Reyes v. Professional Hepa Certificate Corp.

86 F. Supp. 3d 79, 90 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1727, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20607, 2015 WL 668752
District Court, D. Puerto Rico·Decided February 18, 2015·No. Case No. 13-1689 (GAG)·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GUSTAVO A. GELPI, District Judge.

In its Opinion and Order at Docket No. 59, the court struck Plaintiffs post summary judgment affidavit under the “sham affidavit” rule and cautioned Attorney Aní-bal Escanellas that his representations to the court could warrant reprimand and/or sanctions considering he had been warned by the undersigned in the past. Id. at 3. Then the parties were ordered to show cause “as to why Plaintiff or his counsel should or should not be sanctioned pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1927, as discussed by the court in the Opinion and Order.” (See Docket No. 61.)

Defendant, in compliance with court’s orders, expressed its interest in pursuing the imposition of sanctions against Plaintiff for his “culpable careness and/or disregard to Rule 11(b).” (Docket No 63.) In turn, Plaintiff denied that the affidavit in question was a sham, stated that the court’s Opinion and Order was incorrect and an abuse of its discretion, however, provided no arguments as to why the court should not impose sanctions against him. (Docket No. 65.) After careful review of the situation at hand, the court holds that the imposition of sanctions against Plaintiffs counsel, Attorney Escanellas, is proper.

I. Background

The parties were given four (4) months to conduct discovery. (See Docket No. [81]*8117.)1 Throughout the course of discovery, Plaintiffs deposition was taken and the parties exchanged documents. Despite the extensive discovery period afforded to the parties and the voluminous written discovery presented to the court,2 Plaintiffs opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment was almost entirely supported by his own affidavit that did not form part of discovery. (Docket No. 59, 2-5.) After Plaintiffs post summary judgment was stricken, the court granted Defendant’s motion summary judgment because Plaintiff failed to meet ADA’s fifteen (15) employee requirement.

II. Discussion

The impositions of sanctions under Rule 11 and 28 U.S.C. § 1927 (“Section 1927”) differ in purpose. The court explains,

a. Rule 11

Rule 11(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure imposes on attorneys the responsibility of “assuring] that all pleadings, motions and papers filed with the court are factually well-grounded, legally tenable and not interposed for any improper purpose.” Mariani v. Doctors Associates, Inc., 983 F.2d 5, 7 (1st Cir.1993) (citing Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 393, 110 S.Ct. 2447, 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990)). The aforementioned rule imposes on attorneys an obligation to “make a reasonable inquiry to assure that the claims, defenses and positions represented by them are well-grounded in both law and fact and are not intended to serve an improper purpose, such as harassment or delay.” Cruz v. Savage, 896 F.2d 626, 630 (1st Cir.1990); see also Bermudez v. 1 World Productions, Inc., 209 F.R.D. 287 (D.P.R.2002). By way of “reasonable inquiry” an attorney certifies that his/her representation, claim or argument:

(1) is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation; (2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law; (3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; and (4) the denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or, if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information.

Fed.R.Civ.P. R. ll(b)(l)-(4). Counsel is held to standards of due diligence and objective reasonableness. Mariani, 983 F.2d at 5. “The purpose of Rule 11 is to [82] deter dilatory and abusive tactics in litigation and to streamline the litigation process by lessening frivolous claims or de-. fenses.” Cruz, 896 F.2d at 630.

A rule 11(b) violation allows the imposition of sanctions. Fed.R.CivP. R. 11(b). A Rule 11 sanction “usually serves two main purposes: deterrence and compensation.” Navarro-Ayala v. Nunez, 968 F.2d 1421, 1426 (1st Cir.1992);’ see also Cooter & Gell, 110 S.Ct. at 2454 (“the central purpose of Rule 11 is to deter baseless filings.”) “Encompassed within these objectives are several related subsidiary goals, e.g., punishing litigation abuse and facilitating case management.” Navarro-Ayala v. Núñez, 968 F.2d 1421, 1426 (1st Cir.1992) (citing White v. General Motors Corp., 908 F.2d 675, 683 (10th Cir.1990)).

In Velázquez-Pérez v. Developers Diversified Realty, the court warned Counsel Escanellas of the repercussions that this practice had on the court’s case management. Post summary judgment affidavits, if allowed, shall be the exception, and not the rule. The filing of a post summary judgment affidavit defeats the purpose of Rule 56 and the rules governing the discovery process. Velázquez-Pérez, Civil No. 10-1002, Docket No. 131. Why was that information not available at discovery? WTiy shouldn’t the opposing party be offered an opportunity to conduct further discovery on that new information? The questions are endless. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide the parties ample discovery. As discussed in the court’s previous Opinion and Order, if a situation that was out of the ordinary occurs during discovery—new information arises that was not part of discovery—, the court has the discretion to “bend the rules” to avoid a miscarriage of justice and, as an exception, allow the new information. However, a party must provide a reasonable explanation as to why said information was not available during discovery. See-Morales v. AC Orssleffs EFTF, 246 F.3d 32, 35 (1st Cir.2001) (holding that following discovery a party may not use a later affidavit to contradict facts previously provided to survive summary judgment, unless the party provides a satisfactory explanation for providing post summary judgment affidavit).

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Reyes v. Professional Hepa Certificate Corp., 86 F. Supp. 3d 79, 90 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1727, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20607, 2015 WL 668752 (prd 2015).

86 F. Supp. 3d 79 (Reyes v. Professional Hepa Certificate Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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