In Ruiz Mattei v. Commercial Equipment Finance, Inc.,¹ the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico determined that claims under the Unjustified Dismissal Act² and the Workplace Discrimination Act³ are transferable to the employee’s heirs following the employee’s death.

In that case, the plaintiff filed suit claiming unjustified dismissal and age discrimination.  Months later the plaintiff died, and his heirs informed the court that they were interested in continuing with the lawsuit, to which the defendant employer presented its opposition. The Court affirmed that the heirs of an aggrieved employee have standing to replace the deceased and continue any claim pending before the courts. Furthermore, they have standing to initiate the labor claim that their deceased could not file before death. However, the participation of the heirs in these situations will be limited to defending the rights of the deceased exclusively. The Court emphasized that the cause of action does not die with the deceased employee, since the heirs may file suit against the deceased employee’s employer raising any claims they could have raised before death. 

*Mariel Torres, a second-year law student from the University of Puerto Rico Law School, assisted in the preparation of this article.