20 ¶ 17.)

On August 17, 2015, Plaintiffs filed the present action, alleging that PREPA’s “willful actions” were “the proximate cause” of Hector Javier’s death.2 (Docket No. 1 at 1.) Specifically, Plaintiffs claimed that PREPA intentionally failed to inspect the worksite prior to ordering Hector Javier to climb above an electric tower, which PREPA caused to be unstable after ordering the removal of two of the six supporting tension cables. Id. ¶¶ 12-15. Both PREPA and ACE answered the amended complaint, raising as an affirmative defense PREPA’s employer immunity under Puerto Rico’s Compensation System for Work-Related Accidents Act (“PRWCA”), P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 11, §§ 1-42.

Several months prior to the conclusion of discovery, Plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment. (Docket No. 27.) Briefly stated, Plaintiffs argue that a trial is unnecessary to determine whether PREPA is immune from the present suit given that the facts surrounding Hector Javier’s death are uncontested. Id. ¶¶ 7, 8, 59. They claim that, in light of the OSHA Citation and Notification of Penalty issued in connection with the incident on May 5, 2015 (“OSHA Citation”), (Docket No. 27-1), the Court is in a position to determine whether PREPA intentionally caused the death of Hector Javier. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 13.)

PREPA opposed Plaintiffs move for summary judgment and simultaneously filed a Cross Motion for Summary Judgment. (Docket No. 34.) PREPA also moved to strike Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, “given its failure to comply with Local Rule 56 and its interpretative case law.” Id. at 6. On the merits, PREPA argued that it is shielded from the present suit by its employer immunity under the PRWCA and that Plaintiffs did not present any evidence of intentional conduct by PREPA. Id. at 16.

ACE also opposed Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. (Docket No. 39.) ACE similarly argued that Plaintiffs’ motion did not comply with Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure and Local Rule 56. M. at 2. Additionally, ACE objected to Plaintiffs’ use of the OSHA Citation in support of the motion, arguing [269]*269that it is inadmissible hearsay. Id. at 2-3. On the merits, ACE contended that the OSHA Citation’s determinations are not binding upon a court of law and that the question of whether PREPA’s actions were intentional or not is to be determined in court. Id. at 18. Also, ACE claimed that in order to be considered an intentional act, the “tortfeasors must want the consequences of their actions” and “Plaintiffs have admitted that PREPA did not want [Hector Javier] to die.” Id Moreover, ACE argues that actions similar to those which Plaintiffs allege PREPA committed in connection to Hector Javier’s death have been found by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court to be encompassed within the employer immunity provided by the PRWCA. Id. Even if the Court were to find that a PREPA employee committed intentional acts, ACE argued that those acts may not be attributed to PREPA for purposes of bypassing its employer immunity. Id.

Plaintiffs replied, arguing that the Puer-to Rico Supreme Court case law cited by PREPA only address gross negligence, whereas Plaintiffs contend that PREPA intentionally caused the death of Hector Javier. (Docket No. 46 at 6.) They further claimed that it is not necessary to prove that PREPA desired for Hector Javier to die, and that they only need to prove that the result was “foreseen as a natural consequence of removing the tension cables and rendering the tower a dangerous condition for plaintiff to work.” Id. at 7.

II. Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). “An issue is genuine if ‘it may reasonably be resolved' in favor of either party' at trial, ... and material if it ‘possesses] the capacity to sway the outcome of the litigation under the applicable law.’” Iverson v. City of Boston, 452 F.3d 94, 98 (1st Cir. 2006) (alteration in original) (internal citations omitted). The moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating the lack of evidence to support the non-moving party’s case. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. “The burden then shifts to the nonmovant to establish the existence of at least one fact issue which is both genuine and material.” Maldonado-Denis v. Castillo-Rodriguez, 23 F.3d 576, 581 (1st Cir. 1994).

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244 F. Supp. 3d 266, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49908, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/laboy-salicrup-v-puerto-rico-electric-power-authority-prd-2017.