Miranda v. Deloitte LLP

922 F. Supp. 2d 210, 2013 WL 485880, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17629
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedFebruary 8, 2013
DocketCivil No. 12-1271 (FAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 922 F. Supp. 2d 210 (Miranda v. Deloitte LLP) 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
Miranda v. Deloitte LLP, 922 F. Supp. 2d 210, 2013 WL 485880, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17629 (prd 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BESOSA, District Judge.

Before the Court is the motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (“Rule 12(h)(6)”) filed by defendants Deloitte LLP, Deloitte Tax LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Services LP, Francisco A. Castillo Penne, Ricardo Villate Prieto, and Michelle Corretjer Catalan. (Docket No. 17.) Having considered the complaint, (Docket No. 1), as well as the arguments contained in plaintiff Wanda G. Miranda (“plaintiff Miranda”)’s oppositions, (Docket Nos. 22; 30; & 42), and defendants’ replies (Docket Nos. 25 & 32), the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART defendants’ motion to dismiss.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual History

The Court takes the following facts as true, as pled in plaintiff Miranda’s complaint:

1. Plaintiff Miranda’s Employment Relationship to Defendants Villate, Corretjer, and Castillo

Plaintiff Miranda was originally hired by defendant Deloitte & Touche LLP in 1990 as a member of the Tax Staff. (Docket No. 1 at p. 5.) She resigned from Deloitte & Touche LLP in 1992, but she returned eight years later, accepting the position of Tax Manager in 2000. Id. Defendant Castillo was the Tax Managing Partner of the Deloitte office in San Juan, and defendants Villate and Corretjer were the Directors of Deloitte San Juan. Id. at pp. 12-13. Defendant Castillo “was plaintiffs supervisor” and “feedback provider,” id. at pp. 4 & 8, and defendant Villate “was plaintiffs counselor and supervisor at the time of the events described in th[e] complaint.” Id. at p. 4. Defendant Villate has been plaintiff Miranda’s “counselor and primary ' feedback provider” since January 24, 2000. Id. at p. 6. Both defendants Castillo and Villate rated plaintiff Miranda’s work performance as Tax Manager for her yearly employment reviews. Id. at p. 8. Appointed as Tax Director in September 2010, defendant Corretjer also became plaintiff Miranda’s supervisor at that time. Id. at p. 4.

The complaint alleges that since the year 2000, defendants Castillo and Villate “had the authority to take disciplinary actions against [plaintiff] Miranda, including her termination,” and also, “had the authority to direct [her] daily work activities.” (Docket No. 1 at p. 13.) Defendant Corretjer also “had the authority to recommend disciplinary actions against [plaintiff] Miranda” as well as the authority “to direct [her] daily work activities,” but only since September 2010. Id.

2. Defendant Castillo’s Alleged Behavior

Plaintiff Miranda alleges that defendant Castillo “enjoyed making offensive jokes of sexual content to the female employees of Deloitte San Juan” in the tax department. (Docket No. 1 at p. 9.) His jokes “were of sexual content, offensive and disrespectful to women,” and plaintiff Miranda describes them as being “lewd” and related to the drug Viagra. Id. He once told plaintiff Miranda a joke about her touching her husband’s “wichu” — a “vulgar word used in Puerto Rico to refer to a male’s penis,” id. at p. 10, and after plaintiff Miranda told him that she did not like his joke, defen[214]*214dant Castillo “continued making the ‘wichu’ joke in front of her to other female coworkers.” Id. Defendant Castillo also “continually showed [plaintiff] Miranda uninvited offensive jokes of sexual content that he received through his cellular” phone, and “used to quietly approach [her] desk and stare at her.” Id. When defendant Castillo stared at plaintiff Miranda and other female employees, he did so “in sexually suggestive manners, such as looking at their breasts.” Id. at p. 9.

On October 5, 2010, when plaintiff Miranda received a flu shot at Deloitte, she became distressed by defendant Castillo’s behavior. He allegedly entered the room and asked the male nurse to administer the flu shot to plaintiff Miranda “not in her arm but in her buttocks.” (Docket No. 1 at p. 11.) To demonstrate how he preferred plaintiff Miranda to receive her flu shot, defendant Castillo allegedly “used offensive body language ... by separating his legs, bending over and reclining over the back of the chair, lifting his buttocks and making as if he was going to pull down his pants.” Id. He then remained in the room to watch how the male nurse administered the shot to plaintiff Miranda, and did not leave the room until the male nurse finished. Id. Plaintiff Miranda felt humiliated and embarrassed by defendant Castillo’s conduct, “remained in shock and intimidated” while the male nurse administered her flu shot, and “felt so bad that she had to leave the office” early that day. Id.

The day after the flu shot incident, plaintiff Miranda called Deloitte’s Integrity Help Line to report defendant Castillo’s behavior. (Docket No. 1 at p. 10.) Following the Help Line’s instructions to obtain Deloitte’s Harassment Policy from the website, plaintiff Miranda filed, via e-mail, an incident report on sexual harassment against defendant Castillo. Id. at pp. 11-12. She e-mailed the incident report to “Leslie Berry (D & T San Diego Office) and Alisa A. Brussel (D & T New York Office),” and later that day received confirmation that her internal complaint had been received and would remain confidential, and that she would be contacted after the prompt examination of the complaint. Id. at p. 12. Plaintiff Miranda alleges, however, that she never received any further communication regarding her incident report. Id. at p. 12.

The following day, on October 7, 2010, defendant Castillo allegedly approached plaintiff Miranda “from behind and pushed his body against her back[,] pushing her toward her computer screen.” (Docket No. 1 at p. 13.) This caused plaintiff Miranda “to be frightened and intimidated.” Id. A few weeks after plaintiff Miranda submitted the sexual harassment complaint, defendant Castillo “called [plaintiff] Miranda into his office a[nd] closed the door to demand [an] explanation on why she filed a [sjexual [h]arassment [i]ncident [r]eport against him.” Id. at p. 14. He told plaintiff Miranda that she “had tainted his record and that next time he would appreciate [if she] talk to him at front and face-to-face before filing any future report.” Id. He later sent an e-mail to plaintiff Miranda thanking her for “allegedly accepting his apology.” Id. Plaintiff Miranda states that she “did not accept [defendant] Castillo’s apology,” but the complaint does not allege that she replied in any form to dispute the contents of defendant Castillo’s e-mail. Id.

On February 15, 2011, defendants Castillo and Villate, as well as Deloitte’s South Regional Tax Partner, met with plaintiff Miranda to discuss a Performance Improvement Plan (“PIP”), which indicates that an employee “needs to improve his or her performance.” (Docket No. 1 at p. 15.) The complaint alleges that defendant Castillo issued the PIP to plaintiff Miranda [215]*215“in retaliation for her filing of the sexual incident report against [defendant] Castillo.” Id. The PIP allegedly contains the “concerns” of three corporate clients regarding plaintiff Miranda’s work, id.,

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Bluebook (online)
922 F. Supp. 2d 210, 2013 WL 485880, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17629, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miranda-v-deloitte-llp-prd-2013.