Opinion ID: 202726
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Spousal Claims.

Text: 53 The final argument advanced in this appeal relates to negligence claims propounded by the appellants' spouses under Article 1802, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 5141. The spouses (who also are appellants in this court) note that they never signed releases. Based on this premise, they contend that their claims for damages should not be barred. 54 Though ingenious, this contention is without merit. Under Puerto Rico law, close relatives of one who has suffered the slings and arrows of employment discrimination may invoke Article 1802 as a vehicle for prosecuting a cause of action. See Santini Rivera v. Serv. Air, Inc., 137 D.P.R. 1 (1994). But such a cause of action is wholly derivative and, thus, its viability is contingent upon the viability of the underlying employment discrimination claim. See Marcano-Rivera v. Pueblo Int'l, Inc., 232 F.3d 245, 258 n. 7 (1st Cir.2000); Baralt v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 183 F.Supp.2d 486, 488 (D.P.R.2002) (citing the court's own translation of Maldonado Rodríguez v. Banco Cent. Corp., 138 D.P.R. 268 (1995)). Because the district court appropriately granted summary judgment on the underlying claims, see supra Parts III(C)-(D), the spouses' derivative claims cannot succeed.