Marrero-Saez v. Municipality of Aibonito

668 F.Supp.2d 327

Gladys MARRERO-SAEZ, Plaintiff v. MUNICIPALITY OF AIBONITO et al., Defendants.

Civil No. 09-1499 (SEC).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

November 12, 2009.

Eduardo A. Vera-Ramirez, Eileen Landron-Guardiola, Luis A. Rodriguez-Munoz, Maria L. Santiago-Ramos, Landron & Vera LLP, Guaynabo, PR, for Plaintiff.

Eddie G. Malave-Colon, Eddie G. Malave Law Office, Aibonito, PR, Idza Diaz-Rivera, P.R. Department of Justice—Federal Litigation, San Juan, PR, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

SALVADOR E. CASELLAS, District Judge.

Pending before this Court is Defendants William Alicea-Perez, Sandra E. Rivera-Santos, Jorge Santos, and Lisandra Maldonado-Acevedo's motion to dismiss (Docket # 17), and Plaintiff Gladys Marrero-Saez's opposition thereto (Docket # 20). After reviewing the filings, and the applicable law, Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

Factual and Procedural Background

On June 3, 2009, Plaintiff filed suit against Defendants in their official and individual capacity, and against the Municipality of Aibonito, under the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, Sections 1, 4, 6, and 7 of Article II of the Commonwealth's Constitution, and several state laws. Docket # 1. On July 31, 2009, the Municipality answered the complaint. Docket # 14. On September 3, 2009, Defendants filed the instant motion, arguing that Plaintiff failed to state a claim under either Section 1983, 1985, or the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Plaintiff opposed, alleging that she has pled sufficient facts regarding Defendants' actions to survive the instant motion. Plaintiff further avers that Defendants deprived her of her constitutional rights because of her political affiliation.

Standard of Review

Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6)

To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, Plaintiffs' "well-pleaded facts must possess enough heft to show that [they are] entitled to relief." Clark v. Boscher, 514 F.3d 107, 112 (1st Cir.2008).¹ In evaluating whether Plaintiffs are entitled to relief, the court must accept as true all of their "well-pleaded facts [and indulge] all reasonable inferences therefrom" in the plaintiff's favor. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1964, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The First Circuit has held that "dismissal for failure to state a claim is appropriate if the complaint fails to set forth factual allegations, either direct or inferential, respecting each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable legal theory." Gagliardi v. Sullivan, 513 F.3d 301, 305 (1st Cir. 2008). Courts "may augment the facts in the complaint by reference to documents annexed to the complaint or fairly incorporated into it, and matters susceptible to judicial notice." Id. at 305-306. However, in judging the sufficiency of a complaint, courts must "differentiate between well-pleaded facts, on the one hand, and `bald assertions, unsupportable conclusions, periphrastic circumlocution, and the like,' on the other hand; the former must be credited, but the latter can safely be ignored." LaChapelle v. Berkshire Life Ins., 142 F.3d 507, 508 (quoting Aulson v. Blanchard, 83 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1996)); Buck v. American Airlines, Inc., 476 F.3d 29, 33 (1st Cir.2007); see also Rogan v. Menino, 175 F.3d 75, 77 (1st Cir.1999). Thus Plaintiffs must rely in more than unsupported conclusions or interpretations of law, as these will be rejected. Berner v. Delahanty, 129 F.3d 20, 25 (1st Cir.1997) (citing Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 515 (1st Cir.1988)).

Therefore, "even under the liberal pleading standards of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8, the Supreme Court has recently held that to survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must allege `a plausible entitlement to relief.'" Rodríguez-Ortíz v. Margo Caribe, Inc., 490 F.3d 92 (1st Cir.2007) (citing Twombly, 127 S.Ct. at 1965). Although complaints do not need detailed factual allegations, the "plausibility standard is not akin to a `probability requirement,'but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully." Twombly, 127 S.Ct. At 1965; see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). A plaintiff's obligation to "provide the `grounds' of his `entitle[ment] to relief' requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Twombly, 127 S.Ct. at 1965. That is, "factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level, on the assumption that all allegations in the complaint are true." Parker v. Hurley, 514 F.3d 87, 95 (1st Cir.2008).

The Court "may augment the facts in the complaint by reference to documents annexed to the complaint or fairly incorporated into it, and matters susceptible to judicial notice." Gagliardi v. Sullivan, 513 F.3d 301, 305-06 (1st Cir.2008).

Applicable Law and Analysis

In their motion to dismiss, Defendants contend that Plaintiff failed to provide specific allegations sufficient to establish a causal connection between their actions, and the alleged violations of Plaintiff's federally protected rights. According to Defendants, Jose Rivera-Rodriguez and Maria de los Angeles Quiñones did not personally participate in the alleged discriminatory acts, nor did they have the authority to reprimand Plaintiff. As such, Defendants argue that the dismissal of Plaintiff's Section 1983 claims is warranted. Defendants further contend that since there are no federal actors in this case, Plaintiff's Fifth Amendment claims also fail. Moreover, they posit that Plaintiff has not alleged nor adequately established a cause of action under Section 1985, despite assertions regarding Defendants "acting in concert" and "conspiring" to deprive Plaintiff of her constitutional rights. Docket # 1. Lastly, Defendants argue that insofar as Plaintiff's political discrimination claims are properly addressed under the First Amendment, those causes of actions pursuant to the Substantive Due Process and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment are redundant, and should be dismissed.

Plaintiff opposed, arguing that she has adequately pled, and provided sufficient facts to show that Defendants, acting under color of state law, deprived her of her constitutional rights due to her political affiliation. According to Plaintiff, she has set forth facts establishing that Defendants were personally and directly involved in her demotion, the deprivation of her duties, and the inferior work conditions which ultimately forced her to resign. Plaintiff further notes that Jose Rivera-Rodriguez and Maria de los Angeles Quiñones are not defendants in the instant case, as such, Defendants arguments on this front are irrelevant.

Since Jose Rivera-Rodriguez and Maria de los Angeles Quiñones are not defendants in the instant case, Defendants' arguments regarding said individuals are irrelevant to the present controversy. Moreover, in her opposition, Plaintiff points out that she has not asserted a conspiracy claim pursuant to Section 1985. Thus this Court need not dwell on said issue.²

Due Process and Equal Protection Claims

Defendants seek dismissal of Plaintiff's claims under the substantive due process³ and equal protection clauses, arguing that they essentially duplicate Plaintiff's First Amendment claim. Defendants argue, correctly, that substantive due process and equal protection claims would not be cognizable to the extent that they merely overlap with a First Amendment claim. In her opposition, Plaintiff does not expressly address this issue.

The First Circuit has held that a plaintiff's substantive due process claims, in connection with allegations of political discrimination against a municipality, are coextensive with his First Amendment claims. (Ramírez v. Arlequín, 447 F.3d 19, 25 (1st Cir.2006)) (citing Colon-Medina & Sucesores, Inc. v. Custodio, 964 F.2d 32, 46 (1st Cir.1992)). As a result, "where the plaintiffs have stated a viable First Amendment claim for the very same conduct, [the court] declined to `enter the uncharted thicket of substantive due process to find an avenue for relief.'" Id. Moreover, regardless of whether Plaintiff's alleged demotion constitutes adverse action for purposes of the First Amendment, she was not fired, "and `under Puerto Rico law, public employees have a property interest in their continued employment, not in the functions they perform.'" Ruiz-Casillas v. Camacho-Morales, 415 F.3d 127, 134 (1st Cir.2005) (citing Rosado De Velez v. Zayas, 328 F.Supp.2d 202, 212 (D.P.R. 2004)).

As to the equal protection claims, Plaintiff has not alleged that she was treated differently than similarly situated individuals. Moreover, this claim substantially overlaps with her stronger First Amendment claim. See Rosenfeld v. Egy, 346 F.3d 11, 15 (1st Cir.2003); Arlequín, 447 F.3d at 25. When equal protection arguments merely restate a plaintiff's First Amendment claims, there is "little basis or justification for applying equal protection analysis." Ruiz-Casillas, 415 F.3d at 134 (citing Custodio, 964 F.2d at 45; see also Morales-Santiago v. Hernandez-Perez, 488 F.3d 465, 471 (1st Cir.2007)).⁴

Based on the foregoing, Plaintiffs' substantive due process and equal protection claims are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.

Fifth Amendment Claims

Because there are no federal actors in this case, Defendants argue that the Court should dismiss Plaintiff's Fifth Amendment claim. The Fifth Amendment provides that "[n]o person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ..." U.S. Const. amend. V; see also Gerena v. Puerto Rico Legal Services, 697 F.2d 447, 449 (1st Cir. 1983). This amendment applies to actions of the federal government, not those of private individuals, or of state, local or municipal governments. Id. at 449; see also Martínez-Rivera...