Opinion ID: 202202
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Statute of Limitations Defense as to Law 17

Text: 73 The district court denied the individual defendants' motion to dismiss the Law 17 claims as time barred. Cruz, who raises a timeliness challenge on appeal, is affected because Law 17 was the only basis for the damages award against him, and for the doubling of the award. 17 74 Under Puerto Rico law, Law 17 claims must be brought within one year. See 29 P.R. Laws Ann. § 155m; Matos Ortiz v. Puerto Rico, 103 F.Supp.2d 59, 63 (D.P.R. 2000) (collecting cases). Cruz argues that the last act of sexual harassment was in November of 2000, that the statute ran in November of 2001, and that the civil complaint was filed in January of 2003. There are several responses, including the response that Cruz ignores the fact that Valentín also complained of an ongoing pattern of harassment and retaliation well after November 2000. 75 In order to resolve what may be a recurring issue, though, we focus on the legal ground used by the district court to reject Cruz' argument. The court held that Valentín tolled the statute of limitations on the Law 17 claim when she filed her administrative complaint on February 26, 2001, because the complaint contained the identical cause of action as that later raised in the civil suit. 76 Under Puerto Rico law, the statute of limitations is tolled by a plaintiff's extrajudicial claim. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 5303. The tolling is effective with regard only to identical causes of action. Benitez-Pons v. Puerto Rico, 136 F.3d 54, 59 (1st Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Rodriguez Narvaez v. Nazario, 895 F.2d 38, 43 (1st Cir.1990)). The relief sought in the extrajudicial claim must be the same as that later sought in court. Id. at 59-60. 77 Cruz argues that, as a matter of law, Valentín's charge before the EEOC cannot be identical to the district court complaint against him, because it is doubtful there can be a Title VII complaint against an individual. 18 Because a cause of action against him could not have been brought under Title VII, he says, the EEOC complaint could not have been identical with, and did not toll the statute of limitations on, Valentín's Law 17 claim against him. 78 Cruz' entire argument rests on the premise that Valentín's administrative claim was originally brought before the EEOC under Title VII exclusively. This premise is incorrect. The claim was originally filed before the Anti-Discrimination Unit of the Puerto Rico Department of Labor, 19 and it was not brought exclusively under Title VII. 79 Valentín listed Cruz among those who had discriminated against her. She alleged, inter alia, that she had been the victim of sexual harassment and reprisals by Cruz. Valentín's cause of action under Law 17 is identical to that raised in the administrative complaint. The administrative charge does not explicitly cite any law — Title VII, Law 17, or otherwise. But except for the fact that Law 17 expressly allows for individual liability, see P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, §§ 155a, 155d, 155j, Puerto Rico interprets Law 17 as congruent with Title VII. The administrative complaint stated all the elements necessary for a Law 17 claim and put Cruz on notice of the discrimination claim against him, as an individual. As for remedy, Valentín asked for various forms of relief, including compensatory damages — the same thing she sought from Cruz in the civil suit. 80 This was enough to toll the statute of limitations. The tolling effect continued until the conclusion of the administrative proceeding. See Rodriguez-Torres v. Caribbean Forms Mfr., Inc., 399 F.3d 52, 61 (1st Cir.2005). Here, that conclusion was no earlier than April 1, 2002, the date on which the EEOC issued a determination that there was reason to believe the alleged sexual harassment and retaliation had in fact occurred. Valentín had a year from that date (and arguably from a later date, for reasons which are unnecessary to elaborate here) to file this lawsuit, and she did so with months to spare. 20 See Rodriguez Narvaez, 895 F.2d at 43 (stating that the statute of limitations begins to run anew when the tolling ends).