Municipality of San Sebastian v. Puerto Rico

89 F. Supp. 3d 266, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28027, 2015 WL 993437
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 6, 2015
DocketCivil No. 14-1136 (FAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 89 F. Supp. 3d 266 (Municipality of San Sebastian v. Puerto Rico) 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
Municipality of San Sebastian v. Puerto Rico, 89 F. Supp. 3d 266, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28027, 2015 WL 993437 (prd 2015).

Opinion

[270]*270OPINION AND ORDER

FRANCISCO A. BESOSA, District Judge.

Before the Court is the defendants’ motion to dismiss the Municipality of San Sebastian’s amended complaint for lack of standing, (Docket No. 11), which the Municipality opposes, (Docket No. 15). The matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Justo Arenas, (Docket No. 19), who issued a Report and Recommendation recoim mending that the motion be granted, (Docket No. 21). The Municipality objects to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. (Docket No. 23.) For the reasons that follow, the Court adopts the magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation in part and rejects it in part. The defendants’ motion to dismiss, (Docket No. 11), is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, the Municipality of San Sebastian (the “Municipality”), brought this action against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Governor Alejandro Garcia-Padilla (“Governor Garcia”) in his official capacity, and Secretary of Labor Vance Thomas (“Secretary Thomas”) in his official capacity (collectively, “defendants”), alleging political discrimination in the distribution of funds used to combat unemployment. (Docket Nos. 1, 9.) The amended complaint, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, includes claims for violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution as well as pendent claims arising under the Puerto Rico Constitution. (Docket No. 9 at § IV.)

According to the Municipality, the Commonwealth created the Employment Opportunities Development Fund, or Law 52 of August 9, 1991 (“Law 52”), to combat unemployment in Puerto Rico. Docket No. 9 at ¶ 9; see P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 711c (creating fund to be administered by the Department of Labor and Human Resources); see also Gomez v. Rivera Rodriguez, 344 F.3d 103, 107 (1st Cir.2003) (“Law 52[is] a vehicle through which the Commonwealth subsidize^] locally managed programs to ameliorate unemployment.”). The Secretary of Labor disburses these funds “in a manner that promotes jobs,” allotting greater amounts “to those municipalities with the highest unemployment.” (Docket No. 9 at ¶ 9.)

Each year, for the past ten years, the Municipality of San Sebastian has received an average of $300,000 in Law 52 funds to help reduce its unemployment rate, which is approximately 17.9% of its 42,430 citizens. (Docket No. 9 at ¶ 9.) For the 2013-14 fiscal year (“FY 2013-14”), under Governor Garcia’s administration, however, the Municipality of San Sebastian received only $70,000. Id. at ¶ 10. The Municipality alleges that the Department of Labor, through Secretary Thomas, assigned less funds to San Sebastian because its mayor is a member of the New Progressive Party (“NPP”) — an opposing political party to that of Governor Garcia, who is a member of the Popular Democratic Party (“PDP”). Id. According to the Municipality, NPP-led municipalities like San Sebastian received lesser Law 52 allotments than PDP-led municipalities, even where the latter had lower unemployment levels and smaller populations. Id. As an example, the Municipality points to Rincon, a PDP-led municipality that received $176,998.13 in FY 2013-14 despite having a lower unemployment rate (15.7% versus 17.9%) and fewer citizens (15,200 versus 42,430), Rincon received over $100,000 more than San Sebastian in Law 52 funds. See id. The amended complaint thus alleges that the Commonwealth, Governor Garcia, and Secretary Thomas discriminated politically against the Municipality of San Sebastian. [271]*271Id. at ¶ 11. Among other things, the Municipality claims that “[t]his discrimination has negatively affected [its] ability to provide goods and services to its citizens.” Id. at ¶ 19.

“As frequently happens with such disputes in Puerto Rico, the matter was brought to federal court.” Torres Rivera v. Calderon Serra, 412 F.3d 205, 209 (1st Cir.2005); accord Sanchez-Lopez v. Fuentes-Pujols, 375 F.3d 121, 126 (1st Cir. 2004) (“With each change in administration — at both the commonwealth and municipal levels — the federal district courts in Puerto Rico are flooded with hundreds of political discrimination cases.”). On February 19, 2014, the Municipality filed a complaint, commencing this action. (Docket No. 1.) The Municipality amended its complaint on May 18, 2014. (Docket No. 9.)

The amended complaint alleges that the defendants’ actions are “politically motivated” and “have no relation to the purposes-of Law 52,” and that they “were made under color of state law,” in violation of 42 U.S.C. § .1983. (Docket No. 9 at ¶ 11.) The Municipality bases its political discrimination claim on the due process and equal protection clauses of both the United States and Puerto Rico constitutions as well as the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Id. at § IV. The amended complaint seeks the following remedies: (1) a determination from the Court acknowledging that the defendants have politically discriminated against the Municipality; (2) a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from doing so again in the future; (3) an order compelling the defendants to provide the Municipality each year with the same amount of annual Law 52 funds that it received in previous years ($300,000); (4) reasonable attorneys fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988; and (5) other equitable relief that the Court may deem proper. Id. at ¶¶ 29-33.

On June 6, 2014, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Municipality’s amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). (Docket No. 11.) The defendants’ motion argues that the Municipality lacks standing to bring a cause of action under section 1983 because “[section 1983] was not designed to allow political sub-divisions of the state — including Puerto Rican municipalities — [to] seek[] redress in federal court for alleged discriminatory actions effectuated by their state.” Id. at p. 3. The defendants reason that, according to Supreme Court jurisprudence, “[section] 1983 was intended to help citizens seek federal court intervention from what amounts to illegal actions performed by state or municipal government agents under color of law — not for local governments themselves to instigate federal causes of action against the state or state entities.” Id. In sum, the defendants argue that the Municipality is not a proper section 1983 plaintiff: although section 1983 allows political subdivisions to be sued in a section 1983 suit, it does not permit political subdivisions to sue under the statute. See id. at pp. 3, 7-14. This position, the defendants contend, is consistent with the holdings of several federal courts in other circuits. Id. at pp. 3, 9-11.

On July 7, 2014, the Municipality filed its opposition to the defendants’ motion to dismiss. (Docket No.

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89 F. Supp. 3d 266, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28027, 2015 WL 993437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/municipality-of-san-sebastian-v-puerto-rico-prd-2015.