## Facts

- Madeline Rodríguez-Álvarez worked for the Municipality of Juana Díaz in Puerto Rico and, in 2012, transferred to the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
- On August 19, 2013, Rodríguez-Álvarez was diagnosed as HIV-positive and informed her supervisor the same day.
- After the disclosure, the municipality closed the department’s bathroom and kitchenette to employees.
- With those facilities closed, Rodríguez-Álvarez had to walk about five to 10 minutes to reach a bathroom elsewhere; she testified that, at times, the situation left her so without access that she urinated in hallways.
- The municipality also changed her work situation: her shift was changed (allegedly from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.), she was relieved of her prior duties, and she was assigned to sit at a desk with nothing to do.
- Rodríguez-Álvarez also alleged that after her HIV status became known, municipal officers stopped inviting her to social gatherings to which she had previously been invited for years.
- Rodríguez-Álvarez resigned on July 22, 2015 and sued for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), along with Puerto Rico law claims.
- At an October 26, 2016 hearing, the court granted summary judgment to defendants on the Puerto Rico law claims and took the ADA claim under advisement, allowing Rodríguez-Álvarez to submit medical records.
- Defendants sought summary judgment on the ADA claim, arguing that HIV-positive status was not a disability under the ADA.

## Issues

1. Whether Rodríguez-Álvarez’s HIV-positive status could qualify as a “disability” under the ADA (as amended), based on substantial limitation of immune system function.
2. Whether the alleged post-disclosure conduct (closing nearby facilities, changing her shift, stripping duties, and ostracism) could permit a reasonable jury to find a disability-based hostile work environment, defeating summary judgment.

## Decision

- The court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the ADA claim.
- The court held that, on this record and under the ADA Amendments Act’s broad coverage, a reasonable factfinder could conclude Rodríguez-Álvarez’s HIV-positive status substantially limited immune system function, satisfying the ADA’s disability element.
- The court ruled that a jury could find the alleged conduct severe or pervasive enough, and tied to disability, to constitute a hostile work environment under the ADA.

## Legal Principles

- Under the ADA, a “disability” includes a physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; “major life activities” include major bodily functions, including immune system function. (42 U.S.C. § 12102)
- The ADA Amendments Act directs that “disability” be construed broadly; the main focus in ADA cases should be whether discrimination occurred, not extended litigation over the disability threshold.
- HIV is an impairment from the moment of infection; whether it “substantially limits” a major life activity may be shown through medical evidence and is assessed under the ADAAA’s more plaintiff-protective standards.
- To resist summary judgment on an ADA employment discrimination theory, the nonmovant must present evidence from which a reasonable jury could find the statutory elements; the court draws reasonable inferences in the nonmovant’s favor.
- A hostile work environment claim requires evidence that the workplace was permeated with disability-based intimidation, ridicule, or insult that was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment, considering all the circumstances (including frequency, severity, and effect on the employee’s work).

## Conclusion

The district court denied summary judgment because the ADAAA and the record evidence (including medical records) could allow a jury to find that Rodríguez-Álvarez’s HIV substantially limited immune system function, and because the alleged post-disclosure bathroom/kitchen closure, loss of duties, shift change, and social isolation could collectively support a finding of a disability-based hostile work environment.


Rodríguez-Álvarez v. Municipality of Juana Díaz, 2017 WL 666052 (2017)