Rodriguez-Fonseca v. Baxter Healthcare Corp.

899 F. Supp. 2d 141, 2012 WL 4962409, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150303
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedSeptember 30, 2012
DocketCivil No. 10-2010 (DRD)
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 899 F. Supp. 2d 141 (Rodriguez-Fonseca v. Baxter Healthcare Corp.) 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
Rodriguez-Fonseca v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 899 F. Supp. 2d 141, 2012 WL 4962409, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150303 (prd 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

DANIEL R. DOMINGUEZ, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Docket No. 25). For the reasons set forth below, the Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED and the complaint is hereby DISMISSED with prejudice.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On October 18, 2010, Julio Rodriguez-Fonseca filed a complaint against his employer, Baxter Healthcare Corporation of Puerto Rico, under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 621 et seq. (“ADEA”), the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12201 et seq. (“ADA”), and the Constitution of the United States of America. (Docket No. 1). Plaintiff narrowed the scope of his claims in his Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, claiming he endured a hostile work environment, retaliation, and discrimination because of: 1) age, and 2) request for a reasonable accommodation for his purported disabilities. (Docket No. 37 at 1). Plaintiff requests “declaratory judgment against defendant ... finding] it in violation of the constitutions and laws of the United States ... and Puerto Rico,” $1.5 million for compensatory damages, loss of income, back pay, front pay, loss of benefits, mental anguish, and emotional distress, punitive damages and double damages, costs and fees, reinstatement, prejudgment interest, and “such other relief as this Honorable Court deems appropriate and proper.” (Docket No. 1 at 8-9).

On October 31, 2011, Defendant filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 25), asserting that Plaintiffs allegations failed to sufficiently establish claims for a hostile work environment and age and disability discrimination and retaliation under F.R.C.P. 56. Further, Defendant argues that Plaintiffs claims are time-barred. (Docket No. 25).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Below is a summary of the events leading to the filing of the instant complaint, as alleged in the parties’ statements of uncontested facts and accompanying documents thereto (Docket Nos. 25 & 37).

On October 18, 2010, Julio RodriguezFonseca (“Plaintiff’) brought suit against his former employer, Baxter Healthcare Corporation of Puerto Rico (“Defendant”), for age — and disability-based discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment.

[144]*144Defendant hired Plaintiff as the Superintendent of Injection Molding on September 20,1999, when Plaintiff was 43. (Id. at ¶¶ 7-9). Four years later, Defendant promoted Plaintiff, then 47, to serve as Manufacturing Manager of the Injection Molding Department. (Id. at ¶ 10). Plaintiffs responsibilities included supervising machinery maintenance, the manufacturing section of the Injection Molding Department, and the workshop. (Id. at ¶ 11-12). Plaintiff suffered from inguinal hernias for many years prior to dismissal, which required him to take leave and which Defendant always approved. (Docket No. 35, Exs. 3 at 40-41; 24-31).

While employed with Defendant, Plaintiff provided training sessions to other employees on good manufacturing and documentation practices and participated in over 300 training sessions for improving good manufacturing and documentation practices, known as GMP’s and GDP’s. (Id. at ¶¶ 15-17). Upon hire, Plaintiff received, reviewed, and accepted Defendant’s employment policies. (Docket No. 25, Ex. 1 at ¶¶ 13-14). Defendant’s employee handbook contains the company’s rules of conduct applicable to all employees. Violations of employment terms include insubordination, OSHA violations, disobedience, abandoning the work area without authorization during working hours, and inadvertent or negligent commission of errors. (Id. at ¶¶ 25-26).

Defendant’s employee handbook establishes a procedure for employees to address employment situations or problems, specifically providing that “if an employee feels that he/she has a situation or complaint of discrimination or harassment in the workplace, he/she should immediately notify the Human Resources Manager or designated representative for the Company to take the necessary actions, which include conducting a thorough investigation.” (Id. at ¶ 23). Furthermore, Defendant’s policy prohibits any type of retaliation against any person who has submitted or otherwise notified a complaint of discrimination or harassment, or has participated in any related investigation. (Id.)

Defendant operates three facilities in Jayuya, Aibonito, and Guayama, where it produces fluid therapy, anesthesia, critical care, oncology, bioscience, renal, nutrition, and specialized pharmacy materials for use in hospitals, kidney dialysis centers, doctors’ offices, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, clinical and medical research laboratories, and at home under physician supervision. (Docket No. 25, Ex. 1 at ¶¶ 2-4). Defendant’s products are infused, injected, or inhaled more than two billion times annually (or six million times a day) worldwide, each time to treat a life-threatening acute or chronic condition. Patients with hemophilia, end-stage renal disease, “Primary Immune Deficiency,” and a range of other diseases depend on Defendant’s products on a daily basis. (Id. at ¶ 4).

The FDA conducts yearly inspections and audits of Defendant’s facilities in Puerto Rico to ensure Defendant’s compliance with applicable regulations. Defendant’s failure to abide by the FDA rules may entail the imposition of sanctions that vary from monetary penalties up to the closing of a facility. (Id. at ¶ 29). The Injection Molding Department is a critical area of Defendant’s manufacturing process because it supplies key components of pieces that feed other areas of the process. (Id. at ¶ 30). In the Injection Molding Department, Defendant manufactures, among other things, “Part 210,” a component part used in kits for the administration of intravenous fluids to patients, which are manufactured in subsequent stages at Defendant’s facilities. As such, the Injection Molding Department is a key compo[145]*145nent because other areas of the manufacturing process feed from the injection molding process. (Id. at ¶ 31).

“Part 210” is manufactured through a process of injecting molding in a Swivel Mold. In order to control the temperature of this process, a liquid that works as a refrigerant is circulated through the cooling circuit of the Swivel Mold. (Id. at ¶ 32). Leaks in the mold, but not the Swivel Mold or the cooling system, may come in direct contact with the product. (Id. at ¶ 33). During March 2009, Defendant’s injection molding personnel decided to use propylene glycol instead of distilled water to refrigerate and lubricate the Swivel Mold to minimize leaks. The decision was approved by Defendant’s Environmental Department because propylene glycol was FDA-approved. (Id. at ¶¶ 34, 36). The record indicates Plaintiff learned about the approval to use propylene glycol in August 2009, though Plaintiff also claims he first learned about use of propylene glycol in September. (Id., Ex.

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Bluebook (online)
899 F. Supp. 2d 141, 2012 WL 4962409, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150303, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriguez-fonseca-v-baxter-healthcare-corp-prd-2012.