Opinion ID: 202808
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Marrero's Merits Arguments

Text: 33 After dispensing with the threshold, procedural arguments, we must carefully review the district court's dismissal on a motion for judgment on the pleadings of Marrero's section 1983 claim. Such a review must be conducted by considering the adequacy of Marrero's complaint in light of the Supreme Court's admonition that there can be no heightened pleading standard or a more demanding rule for pleading a complaint under § 1983 than for pleading other kinds of claims for relief. Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit, 507 U.S. 163, 167-68, 113 S.Ct. 1160, 122 L.Ed.2d 517 (1993). We consider each of Marrero's theories in turn.
34 In order to establish a procedural due process claim under section 1983, a plaintiff must allege first that it has a property interest as defined by state law and, second, that the defendants, acting under color of state law, deprived it of that property interest without constitutionally adequate process. PFZ Props., Inc. v. Rodriguez, 928 F.2d 28, 30 (1st Cir.1991). 35 To establish a constitutionally protected property interest in employment, a plaintiff must demonstrate that she has a legally-recognized expectation that she will retain her position. Santana v. Calderon, 342 F.3d 18, 24 (1st Cir.2003). A legitimate expectation of continued employment may derive from a statute, a contract, or an officially sanctioned rule of the workplace. Id.; Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 601-02, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972). Here, it is undisputed that under the laws of Puerto Rico, career or tenured employees have property rights in their continued employment. Gonzalez-De-Blasini v. Family Dep't, 377 F.3d 81, 86 (1st Cir.2004); Figueroa-Serrano v. Ramos-Alverio, 221 F.3d 1, 7 (1st Cir. 2000); Kauffman v. P.R. Tel. Co., 841 F.2d 1169, 1173 (1st Cir.1988). 36 This inquiry, therefore, narrows to whether Marrero received constitutionally adequate process. See PFZ Props., Inc., 928 F.2d at 30. Such a standard naturally requires us to consider what process was provided to Marrero and whether it was constitutionally adequate. Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113, 126, 110 S.Ct. 975, 108 L.Ed.2d 100 (1990). In this case, we must decide whether the pre-termination hearing provided to Marrero satisfies this standard. 37 Due process requires only that the pre-termination hearing fulfill the purpose of an initial check against mistaken decisions-essentially, a determination of whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the charges against the employee are true and support the proposed action. Cepero-Rivera v. Fagundo, 414 F.3d 124, 135 (1st Cir.2005) (citing Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 545-46, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985)). This initial check requires the employee to receive notice of the charges, an explanation of the evidence that supports those charges, and the ability to refute that evidence. See id. at 134. Any standard that would require more process than this would unduly impede the government in removing poorly performing employees. See id. 38 Marrero concedes in her amended complaint that on May 3, 2002, she received a letter informing her of the Housing Department's intention to remove her from office. This letter, along with a second letter, required her to appear at an informal meeting to discuss the removal proceedings. She attended the meeting and was given a full opportunity to respond to each of the allegations. Even drawing all inferences in Marrero's favor, the process provided her in this pre-termination hearing comported with due process guarantees by providing her notice and an opportunity to be heard. As a result, the pre-termination hearing provided constitutionally adequate process without necessitating a post-termination hearing. See Feliciano-Angulo v. Rivera-Cruz, 858 F.2d 40, 43-44 (1st Cir.1988) (holding that due process requires no irreducible combination of pre and post-termination hearings).
39 Under the Equal Protection Clause, persons similarly situated must be accorded similar governmental treatment. See City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 439, 105 S.Ct. 3249, 87 L.Ed.2d 313 (1985); Barrington Cove Ltd. P'ship v. R.I. Hous. & Mtg. Fin. Corp., 246 F.3d 1, 7 (1st Cir.2001). In order to establish this claim, Marrero needs to allege facts indicating that, compared with others similarly situated, [she] was selectively treated . . . based on impermissible considerations such as race, religion, intent to inhibit or punish the exercise of constitutional rights, or malicious or bad faith intent to injure a person. Rubinovitz v. Rogato, 60 F.3d 906, 910 (1st Cir.1995). 40 The formula for determining whether individuals or entities are similarly situated for equal protection purposes is not always susceptible to precise demarcation. See Coyne v. City of Somerville, 972 F.2d 440, 444-45 (1st Cir.1992). Instead, the test is whether an objective person would see two people similarly situated based upon the incident and context in question. See Rodriguez-Cuervos v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 181 F.3d 15, 21 (1st Cir.1999). 41 Here, Marrero fails even to implicate this test by failing to make any allegation that persons similarly situated were treated more favorably. In fact, the complaint includes allegations to the contrary by admitting that Velez, despite his PDP membership, was accused of similar charges, accorded similar process, and eventually received a similar reprimand. Accordingly, Marrero's equal protection claim was correctly dismissed.
42 Finally, we address Marrero's claim of political discrimination. The First Amendment protects non-policymaking public employees from adverse employment actions based on their political opinions. See Rutan v. Republican Party of Ill., 497 U.S. 62, 75-76, 110 S.Ct. 2729, 111 L.Ed.2d 52 (1990); Padilla-Garcia v. Guillermo Rodríguez, 212 F.3d 69, 74 (1st Cir.2000). To establish a prima facie case, a plaintiff must show that party affiliation was a substantial or motivating factor behind a challenged employment action. See Padilla-García, 212 F.3d at 74; Angulo-Alvarez v. Aponte de la Torre, 170 F.3d 246, 249 (1st Cir.1999). While plaintiffs are not held to higher pleading standards in § 1983 actions, they must plead enough for a necessary inference to be reasonably drawn. Torres-Viera v. Laboy-Alvarado, 311 F.3d 105, 108 (1st Cir.2002) (citing Leatherman, 507 U.S. at 167-68, 113 S.Ct. 1160); see also, Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)(rephrasing the standards under Rule 12(b)(6)). 43 Here, Marrero's allegations are limited to stating that she was badly treated at work and that her political party was mocked. Thus, Marrero has failed to set forth any sort of causal connection between her demotion and the political animus that she alleges prompted it. Merely juxtaposing that she is an active member of the NPP and that the defendants are affiliated with the PDP is insufficient, standing alone, to create a causal link. See Bell Atlantic Corp., 127 S.Ct. at 1966; Padilla-García, 212 F.3d at 74. True, such a connection is one among a myriad of possible inferences. Yet even drawing all reasonable inferences in Marrero's favor, it would be speculative to draw the forbidden inference from the range of possibilities. See Bell Atlantic Corp., 127 S.Ct. at 1966 (stating that a naked assertion of conspiracy gets the complaint close to stating a claim, but without some further factual enhancement it stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief). Accordingly, the district court correctly concluded that her complaint failed to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted.