By The Star Staff
The island Legislature is the defendant in employee claims totaling $165 million in U.S. District Court that have been halted by the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).
The information appears in a commonwealth comptroller’s office (OCPR by its initials in Spanish) report published in late August, consisting of a study on the adverse effects of dismissals, disciplinary actions, or other personnel transactions in the legislative branch on the government’s finances.
The OCPR analyzed, in particular, lawsuits, judgments, and payments related to workplace harassment, sexual harassment and political-partisan discrimination. The OCPR sought documents from nine entities and eight responded. The island Senate did not certify or deliver the documents requested for the study.
The study found that, on June 21, 2022, the General Court resolved a workplace harassment lawsuit in favor of the Civil Rights Commission filed by two employees, with no amount claimed. In addition, 108 officials filed four civil lawsuits in federal court claiming $165 million. The suits were held up by PROMESA.
The lawsuits were filed for dismissals, disciplinary actions or other personnel transactions for political-partisan reasons; none were for sexual harassment or workplace harassment.
The defendants were the House of Representatives, the Capitol Superintendency, and the Puerto Rico Legislature’s Office of Legislative Services. An adjudication of the lawsuits in favor of the employees would be burdensome and adverse for the legislative branch entities.
On the other hand, four entities certified that they had no complaints or other personnel actions from Jan. 1, 2018 to June 30, 2023 ,the timeframe covered by the special report. Those were the OCPR, the Joint Commission on Special Reports of the Comptroller, the Joint Special Commission on Legislative Funds for Community Impact, and the Office of the Citizen’s Advocate. The OCPR has complaints whose evaluation will be presented in an upcoming report.
The special report recommends that the Secretary of Justice provide guidance to the principal officials of the Legislature entities on the adverse effects of actions taken against employees for political-partisan reasons, as well as of sexual harassment and workplace harassment. In addition, the Justice secretary must provide guidance on their responsibilities as officials.
Comments