Gómez disagreed with this assessment however, because she was embarrassed and did not wish to cause a scene, she decided not to contest the items during the meeting. Gómez instilled fear and anxiety in her staff ROI Puerto Rico operations were not attaining program goals there were serious difficulties with three real estate development projects in Puerto Rico and there had been an overall failure of management. Gómez was making decisions without consulting Rochester program managers there had been complaints about verbal abuse by Ms. Gómez and her staff did not communicate adequately with the Rochester office 1 Ms.
The following areas of concern were articulated: Ms. At the meeting, budget and project issues were discussed, as were issues related to Ms. Gómez with a memorandum of issues raised by the Rochester-based staff concerning Ms. The day before the meeting in Rochester, Mitchell provided Ms. Gómez or to the Puerto Rico programs, to compile a comprehensive list of all the issues that they had encountered with respect to the Puerto Rico operations. Gómez, as well as each member of the staff responsible for administering, supervising and providing technical assistance to Ms. In preparation for this meeting, Mitchell asked Ms. Gómez and others that gave notice of a meeting scheduled for early February in Rochester the purpose of the meeting was to conduct an internal audit of the Puerto Rico projects and programs. Later in January, Stuart Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of ROI, issued a memo to Ms. Gómez identified four finalists for the position of those, she ranked Hernandez highest and recommended that he be offered the position at a higher salary level than that which was initially posted.Īround the time that Hernandez applied for the position at ROI, ROI's executive committee traveled to Puerto Rico to inspect the development sites under Ms. Gómez interviewed Hernandez and believed that he was qualified for the position. In January 2005, Roger Hernandez applied for the position. This interview process began in December 2004. Gómez had the task of reviewing applicants and interviewing candidates for the housing development position. She requested an additional person to staff the Puerto Rico division and to work as a housing developer. Gómez knew that the housing development program was demanding a great deal of her time and detracting from her ability to focus on other programs. When working in Adjuntas, she stayed at a hotel at company expense. Gómez, at her discretion, to work from home a few days per week and to work out of the Adjuntas office a few days per week. To accommodate her condition, ROI allowed Ms. Gómez was hired as director of ROI's Puerto Rico operations, she had a preexisting back problem. Gómez was then forty-nine years old.Īt the time Ms.
Gómez and asked her to take the position Ms. During the process, Lee Beaulac, Senior Vice-President of Housing and Economic Development for ROI, approached Ms. Gómez was assisting ROI in finding a candidate. In 1999, ROI was looking for a director of its Puerto Rico operations, and Ms. ROI's principal office is located in Rochester, New York, and it has an office in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Its mission is to provide services to farm workers, low-income families and depressed communities. ROI is a private, not-for-profit regional community development and human services organization. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we affirm the judgment of the district court. The district court granted ROI's motion for summary judgment on all of the federal claims and dismissed the pendent state claims without prejudice. ROI moved for summary judgment on all of the plaintiffs' claims. § 1132(a)(1)(B) they also sought damages for wrongful discharge and mental distress under Puerto Rico law. § 12112, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C.
§ 623(a), the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. ("ROI"), alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. Gómez's former employer, Rural Opportunities, Inc. Myriam Gómez-González, along with her husband, Gerardo Arribas, instituted this action in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico against Ms.