Opinion ID: 205955
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Employment with Merck

Text: Baltodano is not from Puerto Rico. After completing his studies at the University of California, in 1996 he began working for Merck as a sales representative in Nicaragua. The following year he was promoted to a position in Costa Rica; next came a transfer to Miami, Florida; and then in 2003 he was promoted again, this time to the position of Sales Administration and Compliance Manager in a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Merck divides its business into regions, and Baltodano's departure from Costa Rica entailed a move from the CANDEAN Region [1] to the Caribbean Region. These regions maintain different policies and standards  in particular, the CANDEAN Region is not FDA-regulated, but the Caribbean Region is. With unclear motivations, a Merck supervisor specifically told Baltodano and another non-Puerto Rican then-employee of Merck, Francene Matheus, that they would have to work harder than their Puerto Rican co-workers in order to advance. Nevertheless, Baltodano thrived at first in the Caribbean Region, earning another promotion in 2005. At the outset of the 2005 promotion, Baltodano met with his supervisor, Wendy Perry; they agreed that he would complete product certifications for the drugs Vytorin, Zetia, and Fosamax by the end of June 2005. But the certifications proved very time-consuming. By September 26, 2005, Baltodano had completed only two of the three he had agreed to do; he completed the final certification a few days later. In December 2005, Perry issued him a Final Warning as a result of the late certifications. At the same time, Baltodano learned that employees from Puerto Rico were given time off to complete the certification exams. He received no similar accommodation from Merck. In early 2006, a new problem arose, this time regarding Baltodano's failure to submit timely expense reports. The details of this problem are spotty, but it is clear that in March 2006 he was suspended for three days. Nonetheless, he earned a merit-based raise that very month. In June 2006, his supervisor, Vincent Caballaro, issued a Second Final Warning as a follow-up to the suspension. In fall 2006, defendant Vazquez became Baltodano's supervisor. Baltodano's court filings paint Vazquez as having lurked in the background up to this point, waiting all the time for a chance to exercise her xenophobic animus against him. As evidence of this animus Baltodano points to a couple of interactions between the two of them. [2] Around this time Baltodano began seeking a transfer to Merck's Miami office for personal-family reasons. These plans fell through after Baltodano again submitted late expense reports  September's in late October 2006, and October's in late November. This time, he was fired. A subsequent interview with a firm in Miami  Stiefel Laboratories  resulted in a job offer, which was revoked after a bad reference from Merck.