Morales-Figueroa v. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya

550 F.Supp.2d 220

Julio MORALES-FIGUEROA, et al., Plaintiffs v. BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTARIA, Defendant.

Civil No. 05-1424 (FAB).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

April 9, 2007.

Anibal Escanellas-Rivera, Escanellas & Juan, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.

Pedro J. Manzano-Yates, Rosa M. Mendez-Santoni, Enrique R. Padro, Fiddler, Gonzalez & Rodriguez, San Juan, PR, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

BESOSA, District Judge.

On April 20, 2005, Julio Morales-Figueroa, his wife, Aveda Torres-Cruz and their conjugal partnership filed suit against Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria ("BBVA") alleging employment discrimination due to his age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), retaliation pursuant Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a), as well as supplemental state law claims (Docket No. 1). On April 24, 2005, BBVA moved for summary judgment on plaintiffs' claims (Docket No. 19). On June 14, 2006, Plaintiffs opposed the motion (Docket No. 41). For the reasons discussed below, the Court GRANTS BBVA's motion for summary judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Mr. Julio Morales-Figueroa began to work at BBVA as a Messenger in September, 1978.¹ During his tenure at BBVA, he worked as a Messenger in the Bank's Operations Area located in Santurce, Puerto Rico. (See, BBVA's Statement of Uncontested Material Facts "SUMF", ¶ 1). His duties as a messenger consisted of the pick-up and delivery of mail, documents, materials, and equipment sent to or sent by BBVA to external entities such as law firms and the Puerto Rico Treasury Department. He was also responsible for delivering any documents or materials to and from the different offices and branches of BBVA. (SUMF, ¶ 2)

BBVA employed a total of three (3) messengers, including Morales-Figueroa. The other two (2) messengers were Rafael Reyes and Jesus Santiago-Rosado. (SUMF, ¶ 3) Morales-Figueroa was born on June 19, 1949. (SUMF, ¶ 1) Reyes was born on October 31, 1945. Santiago-Rosado was born on May 17, 1947. (Id.). At the time Mr. Morales-Figueroa was terminated, Reyes was 59 years old and Santiago-Rosado was 57 years old.

In order to comply with their responsibilities, the Messengers used two vehicles owned by BBVA. (SUMF, ¶ 4)

Before 2004, the gasoline supply for BBVA's vehicles was provided exclusively by Versalles-Gulf gas station, which BBVA contracted to provide this service. BBVA's messengers bought gasoline at the gas station and signed a receipt for the amount spent. The amount was then charged to BBVA. The receipt signed by each messenger contained the messenger's signature, the amount spent, the service provided or the product sold by the gas station, the date of transaction, and the car's make and license number. BBVA then paid the expenses. (SUMF, ¶ 6 and Plaintiffs' Statement of Contested and Uncontested Facts "PUMF", ¶¶ 11-12)

In 2004, BBVA started confronting services problems with the Versalles-Gulf Station because of inconsistencies in the gasoline supply. Because of that, BBVA sent a letter to all its messengers, Morales-Figueroa, Reyes-Albarran and Santiago-Rosado, informing that they should go instead to the Minillas Gulf Station for the gasoline supply.² (SUMF, ¶ 7)

In late 2004, not long after BBVA contracted with Minillas Gulf Station, Bonosio Casellas Bond, Vice-President of BBVA's Operations, held a telephone conversation with the owner of Minillas Gulf Station, Marco Ginorio. (SUMF, ¶ 8) Casellas stated that Ginorio informed him of two situations related to Morales-Figueroa. Specifically, Mr. Ginorio indicated that on one occasion Morales-Figueroa requested Ginorio to prepare and issue a receipt for $10.00 despite the fact that Morales-Figueroa had not purchased gasoline or products for BBVA's vehicle. On another occasion, he further informed, Morales-Figueroa requested Ginorio to prepare and issue a receipt for $15.00 despite the fact that he only bought $10.00 worth of gasoline for BBVA's vehicle. (SUMF, ¶ 8)

After the conversation with Ginorio, Casellas and Jaime Rivera, Morales' immediate supervisor, conducted an investigation and reviewed his record of vehicle expenses. Casellas and Rivera noticed that Morales' receipts were "extremely high when compared to the standard amounts and to the vehicle expenses reported by the other Messengers". (SUMF, ¶ 10) Rivera also contacted the owner of Versalles-Gulf Station to obtain information regarding Morales' use of BBVA's account at that specific gas station. The owner of the gas station informed Rivera that Morales-Figueroa bought beers in the gas station's mini market and charged them to BBVA's account. (SUMF, ¶ 11)

Because of the above, Casellas and Rivera met with Manuel A. Frias, BBVA's Human Resources officer to discuss the information obtained from Rivera and Ginorio. (Id.)

After the meeting, specifically on December 6, 2004, Casellas, Rivera and Frias held a meeting with Morales-Figueroa to discuss their findings. (SUMF, ¶ 13) During the meeting, Frias informed Morales-Figueroa of the investigation conducted by his supervisors and the BBVA's Human Resources Department with regards to his pattern of excessive car expenses. They also confronted Morales-Figueroa with the charges that appeared in the gas station receipts signed by him to obtain his reaction. (SUMF, ¶ 13) Morales-Figueroa denied the allegations and asserted that one of his supervisors authorized him to buy gasoline for his personal vehicle using BBVA's account. When asked to disclose the supervisor's name, however, Morales-Figueroa expressed that he did not remember it. In addition, although Casellas' was in charge of BBVA's operations approximately three (3) years before the December 6, 2004 meeting and Rivera was the messengers' supervisor, Morales-Figueroa stated that none of them authorized the use of gasoline for his personal vehicle. (SUMF, ¶ 4 and Exh. IX) After the meeting, Morales-Figueroa was suspended from employment and salary.

Casellas, Rivera and Frias then met with Reyes and Santiago, BBVA's other messengers. They both stated that the amounts that were reflected in their receipts were spent in gasoline for BBVA's vehicles, and that they never bought gasoline for their personal cars with BBVA's account. (SUMF, ¶ 16) They further expressed that they never altered any ticket or receipt for their benefit, and that they were prohibited from using BBVA's account at Versalles-Gulf station for any purpose other that the purchase of gasoline or car maintenance products for BBVA's vehicles. (Id., Exhs. 5 and 6) They further stated they did not have any knowledge of Morales-Figueroa's use of BBVA's account for his personal benefit, (Id.) Frias then met with Alfredo Izquierdo, BBVA's Human Resources Manager, to discuss his findings and recommended that Morales-Figueroa be terminated from his employment. Izquierdo adopted Frias' recommendation and decided to terminate Morales-Figueroa from his employment at BBVA effective on December 13, 2004. (SUMF, ¶ 20) According to Frias, he reached his decision based on (1) Morales' record of vehicle expenses when compared to the records of Reyes and Santiago; (2) the information given by Ginorio to Casellas and the information given by the owner of Versalles Gulf Station to Rivera, which he believed to be totally credible; (3) the interviews he held with Casellas and Rivera; (4) Morales' demeanor, responses and remarks during the December 6, 2004 meeting, when he was interviewed and confronted with the information; (5) the content of the interviews held with Reyes and Santiago (the other 2 messengers) on December 6, 2004; and (6) the high level of credibility that he conferred upon Reyes, Santiago, Rivera, and Casellas. (SUMF, ¶ 18, Exh. II) Frias did not base his recommendation on Morales' age. (SUMF, ¶ 18, Exh. II, ¶ 15)

Mr. Morales-Figueroa was terminated from his position as a messenger, on December 13, 2004. He was 55 years old at that time.

DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment Standard

The court's discretion to grant summary judgment is governed by Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 56 states, in pertinent part, that the court may grant summary judgment only if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c); See also Santiago-Ramos v. Centennial P.R. Wireless Corp., 217 F.3d 46, 52 (1st Cir.2000).

Summary judgment is appropriate if "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Once a properly supported motion has been presented, the opposing party has the burden of demonstrating that a trial-worthy issue exists that would warrant the court's denial of the motion for summary judgment. For issues where the opposing party bears the ultimate burden of proof, that party cannot merely rely on the absence of competent evidence, but must affirmatively point to specific facts that demonstrate the existence of an authentic dispute. See Suarez v. Pueblo Int'l, Inc., 229 F.3d 49 (1st Cir.2000).

In order for a factual controversy to prevent summary judgment, the contested facts must be "material" and the dispute must be "genuine". "Material" means that a contested fact has the potential to change the outcome of the suit under governing law. The issue is "genuine" when a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party based on the evidence. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). It is well settled that "[t]he mere existence of a scintilla of evidence"...