Opinion ID: 197394
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Puerto Rico's own civil service system

Text: permits a fairly small number of positions (no more than 25 per agency) to be classified as confidential (i.e., potentially subject to politically-based discharge), P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 3, 1351 (1978 & Supp. 1987); (b) the personnel law bases the classification of a confidential position on criteria similar to those enumerated in Elrod and Branti, (whether the job involves formulation of -15- public policy, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 3, 1350, or direct service to the head or subhead of the agency which require a high degree of personal trust, P.R. Personnel Bylaws: Areas Essential to the Merit Principle, 5.2 (1976)); and (c) the legislators and administrators are more familiar with the issues and subjects that potentially may affix a particular job at a particular time with a political charge. Figueroa-Rodr guez, 878 F.2d at 1481. Nevertheless, we decline to grant deference to the designation of Hearing Examiner as a confidential position here, when the plan that designated the position as confidential took into consideration the five specific duties discussed above and merely suggested that the Hearing Examiner has broad and considerable freedom to exercise initiative and his own judgment in the performance of his work. See Def. Exh. IV to Motion for Summary Judgment. We have already considered the job duties of the position above and found them insufficient to indicate that the position entails policymaking. Having freedom to exercise . . . [one's] judgment in the performance of [one's] work does not go beyond our earlier consideration of the position and does not support appellees' contention that the position involves the use of broad discretion. In addition, that the same plan labels drivers and at least two tiers of secretaries as trust or confidential employees suggests that these categories are overly broad. Based on the summary judgment record, we hold that the position of Hearing Examiner is not one for which party affiliation is an appropriate requirement.