Iraida Diez

Biography

Ms. Diez is an experienced trial attorney with over 15 years of practice with a successful litigation record representing employers.  

She provides legal counseling in all areas of employment law. She actively litigates employment lawsuits and administrative matters, both in local and federal forums, with excellent results for clients. 

Her practice focuses on preventive counseling and litigation in diverse topics, including wrongful termination, employment discrimination, wage and hour, retaliation and sexual harassment.  Mrs. Diez has extensively worked on the creation, development and revision of employee handbooks, policies and workplace regulation. She also has vast experience in the hospitality, retail and food service industries, representing some of Puerto Rico's top companies in these areas.

Ms. Diez  is ranked as a leading attorney in the Labor and Employment Law, the Litigation and the Corporate and M&A Law fields by the Best Lawyers in Puerto Rico guide.

Representative Cases

• Ms. Diez successfully represented one of Puerto Rico's principal shopping malls in a claim brought by a tenant’s employee who alleged she was sexually harassed by an employee of the mall.  In this normative case, the Supreme Court held that to be liable for sexual harassment it is necessary that there be a employee-employer relationship. Soneshka Semidey v. Plaza Carolina and Coffee Chef, CC-2011-0703. 
• She obtained the dismissal of plaintiff’s unjust dismissal and age discrimination claims.  The Court granted Summary Judgment on behalf of the Company validating the Company’s position that refusing to participate in a performance improvement plan should be considered as a voluntary resignation. Ramón Vega v. Altria, Civil No. JPE 2014-0381.
• Successfully obtained the dismissal of plaintiff’s sexual orientation claim.  The Court granted Summary Judgment on behalf of her client, validating the Company’s position that it was not liable against plaintiff’s discrimination claim since she was not employed by the Company. Sharyzmer Hernández v. Coopervision and MetroGuard Services, Inc., Civil No. JPE 2014-0381.
• Successfully litigated an AAA arbitration claim against a retailer for disability discrimination. Award issued in favor of client dismissing claim, which further sustains the client's mandatory arbitration agreements. Mario Valentín v. Rent-A-Center, Case No. 32-20-1300-0163.

Practices

News & Publications