Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Plaintiffs
v.
CIVIL NO. 06-1645 (JP)
COLEGIO DE ABOGADOS DE PUERTO
RICO,
Defendant
O R D E R
I. BACKGROUND
the First Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion on July 23,
Cir. 2010). The First Circuit affirmed this Court’s finding that
After Romero, not only did Colegio continue to force its members
to pay for the compulsory life insurance which was unlawful, but it
Id. at 49.
Id. at 50. Again, the First Circuit best expressed the circumstances
Id.
motions (Nos. 183 and 188) in which they were requesting a protective
this Court and the First Circuit had already established that the
members since 2002. Further, the Court determined that the protective
members into opting out of the class by speculating that the class
Because the Court was dealing with lawyers who were flouting
claims therein, until class notice was provided and the opt-out
not related to this case and also allowed Colegio to request leave
arose. This was the only remedy available to deal with the situation
at hand.
Case 3:06-cv-01645-JP Document 398 Filed 02/23/11 Page 5 of 11
Order granting the protective order (No. 214). The appeal is still
2011 (No. 303-1). In denying the request for a stay, the First
Circuit stated:
After the denial of the stay, Plaintiffs filed two motions for
orders to show cause (Nos. 306 and 311) as to Colegio and its
Case 3:06-cv-01645-JP Document 398 Filed 02/23/11 Page 6 of 11
evidence that Colegio and Toledo had violated the protective order
and another order (No. 305) of the Court denying Colegio’s request
(2) Toledo sent out two separate emails in direct violation of this
Court’s protective order; (3) Toledo went on radio to talk about this
doing precisely that; and (4) a website had been created with
The Court granted (Nos. 307, 314, and 315) the motions for
orders to show cause, and ordered Colegio and Toledo to show cause
2. In denying the motion for the opt-out form, the Court relied, among other
things, on the fact that, even though the preparation of the Class Action
Notice had been ongoing for months, Colegio requested for the first time that
said form be distributed after the Class Action Notice had been distributed.
3. The evidence presented by Plaintiffs included, among many other things, the
radio show interview conducted by Toledo. In the radio show, Toledo
misrepresented the status of the litigation, and the various district court
and court of appeals decisions rendered in this case. In addition, Toledo
made unsupported allegations of ideological conspiracies between federal
courts and Plaintiffs to destroy the Colegio’s name, reputation, and
identity in Puerto Rico’s society. Toledo acknowledged that he was speaking
on the radio show in direct violation of the Court’s protective order.
Toledo spoke about this case, the opt-out procedures, and requested that
class members opt out. He also admitted that he did not follow the Court’s
procedure on instructing attorneys inquiring about the opt-out procedures.
Further, Toledo admitted that he ordered Colegio to email the opt-out form
created by him to class members.
Case 3:06-cv-01645-JP Document 398 Filed 02/23/11 Page 7 of 11
at the hearing, even though he had notice of said hearing and his
presence had been required, and Colegio did not present any evidence.
warranted (No. 319).4 Perhaps the most shocking part of Toledo and
Colegio’s behavior was that they engaged in said behavior even after
the First Circuit stated, at the time of the denial of the request
(No. 366). The motion included the proposed communications, but did
4. The Court notes that Judge Patti Saris also entered a separate civil contempt
order against Colegio in the Romero case.
Case 3:06-cv-01645-JP Document 398 Filed 02/23/11 Page 8 of 11
why the communication was misleading was limited because the Court
the amount paid for the compulsory life insurance after the decision
in this Order, this version of the facts is not in tune with reality.
took numerous actions to avoid refunding class members the money said
class members were forced to pay unlawfully for the compulsory life
estate as security.
information.
makes no mention of the fact that said protective order was issued
Circuit has already rejected that argument. See Brown, 613 F.3d at
52-53.
the group life insurance program “for the benefit of all its
members.” The First Circuit has already rejected said argument and
Also, the Court notes that there is no better place for class
the cases are not accessible to all class members. Class members are
ludicrous. The cases and the official information are the controlling
sources from where any legal professional can find what is needed to
make a decision.
organizations (Nos. 327, 336 and 351). The Court expressly included
said sentence because it has not ruled on the motions by the non-
ruling on either the non profit organizations motions (Nos. 327, 336,
and 351) or Colegio’s motions (Nos. 359 and 365) for extension of
reconsideration.
IT IS SO ORDERED.