Justia U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The First Circuit vacated the district court's dismissal of Appellant's sexual harassment claims based on a hostile work environment, holding that the district court erred in concluding that alleged incidents of harassment that occurred earlier than 2014 were time-barred and that the error contributed to other flaws in the court's analysis.Appellant brought this action claiming sexual harassment and retaliation under both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Puerto Rico Commonwealth law. Defendant asserted that he was sexually harassed for more than a decade and thus subjected to a hostile work environment and that managers at his workplace retaliated against him for complaining about this treatment. The district court granted summary judgment for Defendant on all claims. The First Circuit remanded the case, holding (1) the district court did not err in dismissing the retaliation claims; but (2) a jury could reasonably find that incidents that allegedly occurred in 2014 were instances within the limitations period of a claimed pattern of sexually charged interactions, and the court's statute-of-limitations error necessarily impacted its assessment of the hostile work environment claim. View "Nieves-Borges v. El Conquistador Partnership, L.P." on Justia Law

The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court finding that Local 402 never requested to appeal its deactivation to the International Executive Board (IEB) and that it failed to prove that it was deactivated in retaliation for having exercised its free-speech rights, holding that Local 402 did request an appeal to the IEB.Local 402, which was an affiliate of Council 93, which was created by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) represented Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) employees in Waltham, Massachusetts. In 2017, Local 402 was deactivated. Local 402 later filed suit against Council 93 and AFSCME alleging three claims. The district court granted summary judgment for Local 402 for one count but ruled in favor of Council 93 as to the remaining counts. Local 402 filed a notice of appeal, but the district court held that Local 402 did not preserve its appeal rights. The First Circuit reversed, holding that Local 402 exercised its right to appeal to the IEB. View "Conille v. AFSCME, Council 93" on Justia Law

The First Circuit reversed the decision of the district court entering summary judgment in favor of the Steward Holy Family Hospital and vacating an award entered by an arbitrator regarding a dispute between the Hospital and the union of one of the Hospital's former nurses, Maureen Bean, holding that the arbitrator did not exceed his authority under the parties' collective bargaining agreement (CBA).After Hospital terminated Bean her union (Union) initiated grievance procedures, arguing that there was not just cause for her termination under the CBA. The arbitrator established that Bean had engaged in misconduct providing just cause for discipline but nevertheless concluded that Bean's termination was unwarranted and ordered her reinstatement. The Hospital bought this action to vacate the award. The district court concluded that the arbitrator exceeded his authority under the CBA. The First Circuit reversed, holding that the arbitrator did not exceed the scope of his authority in ordering a lesser form of discipline in accordance with the CBA and the Hospital's own disciplinary policies. View "Steward Holy Family Hospital, Inc. v. Massachusetts Nurses Ass'n" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of Defendant, a food services and facilities company, in three individual cases brought by employees of the company, holding that Plaintiffs' individual claims alleging violations of the Massachusetts Tips Act failed.Plaintiffs brought suit against Defendant for alleged violations of the Massachusetts Tips Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, 152A, and then moved for class certification. The district court denied the motion for lack of sufficient commonality and typicality. Three individual plaintiffs' cases proceeded to summary judgment. The district court granted summary judgment for Defendant, concluding that Defendant's actions were protected under the safe harbor provision of the Tips Act. The First Circuit affirmed the entry of summary judgment without reaching the merits of the class certification issue, holding that Plaintiffs' claims did not warrant relief. View "Lazo v. Sodexo, Inc." on Justia Law

In this action to recover what were alleged to be unpaid overtime wages the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court finding that Employer's sleep-time policy was unlawful and awarding back wages and treble damages to Plaintiffs, holding that there was no error in the district court's judgment.This action was brought as a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq., collective action and as an individual action under analogous Maine labor laws. Under its sleep-time policy, Employer did not pay employees like plaintiff David Giguere for eight hours each night even though its employees were no duty during that time. The district court found that the policy was unlawful and awarded back wages to the collective action plaintiffs and treble damages to Giguere. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err in finding that Employer's sleep-time policy violated the FLSA; and (2) the district court properly awarded Giguere treble damages as a remedy for Employer's Wages Act violation. View "Giguere v. Port Resources Inc." on Justia Law

The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court granting Defendants' motion for summary judgment after treating the motion as a motion to dismiss pursuant too Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), holding that the district court applied the wrong legal standard in adjudicating Defendants' summary judgment motion.Plaintiff brought this action alleging that his employer had discriminated against him on the basis of his national origin and subjected him to retaliation. Defendants moved for summary judgment. The district court considered the motion as a motion to dismiss for failure to state a plausible claim and granted the motion. The First Circuit reversed, holding that the district court's attempt to transform Defendants' fully developed motion for summary judgment into a motion to dismiss was an abuse of discretion. View "Rios-Campbell v. U.S. Department of Commerce" on Justia Law

The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's complaint against Canada for lack of jurisdiction after concluding that Canada was immune from the suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. 1602 et seq., holding that the FSIA did not prohibit Plaintiff's suit.Plaintiff, who was injured in the course of her employment at the Canadian consulate in Boston, Massachusetts, sued Canada for damages in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts pursuant to the Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Act, Mass. Gen. Laws chapter 152. The district court dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. The First Circuit reversed, holding that Plaintiff's claim was not barred by FSIA. View "Merlini v. Canada" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Defendants, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training and the State, on Plaintiff's complaint alleging discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2, holding that summary judgment was properly granted.In his complaint, Plaintiff claimed that the Department's promotion practices had a disparate impact on minority employees and that the Department declined to promote her because she is black. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) because Plaintiff could not show a disparate impact in the absence of statistical and statistically significant evidence, the district court correctly granted summary judgment to Defendants on Plaintiff's claim of disparate impact; and (2) Plaintiff failed to present enough evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude that Defendants' stated reason for failing to promote her was pretextual. View "Luceus v. State" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Employer on this action brought by Employee under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 1210 et seq., and under various Rhode Island laws, holding that the district court properly granted summary judgment on all of Employee's claims.After Employer terminated Employee's employment on the basis of job abandonment Plaintiff filed this suit claiming that Employer terminated her on the basis of her disabilities, failed to provide her with reasonable accommodations, and retaliated against her. The district court granted Employer's motion for summary judgment, concluding that Employee had not met the requirements of Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corp., 526 U.S. 795 (1999). The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court properly granted Employer summary judgment as to all of Plaintiff's claims. View "Pena v. Honeywell International, Inc." on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the district court's partial entry of summary judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiff's age discrimination claim and his family's derivative tort claims and the denial of Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, holding that the district court's summary judgment rulings were proper.Plaintiff and five of his family member brought this action under Puerto Rico law against Plaintiff's former employer and its insurance carrier alleging unjust dismissal and age discrimination in employment, his family asserting derivative tort claims arising from the alleged age discrimination. The district court granted summary judgment for Defendants on all but the unjust dismissal claim and denied Plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that, under the facts of this case, summary judgment was properly granted. View "Ramos-Santiago v. WHM Carib LLC" on Justia Law