Morales v. Venegas Construction Corp.

99 F. Supp. 3d 238, 2015 WL 1706927
District Court, D. Puerto Rico·Decided April 30, 2015·No. Civil No. 13-1904(MEL)·Published

Opinion

AMENDED OPINION AND ORDER

MARCOS E. LÓPEZ, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. Procedural History

On December 11, 2013 Pablo L. Matías Morales (“plaintiff’) filed a complaint against Venegas Construction Corporation (“defendant”), alleging age discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (the “ADEA”), P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 146 (“Law 100”), and Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 5141 (“Article 1802”) and unlawful discharge in violation of P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 185a (“Law 80”). ECF No. 1. Pending before the court is defendant’s motion for summary judgment and plaintiffs response in opposition. ECF Nos. 21; 22. For the reasons that follow defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted in part and denied in part.

II. Summary op Uncontested Facts 1

Plaintiff began working for defendant in August of 1965, when he was hired as a Heavy Equipment Operator.2 ECF No. [241]*24121-1, ¶ 4; 22-1, at 1, ¶ 4. Over the course of his employment with defendant plaintiff operated numerous types of heavy equipment machines and vehicles. ECF No. 22-1, at 7, ¶ 1. Generally, when one piece of heavy equipment broke down the vehicle’s operator could be transferred to operate another machine, if work were available. Id.

In June or July 2012, plaintiff was assigned to work on a construction project that involved demolishing a hotel at Cayo Largo, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. ECF Nos. 1, ¶ 9; 5, ¶ 9; 22-1, at 7, ¶ 2. In this role plaintiff worked under the supervision of Eng. Luis Feliciano Medina (“Feliciano”). ECF Nos. 21-1, ¶ 7; 22-1, at 2, ¶ 7. Defendant was the subcontractor for the Cayo Largo project and was required by the contractor, a demolition company known as R4 Company, to supply the heavy machinery and employees to accomplish the project. ECF Nos. 21-1. ¶ 5-6; 22-1, at 1-2 ¶ 5-6. All of the equipment at the Cayo Largo worksite “suffered problems” and required maintenance. ECF Nos. 22-1, at 9, ¶ 5. Plaintiff was routinely assigned to the Caterpillar model 235 excavator machine (the “CAT 235”) to perform demolition; the CAT 235 was known as “the Matías machine.” ECF Nos. 21-1. ¶ 5-6; 22-1, at 1-2, ¶ 5-6. Id.

In early September 2012, while plaintiff was performing demolition work with the CAT 235 excavator for the Cayo Largo project, the excavator broke down when a rod got caught underneath the excavator and damaged the excavator’s “starter” and “temperature cable.” Id. ¶ 3; ECF No. 25-1, at 10: 10-15. After a new starter was purchased and installed, plaintiff was ordered to continue performing demolition with the CAT 235. ECF No. 22-1, ¶ 5. On September 17, 2012, the radiator in the CAT 235 clogged and the excavator overheated, requiring repairs. Id.

On September 19, 2012, the date of plaintiffs 73rd birthday, plaintiff was as- • signed to operate another excavator with a hammer installed on its arm in order to demolish a beam that was approximately 40 to 50 feet high. ECF Nos. 1, ¶ 14; 5, ¶ 14; 21-1, ¶ 11; 22-1, at 4 ¶ 11, at 10 ¶ 6. Plaintiff wanted to demolish one of the sides before pushing the beam to fall over, and he told Feliciano that hitting the beam in its center could cause the beam to fall on plaintiff and/or to break the hammer. ECF No. 22-1, at 10 ¶ 6. Feliciano ordered plaintiff to hit the center and plaintiff obeyed him. Id. While plaintiff was demolishing the beam, the hammer strut of the excavator broke. ECF Nos. 21-1, ¶ 9; 22-1, at 3 ¶ 9. Feliciano became aggravated and instructed plaintiff to leave the Cayo Largo worksite “in the convoy.” ECF Nos. 21-1, ¶ 9; 22-1, at 3, ¶ 9, at 10 ¶ 7. Plaintiff left the worksite. ECF No. 22-1, at 10, ¶ 7.

At the time of plaintiffs departure from the Cayo Largo worksite there were three other excavators and a CAT roller at the site. ECF Nos. 1, ¶ 18; 5, ¶ 18. After the September 19, 2012 incident, plaintiff visited defendant’s President, Emilio Venegas, who informed plaintiff that it would take about two weeks to have the machine repaired and advised plaintiff to collect unemployment benefits for those two weeks. ECF No. 22-1, ¶ 14. On September 22, 2012, Feliciano called plaintiff to offer him work at the Cayo Largo worksite, which plaintiff accepted, returning to the Cayo Largo worksite on September 24, 2012.3 [242] ECF No. 21-1, ¶ 12; 22-1, ¶ 12. On September 25, 2012, “a pin of the bucket of the excavator” that plaintiff was operating broke and plaintiff had to leave the Cayo Largo worksite once again. ECF No. 21-1, ¶ 13; 22-1, at 4 ¶ 13,13 ¶ 12. On March 22, 2013, Emilio Venegas sent plaintiff a letter requesting that he report to work at the Rafael Hernández Colón Library project on March 25, 2013. ECF Nos. 22-1, ¶ 9. Plaintiff did not report to work at the Rafael Hernández Colón Library project. ECF Nos. 21-1, ¶ 18; 22-1, at 6, ¶ 18. Plaintiff did not work between the September 25, 2012 incident and defendant’s March 2013 request for him to report to the Rafael Hernández Colón Library project. ECF No. 21-1, ¶ 20; 22-1, ¶20.4 Defendant performed work at the Cayo Largo worksite until June 2013. ECF No. 22-1, at 10 ¶ 12.

III. Legal Standard

The purpose of summary judgment “is to pierce the boilerplate of the pleadings and assay the parties’ proof in order to determine whether trial is actually required.” Wynne v. Tufts Univ. Sch. of Med., 976 F.2d 791, 794 (1st Cir.1992). Summary judgment is granted when the record shows that “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). “ A dispute is genuine if the evidence about the fact is such that a reasonable jury could resolve the point in the favor of the nonmoving party. A fact is material if it has the potential of determining the outcome of the litigation.’ ” Farmers Ins. Exch. v. RNK, Inc., 632 F.3d 777, 782 (1st Cir.2011) (quoting Rodríguez-Rivera v. Federico Trilla Reg’l Hosp., 532 F.3d 28, 30 (1st Cir.2008)).

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Morales v. Venegas Construction Corp., 99 F. Supp. 3d 238, 2015 WL 1706927 (prd 2015).

99 F. Supp. 3d 238 (Morales v. Venegas Construction Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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