Vallejo-Serrano v. Cigna Insurance Co., 1st Cir. (1997)
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Scribd Government DocsVallejo-Serrano v. Cigna Insurance Co., 1st Cir. (1997)
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Scribd Government DocsUSCA1 Opinion
[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]
United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
____________________
No. 96-1899
ISABELO VALLEJO-SERRANO,
Plaintiff, Appellant,
v.
CIGNA INSURANCE CO., ET AL.,
Defendants, Appellees.
____________________
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Jose Antonio Fuste, U.S. District Judge]
___________________
____________________
Before
Torruella, Chief Judge,
___________
Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge,
____________________
and Selya, Circuit Judge.
_____________
____________________
Zuleika Llovet-Zurinaga for appellant.
_______________________
Pedro J. Manzano-Yates with whom Jose A. Silva-Cofresi was
_______________________
______________________
on brief for appellees.
____________________
May 23, 1997
___________________
Per Curiam.
__________
Appellant Vallejo-Serrano filed this employment
discrimination lawsuit
against Cigna
Insurance Co.
and several
supervisors claiming
that he
position, and later refused
because
of his age and
was transferred to
reinstatement after a medical leave,
disability.
summary judgment for defendants.
failed
to
disability
establish
an undesirable
prima
district court granted
It concluded that Vallejo
facie
discrimination, and that
the company's proffered reasons
The
case
of
either
he had failed
age
had
or
to show that
for its actions were pretextual.
We conclude that appellant failed to establish a prima facie case
on
the
disability
claim,
and
that
the
evidence
inadequate to support an age discrimination claim.
is
wholly
We therefore
affirm.
The
summary
parties
both
judgment
turns
maintain
on
that
the
whether Vallejo
appropriateness
made
an
of
adequate
showing under the fourth
prong of the McDonnell Douglas burden__________________
shifting paradigm, the first
satisfied.
802-05
See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411
___ ________________________
_____
(1973).
discrimination
demonstrate
Although
three prongs concededly having been
They
further
claim,
this
that
he
appellant
dispute concerning
was
agree that,
model
the disability
required
replaced by
asserts that
for
there
appellant
non-disabled
is at
whether he was "replaced"
U.S. 792,
least
to
person.
a factual
by Felix Vazquez,1
____________________
Although Vallejo's
replaced
does
by Josefina
complaint
Bermudez and
also asserts
her temporary
that he
was
assistant, he
not press this position on appeal, apparently because their
duties were quite distinct.
-2-
the evidence does not
support his contention.
It
is undisputed
that Vazquez already held a position equivalent to appellant's in
the Accounting Department, and
clerk
most
that appellant was the accounting
with the least seniority.
of
appellant's
workload,
"replaced."
is
tasks,
insufficient
The fact
along
to
with
establish
that Vazquez assumed
his
that
own
diminished
appellant
was
See LeBlanc v. Great American Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836,
___ _______
_______________________
846 (1st Cir. 1993) ("A discharged employee `is not replaced when
another employee is assigned to perform the plaintiff's duties in
addition to other duties, or when the work is redistributed among
other
existing
employees
already
performing
related
work.'"(citation omitted)).
As
for
the age
discrimination
alleged
reduction
required
appellant to show either
neutrally
position.
prong
or
that
in
it
force,
retained
Arguably, Vallejo's
because
it
showed
that
the
claim,
which involves
burden-shifting
that Cigna did
younger persons
evidence
the
however, was that he
was the least
that position -- a fact he does not dispute.
in
the
The
same
the fourth
retained
accounting clerk positions were younger than him.
rationale,
framework
not treat age
satisfied
others
an
in
the
company's
senior person in
Under the McDonnell
_________
Douglas framework,
_______
by
Vallejo needs to respond
demonstrating that it
The record,
however, makes
is a
pretext for
reference to
to that explanation
age discrimination.
only
a single
remark
concerning age allegedly made by appellant's supervisor more than
year before his transfer from the Accounting Department.
This
-3-
is
insufficient to go to the jury.2
See LeBlanc, 6 F.3d at 843
___ _______
("[T]he plaintiff cannot avert summary
devoid
of
adequate
direct
or
judgment if the record is
circumstantial
evidence
of
discriminatory animus on the part of the employer.").3
The judgment of the district court is therefore affirmed.4
____________________
2 Indeed, plaintiff did not make reference to this remark in
his
memorandum in
support
of
his
opposition to
the
summary
judgment motion.
3 Although the district court's opinion in certain instances
uses language that suggests factfinding, see, e.g., Opinion at 13
___ ____
("We
believe that plaintiff's age or disability was not a factor
when Cigna decided to eliminate Mr. Vallejo's position, and later
deny him reinstatement"; "Cigna eliminated Mr. Vallejo's position
because
the
Accounting
without
the
extra
("Cigna's refusal
the SIF
Department
accounting
clerk
operate
efficiently
position.");
to reinstate plaintiff after
was not of a discriminatory
the opinion as a
could
id.
___
at
15
his release from
animus."), it is clear from
whole that the court
found as a matter of law
___________________
that Vallejo had failed to adduce sufficient evidence to send the
case
to a factfinder.
more difficult by
We note
that the court's
the plaintiff's failure
task was made
to file the
required
separate statement of contested facts.
4 Vallejo
also alleged
retaliation claim
based on
his
having filed a complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Unit of the
Labor Department
the company's
1994.
The
Commonwealth
following his
transfer in September
subsequent refusal
to reinstate him
decision not
to reinstate
him was
1993, and
in September
consistent with
law, however, and there is no support in the record
for a finding that it was motivated by retaliatory animus.
-4-
