Montoyo-Rivera v. Pall Life Sciences PR, LLC

245 F. Supp. 3d 337, 2017 WL 1133279, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46770
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 27, 2017
DocketCIVIL NO. 16-2102 (GAG)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 245 F. Supp. 3d 337 (Montoyo-Rivera v. Pall Life Sciences PR, LLC) 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
Montoyo-Rivera v. Pall Life Sciences PR, LLC, 245 F. Supp. 3d 337, 2017 WL 1133279, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46770 (prd 2017).

Opinion

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

GUSTAVO A. GELPI, .United States District Judge

Magistrate Judge Bruce McGiveriris Report and Recommendation (Docket No, [339]*33953) on Defendant’s Motion to Strike under Rule 12(f) (Docket No. 16) and Motion for Sanctions under Rule 11 (Docket No. 17) is hereby ADOPTED in its entirety. Accordingly, Defendant’s motions are hereby GRANTED.

The undersigned has received and reviewed the objection to the Report and Recommendation filed by Plaintiff. (Docket No. 55.) Applying a de novo standard of review, I hereby accept and adopt as my own Judge McGiverin’s legal conclusions on Plaintiffs Complaint.

I. Standard of Review

The District Court may refer dispositive motions to a United States Magistrate Judge for a report and recommendation, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). Parties may file objections to a Magistrate Judge’s R&R. Rule 59(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states that “[wjithin 14 days after being served with a copy of the recommended disposition, or at some other time the court sets, a party may serve and file specific written objections to the proposed findings and recommendations.” Upon a party’s objection, the Court shall make a de novo review. “The district judge must consider de novo any objection to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. The district judge may accept, reject, or modify the recommendation, receive further evidence, or resubmit the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(b)(3).

II. Discussion

A Plaintiffs Objection to the Report' and Recommendation’s Dismissal Recommendation

Plaintiff objects to the dismissal of the Complaint, arguing that the case should instead be consolidated with Montoyo-Rivera v. Pall Life Sciences PR, LLC, Civil No. 16-1199 (BJM) (“Montoyo I”). (See Docket No. 65 at 11.) Plaintiff, however, instead, of attempting to persuade the Court as to the merits of the present action, objected to the dismissal recommendation by stating:

.As indicated,-both. Montoyo I and Montoyo II assert the same facts and claims, between the same parties. Accordingly, all relevant factors weigh in favor of consolidating the two actions because they name the exact same parties, challenge the same actions, and involve the same issues of fact and law.

Id. at 13. Plaintiff clearly misses the point. The issue with the Complaint is not whether it is sufficiently similar to Montoyo I, but whether there was a valid reason for having filed it in the first place. To this end, Plaintiff has suggested that “there was a possibility that the Complaint in Montoyo I could be deemed prematurely filed since it was filed before the EEOC issued its right-to-sue letter.” Id. at 15.

The Court agrees that Plaintiffs reasoning “does not hold water.” (Docket No. 53 at 7.) The right-to-sue letter was issued on March 17, 2016. (Docket No. 55 at 7.) On June 9, 2016, within the ninety-day period after. receiving the right-to-sue letter, Plaintiff filed its Second Amended Complaint in Civil No/16-1199. Id. at. 6. Plaintiff admits that Defendants did not raise the alleged premature filing of Montoyo I as an affirmative defense in that case. Id at 13. Regardless, Plaintiff filed the present action on Juné 15, 2016, “in order to ensure that its claims fully comply with the 90-day filing period mandated by 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(l).” |d. at 7-8.

If Plaintiff was convinced of the need to amend the Second Amended Complaint based on some perceived defects—defects which, if real, would have been entirely [340]*340attributable to Plaintiffs omissions—the appropriate procedural mechanism for doing so was to move the Court for leave to file a third amended complaint. Plaintiffs proffered reasons for filing the present action represent a clear attempt to circumvent the text and purpose of Rule 15(a). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a).

B. Plaintiffs Objection to the Report and Recommendation’s Sanctions Recommendation

Plaintiff argues that his “position was not so plainly unmeritorious as to warrant the imposition of sanctions.” (Docket No. 55 at 18.) According to Plaintiff, the improper filing of the present action was done “pursuant to the caselaw interpreting Rule 42(a)”. Id. at 17. However, the case-law cited by Plaintiff, especially Connectu LLC v. Zuckerberg, 522 F.3d 82 (1st Cir. 2008), does not stand for the proposition that a party may file a subsequent action in order to cure the potential procedural defects of a prior one, and is inapplicable to the present controversy.

As the present action was filed with improper motives, it is clear that Plaintiffs attorneys have, at the very least, acted with culpable carelessness. • '

III. Conclusion

After conducting a de novo review, the Court finds that Plaintiffs- objection is without merit, and ADOPTS in its entirety Magistrate Judge McGiverin’s Report and Recommendation at Docket No. 53. Defendant’s Motion to Strike under Rule 12(f) at Docket No. 16 and Motion for Sanctions under Rule 11 at Docket No. 17 are hereby GRANTED.

Defendant is hereby ordered to submit a detailed motion for reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs that were incurred as a direct result of this improperly filed, dupli-cative case.

SO ORDERED.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

BRUCE J. MCGIVERIN, United States Magistrate Judge

In June 2016, Jose B. Montoyo-Rivera (“Montoyo”) brought this action against Pall Life Sciences PR, LLC (“Pall”), alleging violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., Puerto Rico Law 44 (“Law 44”), P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 1, § 501 et seq., and Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code (“Article 1802”), P.R. Laws Ann. tit, 31, § 5141. Docket No. 1 (“Montoyo II”). When Mon-toyo II was filed, Montoyo had a separate case pending before another judge in this district that alleged the same claims against Pall. See Montoyo-Rivera v. Pall Life Sciences PR, LLC, Civil No. 16-1199 (BJM), Docket No. 40 (D.P.R.) (‘Montoyo I ”). Pall moved to dismiss Montoyo II, as well as for sanctions against Montoyo and his two attorneys. Docket Nos. 16, 17, 37, 38. Montoyo, along with his counsels of record, opposed. Docket Nos. 24, 25, 49, 50. These matters were referred to me by the district judge presiding over Montoyo II. Docket Nos. 29, 30.

For the reasons set forth below, Mon-toyo II should be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE, and the motion for sanctions should be GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

In January 2016, Montoyo filed Montoyo I

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Bluebook (online)
245 F. Supp. 3d 337, 2017 WL 1133279, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46770, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montoyo-rivera-v-pall-life-sciences-pr-llc-prd-2017.