The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico publishes a study on the adverse effects of dismissals, disciplinary actions, or other personnel transactions on the finances of the public corporations. In particular, those lawsuits, complaints, judgments, and payments motivated by workplace harassment and sexual harassment against employees or officials, and by political-partisan discrimination, were analyzed. For the evaluation, documentation was requested from 68 public corporations and 65 responded.
The Study reveals that from 2018 to 2024, 12 lawsuits were resolved, filed by 79 officials and employees who alleged dismissals for political-partisan reasons, workplace harassment, and sexual harassment in nine corporations. The employees were claiming $143,703,999.
The General Court of Justice of Puerto Rico and the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico resolved seven of the 12 lawsuits in favor of the employees for $415,000. Four lawsuits were resolved in favor of the public corporations, and one was closed and archived until an administrative complaint with the case was concluded.
The disbursement and obligation of $415,000, without receiving any service in return, is onerous and adverse for the public corporations. In addition, addressing the complaints and lawsuits entails expenses that impact the administration of public resources.
As of January 31, 2024, 14 civil lawsuits against seven public corporations for $34,184,164 were pending resolution by the courts. These lawsuits were filed by 35 employees and officials, with the allegation of workplace harassment and political-partisan discrimination.
On the other hand, 43 public corporations certified that they had no lawsuits, complaints, or other personnel actions brought for the period from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2023.
The State Insurance Fund Corporation and the Corporation of the School of Plastic Arts and Design of Puerto Rico did not deliver the documentation requested by the Office of the Comptroller to carry out this Study. The Ports Authority, for its part, completed part of the requested information but did not include a copy of the lawsuits, judgments, resolutions, or agreements, payment vouchers, and other related documents. To this effect, the Office of the Comptroller could not obtain complete and reliable information for this Report.
The Special Report recommends to the Secretary of Justice that he guide the principal officials of the public corporations on the adverse effects of the actions taken against employees for political-partisan reasons, sexual harassment, and workplace harassment. In addition, the Secretary must guide them on the responsibility they have as officials.
This Special Report covers the period from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2023. The Special Report OC-25-12 can be obtained on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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