Opinion ID: 202064
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mirla M. Rodríguez-Marín

Text: 6 Rodríguez began working for the AOC in 1994 in the position of Social-Penal Technician I, a career position. 2 Over the years, she was promoted to a number of trust positions: Special Assistant II, Director of Legal Affairs, and Executive Aide of Correctional Services. In the summer of 2000, the AOC implemented a Classification and Compensation Plan (the Plan), whereby employees were evaluated and reclassified into appropriate positions. Under the Plan, Rodríguez was classified as Director of the Legal Division, a trust position. Rodríguez met with Laboy and requested to be classified into the career position of attorney. On September 7, 2000, one day before the commencement of the Electoral Moratorium, Rodríguez received four letters notifying her of changes in her employment status. The first letter reinstated her to the career position of Social-Penal Technician I; the second promoted her to the career position of Attorney I, with a one-year probationary period; the third raised her salary to the maximum allowable for that position; and the fourth ordered her to continue serving in her current trust position, indicating that her probation term for the Attorney I position would begin at the conclusion of the trust position. 7 When Rivera-González was appointed Administrator in January 2001, he became Rodríguez's direct supervisor. She testified that during this time, Rivera-González made several comments to her to the effect that he was under political pressure for leaving too many NPP members in cushy positions at the AOC. Rivera-González denied making such statements. In March 2001, Rivera-González removed Rodríguez from her trust position and reinstated her to her career position of Attorney I. Rodríguez does not contest the removal from her trust position. 8 Rodríguez alleges that she was mistreated because of her political affiliation. At one point, she went to her office and discovered that her desk had been taken away, with her computer and other belongings strewn across the floor. After she complained, an old, surplus desk was placed in the office. The person in charge of maintenance refused to clean her office because she was a member of the NPP. Because of this mistreatment, Rodríguez asked to be transferred to Ponce. 9 In Ponce, Rodríguez was litigating cases for the AOC and Dávila was her supervisor. In June 2001, four agents came to her desk to deliver a letter annulling her promotion to Attorney I and reinstating her as a Social-Penal Technician I. She found it humiliating that four agents would be sent, implying that she was a dangerous person. She was not given a hearing or any warning before being demoted. She received another letter assigning her to the Ponce maximum security facility, where dangerous criminals were held and against whom she had litigated cases. Because of this, she feared working there. 10 Rodríguez went to see Rivera-González, and he referred her to Dávila because she was the chairperson of the committee reviewing the promotions and she had issued the recommendation that the promotion was unlawful. Dávila told her that she was not entitled to a hearing because the appointment was illegal. Rodríguez testified that Dávila told her that she could not be left in such a cushy position with such a high salary, but Dávila denied saying this. 11 The demotion letter stated that there [was] no evidence on file of compliance with the due process of law in the recruitment and selection for [her] appointment. When Rodríguez went to examine her personnel file, she discovered that it was being held by Dávila, even though access to a personnel file requires the employee's authorization, and Rodríguez had not given authorization. Rodríguez discovered that papers documenting her promotion were missing from her file. This was corroborated by Marie Rivera, an employee in the human resources office, who testified that documents were missing from Rodríguez's file. Rodríguez had the original versions of these missing papers, and she showed them to Rivera-González. Rodríguez threatened legal action over the missing documents, and the missing documents mysteriously reappeared in her file. Dávila insisted that even though the missing documents had been replaced, Rodríguez's appointment was still illegal. The director of recruitment, Héctor Rivera-Rivera, testified that he certified that Rodríguez's appointment to Attorney I had been lawful. 12 In July 2002, one year after she had been demoted, Rodríguez filed this suit. In September 2002, after learning from Héctor Rivera-Rivera that the appointment had been lawful, Rivera-González ordered that Rodríguez be reinstated. Rivera-González testified that she was a competent employee. She received a letter informing her of the reinstatement, which stated that her salary would be determined later. For the first two months after being reinstated, she was not paid and was not given an office. She then went to Rivera-González, and he assigned attorney Gloria Ortiz-Martínez to evaluate the situation. Ortiz testified that she was unable to work on the case because she needed Rodríguez's personnel file and Dávila did not give it to her despite being asked to do so. Rodríguez testified that, after again going to Rivera-González, he advised her to wait until Dávila's forthcoming transfer to another government agency. He denied making this statement. 13 Rodríguez also testified as to Dávila's personal involvement in revoking her promotion. She testified that Rivera-González and Raymond Mira, the director of human resources, stated in depositions that Dávila was a member of the transition committee of the PDP for the corrections administration and was also a political liaison between the governor's office and the corrections administration. She also testified that personnel directors stated in their depositions that Dávila initiated the review of the thirty-four personnel changes, and that José Ortiz, who was director of human resources at the time, stated that her appointment was legal. 14 As a result of her demotion, Rodríguez suffered emotionally and financially. She suffered depression from the stigma of the demotion, which caused her to have nightmares and fight with her family. She underwent emotional therapy for one year. With her greatly diminished salary, she was unable to pay her bills and her credit was damaged.