Rodriguez-Vives v. Puerto Rico Firefighters Corps

935 F. Supp. 2d 409, 2013 WL 1324965, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49706
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 31, 2013
DocketCivil No. 11-1749 (DRD)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 935 F. Supp. 2d 409 (Rodriguez-Vives v. Puerto Rico Firefighters Corps) 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-Vives v. Puerto Rico Firefighters Corps, 935 F. Supp. 2d 409, 2013 WL 1324965, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49706 (prd 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

DANIEL R. DOMÍNGUEZ, District Judge.

Plaintiff Kathy Rodríguez-Vives brings the suit against her employer, Puerto Rico Firefighter Corps of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, under Title-VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 et seq. Plaintiff alleges sexual discrimination as well as retaliation for filing a complaint, which resulted in a settlement agreement in the case of Rodriguez Nieves v. Commonwealth, Civil No. 05-2136(DRD), Docket No. 73.

Pending before the Court are: (a) defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint Pursuant to FRCP 12, Docket No. 37; (b) Plaintiffs Response in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, Docket No. 40; (c) defendant’s Reply to Plaintiffs Response in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, Docket No. 45; and Plaintiffs SurReply, Docket No. 48. For the reasons stated ‘ below, the Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint is granted.

Factual and Procedural Background

On October 24, 2005, Kathy RodriguezVives (“Rodriguez” or “Plaintiff’) filed a complaint against the Puerto Rico Firefighter Corps of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“PRFC” or “Defendant”), in which she sought damages, equitable and injunctive relief based upon- 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, and upon 31 L.P.R.A. §§ 5141-5142 for alleged discriminatory hiring practices and procedures on [411]*411the basis of gender carried out by the PRFC against her in the interview, selection and training of firefighter recruits in violation of Rodriguez’s rights under the Constitution and statutes of the United States and Puerto Rico. See Rodriguez Nieves v. Commonwealth, Civil No. 05-2136(DRD).

Rodriguez alleged that in June 2001, she applied for a position as a Firefighter with the PRFC and met all minimum requirements to apply for the position. She was subsequently placed on the Eligibility List. As stated in her complaint, on various occasions, Rodriguez received letters of notice and assurance that her name remained on the Eligibility List and participated in two interviews prior to being selected for the position. Rodriguez alleged that after July 2004, she received no further communications from the PRFC regarding her opportunities for employment. In Rodriguez’ first complaint filed under Civil No. 05-2136(DRD), she claimed that the PRFC recruited new personnel from the years 2002 through 2005 who had lesser qualifications than Rodriguez.’ She also claimed that the PRFC never gave her an explanation for being passed over for selection. Lastly, she claimed that the process used by the PRFC to evaluate candidates for recruitment is intentionally discriminatory against candidates who are women.

On February 5, 2009, the parties in the case reached a settlement agreement, wherein they ended the litigation process and, among other things, agreed to: (1) appoint Rodriguez to a Firefighter position, in a transitory status, until her admittance to the Academy for Firefighters, for which she would receive a salary of $1,500.00, with marginal benefits; (2) place Rodriguez at the fire station located in Coamo (as requested by Plaintiff); (3) admit Rodriguez to the next PRFC’s Academy; (4) upon Rodriguez successfully completing the Academy, she would be appointed to a career position of firefighter; (5) Rodriguez waived her right to sue the defendants for any and all [prior] causes of action that were alleged or could have been alleged in the action arising from the alleged discrimination. (Emphasis ours). See Settlement Agreement filed under Civil No. 05-2136(DRD), Docket No. 73.

After the settlement agreement was executed on February 23, 2009, and judgment entered, Rodriguez filed the instant action on August 2, 2011, under Civil No. 11-1749(DRD), on the grounds of: (a) discrimination on the basis of gender in violation of Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1991; (b) discriminatory treatment and retaliation by her supervisors after she became an employee of the PRFC, on or about March 2, 2009, as well as, (c) noncompliance with the aforementioned settlement agreement reached by the parties on February 5, 2009. See Complaint and Amended Complaint, Docket entries No. 1 and 32.

Rodriguez alleges in the Complaint and the Amended Complaint filed on August 1, 2012, that she was neither given the necessary training nor assigned the duties of a firefighter. However, the record shows that by the time the Amended Complaint was filed, Rodriguez was already a certified firefighter, as she was duly certified on November 4, 2011, see Docket No. 8-3. Notwithstanding, Rodriguez claims: (a) being a victim of unwelcome discriminatory comments, and profane language referring to her husband; (b) in one occasion, Rodriguez’ supervisor Ortiz took cooking pans that Rodriguez had used and threw them in the garbage; (c) in another occasion, the same supervisor Ortiz shouted at Rodríguez and “threw the station’s journal at her;” and (d) in one occasion, supervisor [412]*412Ortiz, saw Rodriguez behind his car, and accelerated it and dust-showered her. See Docket No. 32, pages 4-5. The Court notes that according to the allegations pled in the Amended Complaint, the last gender based discriminatory act was on or about September 21, 2009. See Docket No. 32, page 5, ¶ L.

Rodriguez seeks declaratory judgment stating that the acts described in the instant Amended Complaint are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, compensation for damages and equitable remedies, which include an order directing that Rodriguez be admitted and duly trained at the Firefighter’s Academy, and that she be named to a Firefighter position.

On August 13, 2012, the PRFC moved for dismissal of the Amended Complaint, arguing that the plaintiffs claim is for breach of a contractual obligation and therefore not actionable through the mechanism of Title VII. See Docket No. 37. Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges that she was discriminated against, as she was barred from exercising the tasks of a firefighter when the record shows that Rodriguez was not duly certified as a firefighter at the time of the claim filed on December 22, 2009.1 See Docket No. 37. The PRFC also argues that Plaintiffs gender based discrimination claims fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, Docket No. 37. See Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Fed.R.Civ.P.”). Plaintiff filed her response in opposition to the dismissal of the Amended Complaint, Docket No. 40.

The uncontradicted record shows that the PRFC’s Academy did not convene trainings for firefighters from 2004 to 2011. See Docket No. 85-1 filed under Civil No. 05-2136(DRD). Rodriguez started working with the PRFC on March 2, 2009, and was certified as a firefighter after having completed the PRFC Training of Firefighter Level I course on November 4, 2011.

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Related

Rodríguez-Vives v. Puerto Rico Firefighters Corps
743 F.3d 278 (First Circuit, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
935 F. Supp. 2d 409, 2013 WL 1324965, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49706, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriguez-vives-v-puerto-rico-firefighters-corps-prd-2013.