[HOST. SEXUAL] Inés M. Jelú v. Munc. Guaynabo-Demanda Federal

8/18/2019 [HOST. SEXUAL] Inés M. Jelú v. Munc. Guaynabo-Demanda Federal

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTFOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

INÉS MARÍA JELÚ IRAVEDRA, ** CIVIL NO.

Plaintiff, ** RE: CIVIL RIGHTSv. *

* MUNICIPALITY OF GUAYNABO; and * PLAINTIFF DEMANDSHÉCTOR O’NEILL-ROSA, * TRIAL BY JURY

*Defendants. *

*******************************

COMPLAINT

TO THE HONORABLE COURT:

NOW INTO THIS COURT, through the undersigned counsel,

comes the Plaintiff and respectfully states, alleges and

requests, as follows:

I. NATURE OF ACTION

1.1 Plaintiff Inés María Jelú-Iravedra (“Jelú” or

“Plaintiff”) brings this action, pursuant to Title VII of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) against her former

employer, the Municipality of Guaynabo (“The Municipality” or

“Defendant”), and Héctor O’Neill-Rosa (“O’Neill-Rosa”).

1.2 Jelú claims herein under that O’Neill-Rosa subjected

her to a pattern of sexual harassment that included

unconsented physical contacts, and unwelcomed explicit

invitations to have sexual intercourse and sexual remarks,

which was sufficiently severe or pervasive so as to alter the

conditions of her employment and create an abusive and hostile

work environment.

Case 3:16-cv-01585-ADC Document 1 Filed 03/31/16 Page 1 of 34


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1.3 Plaintiff also claims herein below that The

Municipality knew about O’Neill-Rosa’s unlawful conduct and

failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action,

thereby emboldening the harasser to continue his misconduct

and thus, Defendant can be deemed to have adopted the

offending conduct and its results, quite as if they had been

authorized affirmatively as the employer’s policy. Instead of

taking prompt remedial action, The Municipality engaged in a

pattern of retaliation against Jelú and, finally,

constructively discharged her for having complained of sexual

harassment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(“EEOC”).

1.4 Jelú also brings this complaint against The

Municipality for sexual harassment and retaliation under the

local counterparts of Title VII; and, against both The

Municipality and O’Neill-Rosa for assault, battery, breach of

the peace, stalking, threats, defamation, undue intrusions

into her private life, character assassination and attacks to

her professional reputation, in violation of her

constitutional right to privacy and dignity.

1.5 Plaintiff demands trial by jury.

II. JURISDICTION

2.1 This Honorable Court has subject matter jurisdiction

to allow this suit pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. This action

is authorized pursuant to Sections 706(f)(1) and (3) of Title

VII, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000c-(5)(f)(1) and (3).



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2.2 This Honorable Court has personal jurisdiction over

this civil action because the employment practices and other

acts alleged to be unlawful were committed and the damages

were suffered by Plaintiff within the jurisdiction of the

United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico.

2.3 Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1367(a), this Honorable

Court has supplemental jurisdiction over the pendent claims

raised herein by Plaintiff, pursuant to Law No. 17 of April

22, 1988 (29 L.P.R.A. §§ 155 et. seq.; henceforth “Act 17”),

Law No. 100 of June 30, 1959 (29 L.P.R.A. §§ 146 et. seq.,

henceforth “Act 100”), Law No. 69 of July 6, 1985 (29 L.P.R.A.

§ 1321 et. seq.; henceforth “Act 69”), Articles 1801 and 1802

of the Puerto Rico Civil Code (31 L.P.R.A. §§ 5141 and 5142;

henceforth “General Tort Statute”), since they are so related

to the aforestated federal claims that they all form part of

the same case or controversy under Article III of the

Constitution of the United States of America.

2.4 On July 30, 2015, Plaintiff filed timely charges of

employment discrimination with the Anti-Discrimination Unit of

the EEOC. More than 180 have elapsed since the filing of the

charge in the case of reference on July 30, 2015, without the

EEOC having taken any action.

III. PARTIES TO THE ACTION

3.1 Jelú is an adult female individual and a citizen of

the United States of America, who resides in the Commonwealth

of Puerto Rico.



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3.2 At all times relevant herein, Jelú was an employee

of The Municipality, within the meaning of the applicable

statutes, who fulfilled duties for Defendant, as Attorney III,

at its Legal Division located in City Hall in Guaynabo, Puerto

Rico (henceforth “Legal Division”).

3.3 At all times relevant herein, Jelú was duly

qualified to carry out the duties assigned to her in the

position of Attorney III; she performed her functions with a

high degree of excellence, diligence and interest in her work;

and, she expected to be treated in a professional and

respectful manner at the workplace by her supervisors and

third party-invitees, without the fear of being the object of

discrimination or of being subjected to hostile and abusive

conduct by reason of her sex or to reprisals for having

complained of sexual harassment.

3.4 The Municipality is a city, or municipal entity,

with the capacity to sue and/or be sued, located within the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

3.5 At all times relevant herein, The Municipality was

an “employer” within the meaning of the applicable statutes,

which engaged in an industry affecting commerce and employed

more than 500 regular employees.

3.6 O’Neill-Rosa is an adult male and son of the Mayor of

The Municipality, Hon. Héctor O’Neill-García (“Mayor O’Neill-

García”), who performed functions and fulfilled duties for the

New Progressive Party (“NPP”) in Guaynabo, P.R. As such,



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O’Neill-Rosa frequented City Hall, including the Legal

Division where Plaintiff worked.

3.7 At all times relevant herein, Ana Quintero

(“Quintero”) was an employee of The Municipality, acting

within the course and scope of such agency and employment, who

performed managerial, administrative and/or supervisory

functions, and fulfilled duties for Defendant in the Legal

Division.

IV. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

A. The Sexual Harassment.

4.1 On July 15, 2012, Jelú started working at the post of

Attorney II of the Legal Division of The Municipality, under

the supervision of the then Director, Hector Hoyos.

4.2 Since Jelú’s arrival at the Legal Division in July of

2012, and up to July of 2015 -- that is, for an uninterrupted

period of three years -- O’Neill-Rosa, with the full knowledge

and consent of The Municipality, continuously subjected her to

a pattern of unwanted sexual advances consisting of:

a) lustful glances and gestures;

b) comments of a sexual nature;

c) explicit invitations to have sex;

d) stalking and persecution;

e) at all hours, constant calls and text messages toher cell phone; and,

f) lascivious physical contacts without her consent.

4.3 Also during said three-year period, O'Neill-Rosa

repeatedly told Jelú that if she did not submit to his sexual



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advances, The Municipality was going to fire her because he

influenced the employment decisions of his father, Mayor

O’Neill-García.

4.4 During Jelú’s first month of employment, O’Neill-Rosa

went into her office uninvited. After greeting Jelú, O’Neill-

Rosa hugged her tightly, grinding his genitals against her

body; he grabbed her buttocks and fondled her breasts; and he

kissed her on the mouth and neck. While doing this, O’Neill-

Rosa told Jelú that he liked her a lot and that she had him

very horny. When Jelú was able to break away from his embrace,

she told O’Neill-Rosa to leave her alone, that she had no

interest in him and that she did not want him to affect her

work. O’Neill-Rosa replied that it was just the opposite,

because all the female employees who were working there had to

be available to him and have his total trust; and that it

would be an advantage for her to submit to him and keep him

happy, because no one else was going to touch her there and he

was going to obtain many employment benefits for her.

4.5 After the occurrence of the incident narrated in the

foregoing paragraph, O’Neill-Rosa -- two to five times per

month -- would walk into Jelú’s office uninvited and repeat

the same behavior or engage in similar sexually-charged

conduct.

4.6 On one of these occasions that O’Neill-Rosa

unexpectedly appeared at Jelú’s office, he greeted her with a

tight hug and fondled her body, introduced his hand inside her



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underwear and touched her genitalia. She immediately reacted

by suddenly pulling his hand out of her underwear,

accidentally causing his hand to hurt her genitals, and

pushing him away from her.

4.7 During another unannounced visit to Jelú’s office,

and while she was sitting at her desk, O'Neill-Rosa dropped

his pants, pulled out his penis, placed it close to her face

and told her to suck it. She immediately got up from her

chair, left her office and locked herself in the women’s

bathroom until he left the premises.

4.8 In many of O’Neill-Rosa’s surprise visits to Jelú’s

office, besides engaging in lascivious physical contacts with

her body and as part of his repertoire, he would utter profane

sexual comments to her, such as: “I’m going to fuck you,”

“I'll suck your pussy and you’ll get addicted,” "that pussy is

mine,” “I’m going to stick it up your ass,” “give me 10

minutes and you will see,” etc. Further, several times,

O'Neill-Rosa told Jelú that if she were not good to him, she

would not last long in her job.

4.9 Each time O'Neill-Rosa would walk into Jelú’s office

uninvited, she would try to avoid him within the office,

either by standing at the other side of her desk or by

interposing filing records as a shield between his body and

hers; and, on several occasions, she even went so far as

pushing him back to separate him from her.



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4.10 On two separate occasions, O'Neill-Rosa approached

Jelú in the parking lot of the Legal Division, where he

hugged her and grabbed her buttocks, telling her that he

wanted her a lot and that he was going to call her by

telephone to invite her out, so that she would answer his

telephone calls.

4.11 Several times, O'Neill-Rosa appeared at other

Municipal Offices where Jelú performed some of her duties and

also threw himself over her to kiss her and fondle her body.

4.12 On four or five different occasions, while Jelú was

attending other working arrangements at the Electoral

Committee of Mayor O’Neill-García, O’Neill-Rosa approached and

hugged her, either facing her or from behind her, rubbing his

genitals against her genitalia or buttocks, while uttering

that he liked her a lot, that he wanted her, and that she was

very hot. As Jelú rejected him, O’Neill-Rosa threatened her,

stating that she would not last long in the Municipality if

she did not go to bed with him.

4.13 Whenever Jelú was in the presence of O’Neill-Rosa,

he would lustfully look at her body and/or make sexual

gestures with his tongue or bit his lips in a sexual manner.

4.14 O'Neill-Rosa would stalk Jelú in the Municipal

Offices, in political activities, around her house and at the

beauty salon she sponsored.

4.15 O'Neill-Rosa constantly made calls and sent text

messages to Jelú’s cell phone. Initially, unaware of his



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motivation, she answered some of his calls; but he kept

telling her that he wanted to see and be with her, and asked

her out. She immediately stopped answering his calls, but he

kept calling her. Indeed, he would not let her sleep at nights

and early in the mornings, bothering her with unwelcomed

multiple phone calls and text messages to her cell phone,

which she did not answer.

4.16 In the summer of 2014, O’Neill Rosa invited Jelú to

travel with him to New York for a NPP political activity and

to stay with him in his apartment, where they were going to

speak calmly of an employment vacancy announcements in which

she was engaged, because he wanted to see if she could earn

that position -- as he had other candidates in mind -- by

sexually pleasing him. Jelú explicitly rejected his invitation

and did not even attend the trip to New York, as she had

originally planned, in order to avoid O’Neill.

4.17 O’Neill Rosa would also invite Jelú to his apartment

in Guaynabo to allegedly discuss the alluded employment

vacancy announcements; invitations that were, likewise,

rejected by Plaintiff.

4.18 By letter of December 10, 2014, Mayor O’Neill-García

appointed Jelú to the position of Attorney III, effective

December 16, 2014, where she would earn a monthly salary of

$5,140. Mayor O’Neill-García advised Plaintiff therein that

such position had a probationary status of twelve months, and



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that once approved, she would obtain regular status in the

same.

4.19 Shortly after Jelú’s appointment to the post of

Attorney III, O'Neill told her that he had intervened in his

father’s decision to select her for that the position and that

she had to be grateful to him for that; and, that if she did

not treat him with love and passion, she would be ungrateful.

O'Neill added that he wanted to move in with Jelú to give her

another son. He told Jelú to give in to him; that he would

give her great pleasure with oral sex and would get her

“addicted with so much pleasure;” and, that he was “crazy to

get [his] face between [her] buttocks.”

4.20 After January 2015, O'Neill repeatedly told Jelú

that she had her job because of him; that she owed him

everything and had to repay him; and that, if she did not give

him everything, “including her ass, many times,” she was

“going to be taken out of the Municipality.”

4.21 At all times, whenever O’Neill-Rosa engaged in the

aforementioned sexual misconduct, Jelú would explicitly tell

him that his verbal and physical advances were not welcomed.

Nevertheless, he would always continue his verbal and physical

advances of a sexual nature towards her, with the same

frequency and persistence as before.

4.22 At the time when the acts of sexual harassment

detailed above took place, the unwritten policy at The

Municipality was that it was acceptable for Mayor O’Neill-



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García and his son O’Neill-Rosa to engage in sexual relations

with female employees. Moreover, the female employees who

engaged in sexual relations with them were treated more

favorably and given better employment conditions,

opportunities, promotions and benefits than those who did not.

In fact, Mayor O’Neill-García encouraged this type of conduct

by having consensual intimate relationships with various

subordinates, and by treating them more favorably and giving

them better employment opportunities than other female

employees.

4.23 Following his father’s example, O’Neill-Rosa had

consensual relations with several municipal employees,

including his common law wife, Sandra Ramos-Merced (“Ramos-

Merced”), who was Deputy Director of HR and received

preferential treatment and better job opportunities than other

female employees.

4.24 Submission to O’Neill-Rosa’s sexual advances was

made by The Municipality, explicitly and implicitly, a term or

condition of the employment of Jelú, and the rejection of such

conduct by her was used by The Municipality as basis for

employment decisions adversely affecting her, as asserted

hereinafter.

4.25 O’Neill-Rosa engaged in the pattern of conduct

constitutive of sexual harassment against Jelú, knowingly,

intentionally and maliciously, with premeditation,



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deliberation and bad faith, and with the perverse design of

obtaining sexual favors from Plaintiff.

4.26 The frequency, continuity and intensity of the

pattern of sexual harassment to which O’Neill-Rosa submitted

Jelú in the workplace unreasonably interfered with her work

performance and created an intimidating, hostile, abusive and

offensive working environment, causing her to suffer extreme

shame, embarrassment, humiliation, nervousness, anxiety, fear

and anger in the workplace. Sometimes O’Neill-Rosa’s

misconduct led Plaintiff to lock herself in a bathroom stall

until she could control herself and was able return to work to

her office.

4.27 At all times relevant herein, The Municipality was

fully aware of the pattern of sexual harassment to which Jelú

was subjected by O’Neill-Rosa and failed to take any action or

measure to prevent or stop such misconduct. Instead, The

Municipality knowingly allowed such sexual harassment to occur

and continue unabated for a period of three years, thereby

ratifying and adopting the sexual harassment of O’Neill-Rosa.

In so doing, The Municipality engaged in unlawful employment

practices, with gross negligence, malice or reckless

indifference to the civil rights of the Plaintiff.

B. The Retaliatory Actions.

4.28 On several occasions, from July 2012 and until July

2015, Jelú verbally complained to her supervisors, Hector

Hoyos (“Hoyos”) Denise Rodriguez (“Rodriguez”) and Ana



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Quintero (“Quintero”) about the conduct of O'Neill-Rosa

constitutive of sexual harassment. She also gave notice of

O'Neill-Rosa’s misconduct to the Chief of the Human Resources

Department (“HR”), Eduardo Faria (“Faria”). The Municipality,

however, never took action, corrective or otherwise, in

connection with these complaints.

4.29 At all times, Jelú verbally reported O’Neill-Rosa’s

sexual harassment to The Municipality’s HR’s Chief Faria;

however, no action was taken by The Municipality.

4.30 When Jelú complained of O’Neill-Rosa’s sexual

harassment to Hoyos, then Director of the Legal Division, he

replied to her to be quiet about it because everyone who

worked in The Municipality were brought there by Mayor

O’Neill-García and his sons. Hoyos then remarked jokingly that

if he were a woman, he would also go out with one of them.

4.31 On several occasions, notwithstanding Jelú’s prior

complaints to Hoyos about O’Neill-Rosa’s misbehavior, Hoyos

wanted to send her to the NPP Electoral Committee ran by

O’Neill, or summoned her to his office so that O’Neill could

meet Plaintiff there, to which she always refused; these

requests were then followed by calls by O’Neill telling her

that he was waiting there for her.

4.32 Because Jelú refused to meet O’Neill-Rosa at the NPP

Electoral Committee and Hoyos’ office, the latter punished her

with excessive supervision and with work overloads with the

evident intent to adversely affect the quality of her work.



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4.33 When Rodriguez replaced Hoyos as the new head of the

Legal Division, Jelú also expressed to her that O'Neill was

sexually harassing her; but Rodriguez, likewise, ignored her.

4.34 During the week of July 6-10, 2015, Jelú complained

to Quintero, current Director of the Legal Division, about

O'Neill’s sexual harassment. Quintero’s response was that she

“knew the Cano” (O'Neill’s nickname) and that she would want

him to notice her; that she had raised the sons of Mayor

O’Neill-García and that Jelú was not even much of a woman for

any of them; and that, if Jelú did not like her job, she

should better go to work in a whorehouse.

4.35 On July 13, 2015, Jelú submitted a written sexual

harassment complaint to the Vice-Mayor Aurialis Lozada, who at

the time served as Acting Mayor since Mayor O’Neill-García was

out of the jurisdiction. Jelú did not go to HR to lodge the

complaint because the then Acting Director of that office was

Ramos-Merced, O’Neill-García’s common-law wife and mother of

his five children.

4.36 As a result of having complained of sexual

harassment in writing, Jelú immediately began to be victim of

retaliation in the modality of hostile work environment,

consisting of, inter alia, threats and intimidation by her

supervisor Quintero. In fact, immediately after the submission

of this complaint, Quintero told Jelú that The Municipality

would mark her with an X -- black-listing her -- for

complaining of sexual harassment by the Mayor’s son.



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4.37 After the lodging of the sexual harassment

complaint, Quintero began to utter intimidating comments about

death and witchcraft to Jelú; and did so repeatedly. Quintero,

for example, told Jelú that:

a) she knew people who take the dead out from theirgraves and do witchcraft;

b) in this island, they kill someone for anything;

c) from her prior work as prosecutor, she knows all the whorehouses here and also people from theunderground who kill anyone for anything, even ifthe victim wears a bulletproof vest because theyshoot the victim in the head;

d) she used to visit the morgue and saw there how bodybags were opened and also a machine grinding thedead; and,

e) because of her experiences with contract killers, whores, death and witchcraft, she was very “tough.”

4.38 Quintero’s repertoire of intimidating remarks and

comments also included threats to Jelú to the effect that she

was going to professionally and personally hurt Plaintiff by,

for example, arranging an audit of her entire working area

because she (Quintero) had been an assistant attorney for the

comptroller and knew how to find inaccuracies and successfully

prosecute people, adding that in these audit processes one

person had even died.

4.39 Also after the presentation of the complaint of

sexual harassment, Quintero began to continuously denigrate

Jelú professionally. Further, Quintero stripped Jelú of her

job duty to attend Court.



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4.40 Due to The Municipality’s failure to take immediate

corrective measures to stop the harassment and to its

retaliatory acts, Plaintiff filed charges of sexual harassment

and retaliation against The Municipality and O'Neill García

with the EEOC on July 30, 2015.

4.41 After Jelú filed her sexual harassment and

retaliation charge with the EEOC, The Municipality’s

retaliatory actions against her escalated in frequency and

severity. The Municipality showed, through the actions and

omissions of its managerial employees, its malicious intent to

harm Jelú, personally and professionally, for the reason that

she had complained of the sexual harassment by the son of

Mayor O'Neill García. Some examples follow:

a) Whenever Quintero saw that Jelú -- with muchsacrifice and making an extraordinary effort so that

the quality of her job would not be affected --completed her work, Quintero would unjustifiablyreject and return the writings to her asunacceptable, on the basis of insignificant minutiaeor minor details.

b) Quintero instructed Jelú to perform work that didnot meet law requirements to induce her to make

mistakes or incur in errors, work that Jelú did notperform and, instead, returned to Quintero for suchreason;

c) Quintero subjected Jelú to excessive and exaggeratedsupervision in the employment;

d) Quintero harshly criticized and belittled the workJelú performed;

e) Quintero took away Jelú’s duties;

f) Quintero, constantly and intentionally, madeinappropriate comments to Jelú that affected her

emotionally;



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g) Quintero excluded Jelú from departmental meetings;

h) Jelú was ostracized and marginalized by hersupervisor and co-workers; and,

i)

Jelú was continuously followed, watched, andphotographed by private investigators hired by The Municipality, as she entered and left work and herresidence, and visted public and commercial placesshe used to attend.

4.42 As result of the aforementioned harassment, threats,

intimidating remarks, stalking and surveillance, Jelú came to

fear for her safety and that of her son.

4.43 Although Jelú repeatedly expressed to The

Municipality that she was being sexually harassed by O’Neill-

Rosa, and albeit she exhausted all internal and external

administrative remedies for the presentation and channeling of

her complaint, The Municipality ignored her complaints by not

taking any remedial action.

4.44 When Jelú complained in writing of O’Neill-Rosa’s

sexual harassment, The Municipality hired Atty. Miguel Romero-

Lugo (“Romero-Lugo”) a close friend of Mayor O’Neill-García,

to conduct an investigation into Jelú’s complaint against his

son. After conducting such investigation, Romero-Lugo rendered

his report on this matter on October 29, 2015.

4.45 Romero-Lugo, acting in the dual capacity of

investigator and judge, tailored this report to suit the

interests of the Mayor by acquitting his son of the imputed

sexual harassment. More specifically, Romero-Lugo, arbitrarily

and ignoring essential parts of Jelú’s testimony, found that

her version did not deserve any credibility, in order to then



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conclude that her complaint had no basis. In so concluding,

Romero-Lugo ignored uncontested corroborating material

evidence that Plaintiff submitted to him, consisting in

Plaintiffs’ cellular phones, which had registered persistent

texts and oral messages sent by O’Neill-Rosa, some at odd

hours (late at nights and early in the mournings), seeking

sexual favors from her and which were not answered by her.

4.46 The Municipality’s decision to ignore Jelú’s

multiple complaints of sexual harassment, coupled with Romero-

Lugo’s finding that such testimony was not credible,

emboldened O'Neill-Rosa to continue his misconduct with

impunity. Further, Romero-Lugo’s opinion that Jelú’s complaint

was baseless paved the way for her constructive discharge.

4.47 Shortly after Romero-Lugo rendered his report, The

Municipality, maliciuosly and in flagrant violation of its and

federal regulations on the confidentiality on sexual

harassment complaints, leaked and disclosed Romero-Lugo’s

investigation and findings to other employees at City Hall,

causing Jelú to be marginalized and subjected to continuous

mobbing and bullying by co-workers.

4.48 On December 15, 2015, Quintero summoned Jelú to the

conference room of the Legal Division and, unexpectedly and

surprisingly, showed Plaintiff several purported monthly

evaluations of Plaintiff’s work performance during her

probationary period. Quintero also told Jelú that she was then

recommending The Municipality, in a memorandum accompanying



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the evaluations, to separate her from her employment,

allegedly for not having passed the probationary period of the

post of Attorney III under her supervision.

4.49 During the December 15 meeting, Jelú indicated to

Quintero that she did not agree with her decision and objected

to the evaluation process as a whole. Quintero did not discuss

and refused to furnish to Jelú the evaluations for her review;

instead, she told Plaintiff that all evaluations were deemed

read and discussed. At all times during this meeting,

Quintero’s behavior towards Jelú was humiliating and hostile.

4.50 By letter dated January 14, 2016, and addressed to

the Municipal Administrator, Ricardo Dalmau Santana, Jelú

objected to the process of evaluation of her job performance

carried out by Quintero, on grounds that it was flawed and

illegal because it clearly infringed the Act of Autonomous

Municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as

The Municipality’s own Personnel Regulations for Career

Service (henceforth “Personnel Regulations”) and Regulations

for the Evaluation and Motivation of Employees (henceforth

“Evaluation Regulations”). Jelú therein requested The

Municipality to approve her probationary period in the post of

Attorney III as The Municipality had failed to comply with its

responsibility under the law and its regulations.

4.51 On January 19, 2016, the then Acting Director of HR,

Terilyn Sastre (“Sastre”), wrote to Jelú that the objections

set forth in her January 14 letter were to be considered as a



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request for reconsideration of the evaluations in question and

summoned Plaintiff to a hearing before the Reconsideration

Committee, wherein Sastre was a member, to be held on February

3, 2016.

4.52 On February 11, 2016, Jelú replied to Sastre’s

letter of January 19, stating that Quintero’s recommendation

stemmed from her complaint of sexual harassment against the

Mayor’s son, and noting that Sastre had full knowledge of this

complaint because Sastre had given a sworn statement to

Romero-Lugo in the course of his investigation.

4.53 Jelú objected in her February 11 missive to the

scheduled hearing before the Reconsideration Committee, on

grounds that it was unwarranted because The Municipality: (a)

failed to follow the evaluation process established in the

Evaluation Regulations, from its inception and at all its

stages up to the end (Articles 1 through 18), including the

guidelines, criteria, forms and certifications provided as

attachments to such regulations; (b) failed to comply with the

Personnel Regulations on the process for recruitment and

selection of employees on probationary period (Article 7);

and, (c) breached the Personnel Regulation’s provision for

retention and security in the employment (Article 9).

4.54 The alluded regulations require monthly evaluations

that the supervisor must discuss with the employee; and before

each evaluation date, the supervisor is required to agree on a

date with the employee to schedule the next monthly



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evaluation. This affords the employee the opportunity to

demonstrate that he/she fulfilled his/her duties and complied

with the action plan drawn in the evaluation of the previous

month. The evaluations are meant to motivate employees to

adapt to the functions of the new position held. Certainly,

the evaluations should not be used as an instrument to harm

the employee in retaliation for engaging in protected conduct,

as it happened in this case.

4.55 Jelú explained in her February 11 letter that

Quintero had breached the aforementioned regulations because

her supervisor did not evaluate her performance on a monthly

basis; failed to discuss with her the duties of her post; and,

did not complete the requisite certification of the first

phase of the evaluation provided in the attachments to the

Evaluation Regulations. Rather, Quintero, without prior

notice, summoned Jelú to a meeting on the last day of her

probationary period and showed her all of the monthly

evaluations she made at the last minute (including for tasks

Plaintiff did not and was not supposed to perform), when she

should have render them monthly, during all previous months.

Upon Jelú’s questioning on the irregular manner in which the

evaluation process had been conducted, Quintero told Jelú that

she had forfeited the right to be evaluated monthly and to

know the content of each evaluation month by month by

complaining of sexual harassment by the Mayor’s son.



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when she presented her charges against him), O’Neill-Rosa

alleged in his complaint: that he and Jelú had engaged in “an

intimate and extremely sporadic intimate relation” which

“never had the character of a formal relation of a couple,”

from 2012 and up to the end of 2014, when she worked as an

attorney for The Municipality; that Romero-Lugo had

investigated her sexual harassment complaint and “concluded

that [the sexual harassment] alleged by [Jelú] did not occur

and that in the absence of any evidence to prove the existence

of sexual harassment ..., [Romero-Lugo] recommended the

dismissal of the complaint;” and that [Jelú], with utter

disregard to the truth, implicated [him] in a pattern of

sexual harassment against her that she was not able to prove.”

4.59 On February 18, 2016, the Vice-Mayor, Aurializ

Lozada-Centeno (“Lozada-Centeno”) notified Jelú that The

Municipality extend her probationary period for the position

of Attorney for six additional months and that during such

term her job performance would be evaluated in conformity with

the Evaluation Regulations.

4.60 On February 29, 2016, Jelú objected in writing to

The Municipality’s decision to further extend the one-year

probationary period, which she had competed in excess of two

months, from December 18, 2014 to February 18, 2014, on

grounds that it was discriminatory, arbitrary and illegal. The

proposed six-month extension would yield a year and eight

months of probation, in contravention of Article 7 of the



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4.63 Anew, Jelú reiterated in her resignation letter that

the proposed six-month extension of her probationary period

was totally unacceptable for being discriminatory,

unreasonable, burdensome and illegal. She also emphasized

that, since The Municipality had given no credence to her

complaints, she felt completely vulnerable and unprotected

against the perverse and relentless conduct of O’Neill-Rosa;

and that the flawed and biased finding of mendacity made by

Romero-Lugo in his investigative report had caused O’Neill-

Rosa to enhance his attacks against her for having rejected

him and reported his misconduct. Jelú also underscored in her

letter that the Municipality had shown, through the actions of

its managerial employees summarized in her letter, that it had

the malicious intent to harm her, personally and

professionally, for having complained about the misconduct of

the son of Mayor O'Neill-García.

4.64 Additionally, Jelú expressed in her March 28 letter

that at the time, she was absent under extended medical leave

and her treating physicians had recommended her to stay away

from the hostile work environment to protect her mental

health. However, The Municipality kept questioning the medical

leave of absence and exerting undue pressure upon both

Plaintiff and her psychiatrist by requiring an exact return

date, to what her psychiatrist had indicated that he could not

responsibly determine an exact date in which Plaintiff could



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recover enough to return to work because of the fragile

condition of her mental health.

4.65 The Municipality used Jelú’s rejection of O’Neill-

Rosa’s misconduct as basis for employment decisions adversely

affecting her. The Municipality, through its agents and

employees, subjected Jelú to a severe and pervasive

retaliatory hostile-work-environment harassment and other

retaliatory acts for having complained of sexual harassment.

These acts, individually and collectively, had the effect or

purpose of unreasonably interfering with her work performance

and creating an intimidating, hostile, offensive and abusive

environment, thereby causing her to suffer extreme shame,

embarrassment, humiliation, nervousness, anxiety, fear and

anger in the workplace; and, ultimately, forced her into a

constructive discharge. The Municipality engaged in such

unlawful employment practices with gross negligence, malice or

reckless indifference to the civil rights of Plaintiff.

V. Causes of Action

First Cause of Action:

5.1 Plaintiff repeats and reasserts by reference each

and every allegation contained the preceding paragraphs and

incorporates the same herein as though fully set forth.

5.2 The Municipality discriminated against Jelú with

respect to her terms, conditions and privileges of employment

because of her sex, in violation of Title VII.



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5.3 As a direct result of the aforementioned unlawful

employment practices, Jelú suffered, is suffering and will

continue to suffer severe mental, psychological, moral and

emotional pain, anguish and distress, and has sustained a loss

of happiness, a loss of the capacity to enjoy life and

professional endeavors, a diminishment of the capacity to

love, and an impairment of the capacity to perform activities

common to a woman of her age and sex. Plaintiff is entitled to

receive a just and fair compensation for these damages.

5.4 As a consequence of the aforementioned unlawful

employment practices and the resultant mental damages suffered

by Plaintiff, she has been and will continue to be in the

future under psychiatric treatment and medications. She has

incurred and will continue to incur in the future in expenses

for said psychiatric treatment and medications. Plaintiff is

entitled to receive a reasonable amount of money for these

medical expenses.

5.5 Also as a direct result of The Municipality’s

unlawful employment practices, Jelú has sustained and will

sustain a loss of earnings and employment benefits. The

Municipality is liable to Jelú for the loss of past and future

pay and benefits caused by its violation of Title VII.

5.6 Pursuant to Title VII, Rule 54(d)(1) of the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure and 28 U.S.C.S. § 1920, Plaintiff is

entitled to be awarded the costs to be incurred in this suit,

plus reasonable attorneys’ fees.



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THEREFORE, Jelú demands that Judgment be entered in her

favor and against The Municipality, granting her: the amount

of THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($300,000.00) in

compensatory damages; an award for back and future pay and

loss of employment benefits; an award for medical and other

analogous expenses, reasonably estimated at this time in the

amount of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS

($150,000.00); a reasonable amount for attorneys’ fees, the

costs of this action, and post-judgment interests; and, such

other further relief that under the circumstances may seem

appropriate to this Honorable Court.

Second Cause of Action:


and every allegation contained in the preceding paragraphs and


5.8 The Municipality constructively discharged from

employment and otherwise discriminated against Jelú in

retaliation for having complained of sexual harassment, in

violation of Title VII.

5.9 As a direct result of the aforementioned retaliatory

discharge, Jelú suffered, is suffering and will continue to

suffer severe mental, psychological, moral and emotional pain,

anguish and distress, and has sustained a loss of happiness, a

loss of the capacity to enjoy life and professional endeavors,

a diminishment of the capacity to love, and an impairment of

the capacity to perform activities common to a woman of her



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age and sex. Jelú is entitled to receive a just and fair

compensation for these damages.








medical expenses.

5.11 Also as a direct result of The Municipality’s

unlawful employment practices, Jelú has sustained and will

sustain a loss of earnings and employment benefits. The

Municipality is liable to Plaintiff for the loss of past and

future pay and benefits caused by its violation of Title VII.

5.12 Pursuant to Title VII, Rule 54(d)(1) of the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure and 28 U.S.C.S. § 1920, Plaintiff is

entitled to be awarded the costs to be incurred in this suit,

plus reasonable attorneys’ fees.



of THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($300,000.00) in

compensatory damages; an award for back and future pay and

loss of employment benefits; an award for medical and other

analogous expenses, reasonably estimated at this time in the

amount of ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS



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($150,000.00); a reasonable amount for attorneys’ fees, the

costs of this action, and post-judgment interests; and, such

other further relief that under the circumstances may seem


Third Cause of Action:




5.14 This Third Cause of Action arises under Act 17, Act

100 and Act 69.

5.15 The Municipality unlawfully constructively

discharged and otherwise discriminated against Jelú with

respect to the terms, conditions and privileges of her

employment because of her sex, in violation of Act 17, Act 100

and Act 69.

5.16 As a direct result of the aforementioned unlawful

employment practices, Jelú suffered, is suffering and will

continue to suffer severe mental, psychological, moral and

emotional pain, anguish and distress, and has sustained a loss

of happiness, a loss of the capacity to enjoy life and

professional endeavors, a diminishment of the capacity to

love, and an impairment of the capacity to perform the

activities common to a woman of her age and sex. Jelú is

entitled to receive a full, just and fair compensation for her

mental damages which, pursuant to Act 17, Act 100 and Act 69,



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consists in the twofold amount of the actual damages suffered

by her.








medical expenses.

5.18 Also as a direct result of the The Municipality

discriminatory and retaliatory discharge, Jelú lost and will

lose earnings and employment earnings. The Municipality is

liable to Plaintiff for the loss of past and future pay and

benefits.

5.19 Pursuant to Act 17 and Rule 44 of the Puerto Rico

Rules of Civil Procedure, Jelú is entitled to be awarded the

costs to be incurred in this suit, plus reasonable attorneys’

fees.



of THREE MILLION DOLLARS ($3,000,000.00) for mental damages

doubling such amount for a total of SIX MILLION DOLLARS

($6,000,000.00); an award for back and future pay and loss of

employment benefits; an award for medical other analogue

expenses, reasonably estimated at this time in the amount of



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ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($150,000.00); a reasonable

amount for attorneys’ fees, the costs of this action, and

post-judgment interests; and, such other further relief that

under the circumstances may seem appropriate to this Honorable

Court.

Fourth Cause of Action:




5.21 This Fourth Cause of Action arises under the General

Tort statute.

5.22 The Municipality and O’Neill Rosa caused Jelú to be

subjected to assault, battery, breach of the peace, stalking,

threats, defamation, undue intrusions into her private life,

character assassination and attacks to her professional

reputation, in violation of her constitutional right to

privacy and dignity, as well as other extreme and outrageous

conduct, with the intent to cause, or reckless disregard of

the probability of causing, Plaintiff to suffer emotional

distress.

5.23 The foregoing conduct caused Jelú to suffer severe

mental, psychological, moral and emotional pain, anguish and

distress; and, to sustain a loss of happiness and the capacity

to enjoy life and enjoy professional endeavors, a diminishment

of the capacity to love, and an impairment of the capacity to

perform the activities common to a woman of her age and sex.



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5.24 Jelú is entitled to receive a full, just and fair

compensation for the aforestated mental damages, in an amount

reasonably estimated to be no less than THREE MILLION DOLLARS

($3,000,000.00).

5.25 As a consequence of the aforementioned intentional

acts and the resultant mental damages suffered by Plaintiff,

she has been and will continue to be in the future under

psychiatric treatment and medications. She has incurred and

will continue to incur in the future in expenses for said

psychiatric treatment and medications. Plaintiff is entitled

to receive a reasonable amount of money for these medical

expenses.

5.26 In the event The Municipality and O’Neill Rosa deny

responsibility for the damages claimed herein, pursuant the

provisions of Rule 44 of the Rules of Civil Procedure of the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Plaintiff would also be entitled

to an award of pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, to be

computed from the amount finally adjudged to Plaintiff, plus a

reasonable amount for attorneys’ fees, due to such obstinate

and temerarious denial.


favor and against The Municipality and O’Neill Rosa, granting

her reasonable compensatory damages in an amount no less than

THREE MILLION DOLLARS ($3,000,000.00); awarding her an amount

for medical and other analogue expenses, reasonably estimated

at this time in the amount of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND SEVEN



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HUNDRED DOLLARS ($150,000.00); awarding her a reasonable

amount for attorneys’ fees, the costs of this action, and pre-

judgment and post-judgment interests; and, granting such other

further relief that under the circumstances may seem


VI. PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully requested that Judgment be

entered by this Honorable Court in favor of Plaintiff and

against Defendants:

a. granting Plaintiff all the sums and remedies

requested in the complaint;

b. imposing upon Defendants the payment of all costs and

expenses to be incurred in this lawsuit;

c. granting Plaintiff any other relief that she may be

entitled to as a matter of law; and,

d. awarding Plaintiff pre-judgment and post-judgment

interests, plus a reasonable amount for attorneys’ fees.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this

31st day of March, 2016.

S/José F. Quetglas Jordán

USDC-PR #203411

QUETGLAS LAW FIRM, P.S.C. 1353, Luis Vigoreaux Ave.PMB 657Guaynabo, PR 00966Tel:(787) 406-8915Email: [email protected];[email protected]


Documents

[HOST. SEXUAL] Inés M. Jelú v. Munc. Guaynabo-Demanda Federal