Rosario-Mendez v. Hewlett Packard Caribe, BV et al, No. 3:2006cv01489 - Document 206 (D.P.R. 2009)

Court Description: OPINION AND ORDER denying 155 Motion for Execution of Judgment ; denying 181 Motion for Execution of Judgment ; granting 181 Motion for Bond Signed by Chief Mag. Judge Justo Arenas on 11/16/2009. (nydi) Modified to add word opinion on 11/17/2009 (ab).

Download PDF
1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO 2 3 4 IRIS ROSARIO-Mà NDEZ, 5 Plaintiff 6 v. CIVIL 06-1489 (JAG) (JA) 7 8 9 HEWLETT PACKARD CARIBE BV, et al., Defendants 10 11 OPINION AND ORDER ON MOTION FOR SUPERSEDEAS BOND 12 13 14 This matter is before the court on second motion for execution of judgment 15 by the prevailing plaintiff, as well as a motion for a supersedeas bond filed on 16 August 14, 2009. (Docket No. 181.) Hewlett Packard Caribe filed an opposition 17 18 to the motion for execution of judgment and moved for stay of the execution of 19 judgment pending appeal on August 31, 2009. (Docket No. 185.) Plaintiff then 20 filed a reply to the response in opposition to plaintiff s second motion for execution 21 of judgment, and again requesting a supersedeas bond on September 21, 2009. 22 (Docket No. 195.) 23 24 The memoranda and argument of Hewlett Packard Caribe BV, and plaintiff 25 having been considered, plaintiff s first and second motions for execution of 26 judgment are denied. 27 28 The motion in the alternative, for the posting of a supersedeas bond is granted. 1 CIVIL NO. 06-1489 (JAG) (JA) 2 2 3 On February 3, 2009, a jury found Hewlett Packard liable to plaintiff for 4 5 submitting her to a sexually hostile work environment, for not acting promptly in 6 reaction to plaintiff s sexual harassment complaint, and for not providing her with 7 an effective remedy to protect her from a hostile work environment. The jury 8 awarded plaintiff $1,500,000.00 in compensatory damages, as well as punitive 9 10 damages in the amount of $500,000.00. (Docket No. 127.) The compensatory 11 damages award was doubled in accordance with Puerto Rico Law 17, P.R. Laws 12 Ann. tit. 29, § 155j(1). 13 An amended judgment was issued to correct a clerical mistake. (Docket No. 14 15 135, dated February 11, 2009.) A second amended judgment was entered on 16 March 23, 2009 awarding plaintiff one dollar in nominal damages on her Title VII 17 claim and the remaining $1,499,999 was allocated to her Puerto Rico Law 17 18 claim, which award was then doubled to $2,999,998. This was done because 19 plaintiff s commonwealth and federal claims overlap, and she had the right to 20 21 choose to be awarded damages based on commonwealth law which offers a more 22 generous outcome than federal law. 23 vacated. (Docket No. 178.) Hewlett Packard Caribe filed a notice of appeal on 24 August 25, 2009. The punitive damages award was later (Docket No. 182.) 25 26 27 28 September 23, 2009. (Docket No. 197.) Plaintiff filed a cross appeal on 1 CIVIL NO. 06-1489 (JAG) (JA) 3 2 3 Plaintiff moved for execution of judgment on March 16, 2009. (Docket No. 4 5 155.) Post-trial motions were still pending at the time. See Rosario-Méndez v. 6 Hewlett Packard Caribe BV, 638 F. Supp. 2d 205 (D.P.R. 2009), reconsideration 7 denied in part, 2009 WL 3182630 (D.P.R. Oct. 6, 2009). Plaintiff s motion to 8 reconsider the vacating of the punitive damages award was denied on October 6, 9 10 2009. (Docket No. 199.) 11 In her second motion for execution of amended judgment, or in the 12 alternative for the posting of a supersedeas bond, plaintiff argues that if the 13 request for execution of judgment is denied, then the posting of a supersedeas 14 15 bond is requested in order that she be able to collect the judgment awarded to 16 her, including costs and $73,968.48 in attorney s fees. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(d)1; 17 Local Rule 65.2(d)2; (Docket No. 181). 18 Hewlett Packard Caribe BV opposes the second motion for execution of 19 judgment and seeks a stay of execution pending appeal. It also requests that the 20 21 court waive any supersedeas bond requirement considering Hewlett Packard s 22 1 23 24 If an appeal is taken, the appellant may obtain a stay by supersedeas bond, except in an action described in Rule 62(a)(1) or (2). The bond may be given upon or after filing the notice of appeal or after obtaining the order allowing the appeal. The stay takes effect when the court approves the bond. 25 2 26 27 28 A supersedeas bond staying execution of a money judgment shall be in the amount of the judgment plus interest at a rate consistent with 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a), plus an amount to be set by the court to cover costs and any award of damages for delay. The parties may waive the supersedeas bond by stipulation without order of the court. 1 CIVIL NO. 06-1489 (JAG) (JA) 4 2 3 clear economic solvency and the availability of sufficient funds to later satisfy the 4 5 second amended judgment if necessary. Indeed, Hewlett Packard Caribe BV is a 6 branch of Hewlett Packard Caribe BV, a corporation organized under the laws of 7 The Netherlands. Hewlett Packard Caribe B.V. is a wholly owned subsidiary of 8 Hewlett-Packard The Hague, B.V., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hewlett- 9 10 Packard Company (HPCO). (Docket No. 185-2.) Hewlett Packard Caribe BV has 11 submitted reliable information regarding its net worth during the last four years. 12 At very least, it appears that it would be able to satisfy any judgment in plaintiff s 13 favor after the appellate process is concluded. In the alternative, Hewlett Packard 14 15 requests that it be allowed to post a supersedeas bond to cover the amount 16 awarded in the second amended judgment, as further amended, plus the amount 17 of costs plaintiff seeks. 18 Plaintiff retorts that there is no assurance that Hewlett Packard will continue 19 to operate in Puerto Rico when the appellate process is over, regardless of the 20 21 financial statements submitted by the defense to show big picture solvency. 22 Plaintiff stresses that the defendant is actively engaging in a reduction of its 23 operations in Puerto Rico and is laying off employees in its Aguadilla plant. 24 Plaintiff concludes by seeking a writ of execution against Hewlett Packard Caribe, 25 26 BV, in the amount of $2,999,999, plus post judgment interest, plus $7,229.91 for 27 costs, plus $73,968.48 in attorney s fees. In the alternative, plaintiff asks for the 28 1 CIVIL NO. 06-1489 (JAG) (JA) 5 2 3 court to order the defendant to post a supersedeas bond in the amount of 4 5 $2,999,999, plus post judgment interest, plus $7,229.91 for costs, plus 6 $73,968.48 for attorney s fees. (Docket No. 195.) 7 8 When a losing party appeals, it may automatically avail itself of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 62(d) and stay execution of a monetary judgment, 9 10 provided it post a bond sufficient to protect the interests of the non-appealing 11 party. Pérez Rodríguez v. Rey Hernández, 304 F. Supp. 2d 228, 229 (D.P.R. 12 2004) (citing Rivera Pérez v. Mass. Gen. Hosp., 193 F.R.D. 43, 44 (D.P.R. 2000)). 13 However, [c]ourts have held that no bond is required if: (1) the defendant s 14 15 ability to pay is so plain that the posting of a bond would be a waste of money; 16 or (2) the bond would put the defendant s other creditors in undue jeopardy. 17 Acevedo-García v. Vera-Monroig, 296 F.3d 13, 17 (1st Cir. 2002) (citing Olympia 18 Equip. Leasing Co. V. W. Union Tel. Co., 786 F.2d 794, 796 (7th Cir. 1986)); 19 Berberena-García v. Avilés, 258 F.R.D. 42, 43 (D.P.R. 2009). I have considered 20 21 the terse arguments of both parties, that is solvency on the one hand, and 22 uncertainty on the other, well aware that the decision is clearly within the 23 boundaries of my sound discretion. 24 I believe the posting of a supersedeas bond is appropriate and that the 25 26 amount of $2,999,999 plus $7,230 is sufficiently adequate at this stage of the 27 proceedings to assuage the fears of plaintiff and to comply with the purpose of 28 1 CIVIL NO. 06-1489 (JAG) (JA) 6 2 3 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62(d) and Local Rule 65.2(d). See generally 11 4 5 The Late Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller, and Mary Kay Kane Federal 6 Practice and Procedure Civ. § 2905 (3d ed. 1995). At present, I exclude the items 7 of post-judgment interest and attorney s fees. See, e.g., Berberena-García v. 8 Avilés, 258 F.R.D. at 43. The first and second motions for execution of judgment 9 10 are denied. (Docket Nos. 155, 181.) The alternative request for the posting of 11 a supersedeas bond is granted. Hewlett Packard Caribe BV is granted ten working 12 days, that is, until December 4, 20093 under the current Rule 64, to post a 13 supersedeas bond in the amount of $3,007,229. 14 15 16 SO ORDERED. At San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 16th day of November, 2009. 17 S/ JUSTO ARENAS Chief United States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3 The following days are excluded as legal holidays: Puerto Rico Discovery Day (November 19), Thanksgiving Day (November 26), and the Friday after (November 27). Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(4); Local Rule 6(b). 4 See 2009 Amendments Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a), effective December 1, 2009, absent contrary Congressional action.

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.