Arocho-Rodriguez v. Roldan-Concepcion

── Arocho-Rodriguez v. Roldan-Concepcion ── Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Date: May 21, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 24-2041 JENSEN AROCHO-RODRÍGUEZ, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. JULIO ROLDÁN CONCEPCIÓN, Mayor, Municipality of Aguadilla; RUBÉN NIEVES-ROLDÁN, Director, Office of Technologies; MAVIAEL MORALES-NIEVES, Municipality Administrator; MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF AGUADILLA; JOHN DOE; JANE DOE; RICHARD ROE, Defendants, Appellees, XAYMARA MESONERO, Director, Human Resources, Defendant. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Francisco A. Besosa, U.S. District Judge, Hon. Giselle López-Soler, U.S. Magistrate Judge] Before Gelpí, Thompson, and Rikelman, Circuit Judges. Israel Roldán-González for appellant. Omar Andino-Figueroa, Solicitor General of Puerto Rico, Frank A. Rosado Méndez, Deputy Solicitor General, and Mariola Abreu-Acevedo, Assistant Solicitor General, for appellees Julio Roldán Concepción, Rubén Nieves-Roldán, and Maviael Morales-Nieves. Carlos M. Hernández-López for appellee the Municipality of Aguadilla. May 21, 2026  PER CURIAM. Plaintiff-Appellant Jensen Arocho-Rodríguez sued various defendants for, among other claims, political discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. When some -- but not all -- of the defendants moved for summary judgment, the district court adopted a Report & Recommendation ("R&R"), granted the motion, and dismissed the entire case sua sponte. Arocho-Rodríguez appealed, and we now reverse. I. BACKGROUND Arocho-Rodríguez is a member of Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party ("NPP") and a former System Technician Coordinator for the Municipality of Aguadilla. In January of 2021, Aguadilla Mayor Julio Roldán Concepción, a member of the Popular Democratic Party ("PDP"), took office. He appointed PDP members Rubén Nieves-Roldán and Maviael Morales-Nieves to the positions of Director of the Office of Technologies and City Administrator, respectively. Thereafter, Arocho-Rodríguez alleges that Mayor Roldán and his appointees retracted Arocho-Rodríguez's server access (rendering it impossible to complete his work), gave him a poor employment evaluation, and created such a "humiliating" work environment that he felt forced to resign, all because of his NPP membership. Arocho-Rodríguez then sued Defendant-Appellee the Municipality of Aguadilla, and individual Defendants-Appellees Mayor Roldán, Nieves-Roldán, and Morales-Nieves in their official - 3 - and individual capacities pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He brought a political discrimination claim under the First Amendment, an equal protection claim under the Fourteenth Amendment, and concomitant claims under Puerto Rico law.1 After motion practice and discovery, the individual Defendants-Appellees moved for summary judgment on the claims against them in their individual capacities. They asserted that Arocho-Rodríguez had not established a prima facie claim of political discrimination under the First Amendment. They also asserted a qualified immunity defense. They did not, however, brief the equal protection, Puerto Rico law, or official capacity claims. The accompanying statement of facts cited to the Second Amended Complaint and to Arocho-Rodríguez's deposition, and the sole exhibit attached to the facts consisted of excerpts fr