Torres-Alamo v. Commonwealth of PR, No. 06-1903 (9/6/07). This is a disability rights case grounded in the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq.; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq.; the United States Constitution; and Puerto Rico law. The plaintiff was a social worker with arthritis who claims that she was treated badly by her public employer. The District Court held that the ADA claim was barred by the 11th amendment, the First agrees that claims under Title I of the ADA are barred by the 11th.
A dismissal based on a failure to directly respond to an “order to show cause” why other claims should not be dismissed is upheld. (She sought to amend her claim.)
But, even though the motion to amend wasn’t a proper response to the orders to show cause, the District Court screwed it up. Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), the First says, motions to amend should be granted liberally, and therefore the District Court should have allowed her to file a claim under Title V of the ADA.
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