Justia Labor & Employment Law Opinion Summaries

Plaintiffs were employees of Puerto Rico National Processing Service Center (PR-NPSC), run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit alleging that FEMA’s actions in implementing a rotational staffing plan at the PR-NPSC and in eventually closing the facility discriminated against them on the basis of national origin and constituted unlawful retaliation in violation of Title VII. The district court granted summary judgment to Defendants. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) Plaintiffs’ disparate impact claims failed because the challenged actions were job-related and consistent with business necessity, and Plaintiffs failed to show that there were alternatives available to FEMA that would have had less disparate impact and served FEMA’s legitimate needs; and (2) both retaliation claims failed because Plaintiffs did not show that the allegedly adverse employment actions were causally related to any protected conduct. View "Abril-Rivera v. Johnson" on Justia Law

Plaintiff was fired from Servicios Legales de Puerto Rico, Inc. (SLPR), a non-profit legal services organization where she had worked for nearly twenty-eight years. Plaintiff was sixty-three years old at the time she was terminated. Plaintiff filed an employment discrimination complaint in federal court alleging that SLPR wrongfully terminated her on the basis of her age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of SLPR. The First Circuit affirmed on the ground that Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case for age discrimination. View "Del Valle-Santana v. Servicios Legales de P.R., Inc." on Justia Law