Ortiz Rodriguez v. Banco Popular De Puerto Rico

27 F. Supp. 2d 309, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19307, 1998 WL 858235
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedDecember 2, 1998
DocketCivil 98-1322(JP)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 27 F. Supp. 2d 309 (Ortiz Rodriguez v. Banco Popular De 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
Ortiz Rodriguez v. Banco Popular De Puerto Rico, 27 F. Supp. 2d 309, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19307, 1998 WL 858235 (prd 1998).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PIERAS, Senior District Judge.

I. Introduction

The Court has before it Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (docket No. 22), Plaintiffs Opposition to Motion for Summary *311 Judgment (docket No. 28), and Banco Popular’s Reply Brief (docket No. 34). This case arises out of Plaintiff Carmen Ortiz Rodriguez’s claims against Defendant Banco Popular of age and gender discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 621, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (“Title VU’.’), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. In addition, Plaintiff brings supplemental state law claims alleging that she was constructively discharged, seeking damages under the Puerto Rico Wrongful Discharge Act, Law 80 of May 30, 1976, 29 L.P.R.A. § 185(a), as well as damages for mental anguish and suffering under Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code.

II. Uncontested Facts

Plaintiff has failed to contest the majority of facts proffered by Defendant, and therefore, pursuant to Local Rule 311.12, the following facts are deemed admitted. (Def.’s Statement of Uncontested Facts; Pis.’ Statement of Material Facts Supp. Pl.’s Opp’n. Mot. Summ. J.) 1

Plaintiff Ortiz is a 48 year old female, bom on July 16, 1950. Ortiz began working at Banco de Ponce on July 31,1978 in the Cash Verification area of the bank’s Cash Deposit facility. On September 1,1990, Ortiz started working as a Supervisor in the Currency Verification area of the Cash Depot division under the supervision of Manuel Vaello. When Banco de Ponce merged with Banco Popular in 1990, Ortiz became an employee of Banco Popular.

Ortiz’s job performance was evaluated annually, and her performance evaluations for the years 1990 through 1995 indicate that her job performance fell within the category of “Achieved Expectations,” the second of three categories that include “Exceeded Expectations,” and “Objections Partially Achieved.” 2 In addition, Ortiz received various forms of recognition for her job performance at Banco Popular, including Christmas bonuses.

After Banco de Ponce’s merger with Banco Popular, the Cash Depot facility was transferred to Banco Popular, and Ortiz remained working in her same position and was still supervised by Vaello. The Cash Depot is Puerto Rico’s representative of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and thus, the Federal Reserve performs a yearly audit. Any mistake in operations is considered significant, and if even a minor mistake in operations is detected by an audit, it must be immediately corrected. The Cash Depot handles between eight and ten million dollars daily by supplying affiliated banks with money to comply with minimum cash reserves per dollars deposited, and by collecting surplus cash from affiliated banks and delivering it to the Federal Reserve Bank.

In addition, the Cash Depot facility accepts currency and coin deposits from financial institutions located in Puerto Rico, and wires, on a daily basis, all deposits and withdrawals made by financial institutions within Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Cash Depot also verifies all currency and coin deposits, sorts the money by denomination, and piece counts currency deemed fit for re-circulation. All money that is deemed unfit is forwarded to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, along with large dollar denominations. The Cash Depot is also responsible for withdrawing counterfeit notes from the currency that is piece counted, and such currency must be marked as “counterfeit” and turned over to the U.S. Secret Service. Currencies no longer issued are also forwarded to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to be destroyed.

As Supervisor in the Cash Depot’s Cash Verification area, Ortiz had nine employees who worked as cash verifiers under her direct supervision. On April 25, 1991, Ortiz received and signed a disciplinary memo regarding a mistake she made in relation to a load of cash sent by the Cash Depot to the *312 Federal Reserve in the amount of $25,000,-000.00 which reflected a $200,000.00 discrepancy. When the discrepancy was initially discovered, the Federal Reserve and Banco Popular conducted an investigation, which revealed that Ortiz had made two major operational mistakes in her duties as a supervisor. Although the $200,000.00 was eventually located, Ortiz was warned that the mistakes were very serious, and that her tenure at the bank was at stake.

On May 13,1996 Ortiz received and signed another disciplinary memo related to a Federal Reserve audit performed that year, which revealed significant errors in the Cash Depot. The audit showed that an employee under Ortiz’s supervision had manipulated eight accounts through fraudulent accounting entries, and these entries had been authorized by Ortiz. At the time, Ortiz was not the only supervisor who authorized the employee’s fraudulent entries, but her supervisor Vaello and Eufemio Santos also authorized these accounting entries.

During 1996, Vaello told Ortiz that the Currency Verification area would be responsible for marking and identifying all false bills with a “counterfeit” stamp. During 1997, the Federal Reserve conducted an audit for the period ending on March 6,1997, in which auditors noticed that seven out of a sample of 21 bills were not marked as “counterfeit” prior to being turned over to a clerk. Ortiz admits that it was the duty of the employees under her supervision and, ultimately, her responsibility to make sure that false bills were marked with the “counterfeit” stamp.

On April 1,1997, Banco Popular decided to transfer Ortiz to the Central Cashier division as a teller with duties as a Coordinator, also eliminating a one-month old salary raise she had been granted. Except for the elimination of the salary raise, and notwithstanding the change in position and duties which included a lack of supervisory responsibility, Ortiz’s salary and benefits remained the same. Ortiz never returned to work, neither to her former position nor to the new position.

After Ortiz was notified that she would be transferred from her position at the Cash Depot facility, she requested a meeting with Aida C. de Canto from the Human Resources department of Banco Popular. During this meeting, Ortiz explained that she disagreed with the corrective measures taken by the bank, and said that she would only work in the new division if the written reprimand was eliminated from her personnel file, if she was given the recent raise she was granted, and if she retained her title as supervisor. On July II, 1997 Ortiz submitted a letter of resignation and resigned from her position and duties at Banco Popular. Ortiz’s former position at the Cash Depot was filled by a woman named Ana Morales, who is 30 years old.

III. Discussion

A. Summary Judgment in the Context of Age and Sex Discrimination Claims

Defendant first argues that Plaintiff has failed to satisfy her burden under McDonnell Douglas Corp.

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27 F. Supp. 2d 309, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19307, 1998 WL 858235, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ortiz-rodriguez-v-banco-popular-de-puerto-rico-prd-1998.