Rodríguez-Álvarez v. Municipality of Juana Díaz
United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
2017 WL 666052 (2017)
- Written by Alexander Hager-DeMyer, JD
Facts
Madeline Rodríguez-Álvarez (plaintiff) worked for a department of the Municipality of Juana Díaz (municipality) (defendant) and was diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Rodríguez-Álvarez informed her supervisor of her condition, and the municipality closed the department’s bathroom and kitchen. With the department facilities closed, Rodríguez-Álvarez had to walk five to 10 minutes to access a bathroom, sometimes forcing Rodríguez-Álvarez to urinate in a hallway for relief. The municipality also changed Rodríguez-Álvarez’s work, relieved Rodríguez-Álvarez of her duties, and assigned her to sit at a desk with nothing to do. Municipality officers also stopped inviting Rodríguez-Álvarez to social gatherings. Rodríguez-Álvarez resigned from work and filed suit against the municipality for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The municipality moved for summary judgment, arguing that Rodríguez-Álvarez’s HIV status was not a disability under the ADA.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Young, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 966,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,500 briefs, keyed to 1,007 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
- AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New
Understand your casebook readings in seconds
Use our case briefs to comprehend your casebook readings faster, supplement your notes and outlines, and outshine your peers in class.
Get instant access to over 47,500+ expert-written case briefs in a searchable database keyed to 1,007 law school casebooks.

