Ms. Colón-Rivera is a litigator and counselor with ample experience guiding clients throughout the litigation process in local and federal courts at both trial and appellate levels. Ms. Colón-Rivera is also well-versed in the representation of clients before local and federal administrative agencies such as the American Arbitration Association, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Puerto Rico’s Labor Department Anti-Discrimination Unit, and many others under the Department of Labor’s umbrella. Her practice focuses on insurance defense, coverage disputes, employment law, and advocating on behalf of insurers, insureds, and employers.
Ms. Colón-Rivera has a wealth of knowledge in the defense of insurers in direct actions brought by insured’s employees, and the litigation of coverage issues under Employment Practice Liability (“EPL”) policies. Accordingly, she has effectively defended insurers in multiple cases brought in violation of the terms and conditions of the EPL coverage provided by them. In one such case, Ms. Colón-Rivera obtained the dismissal of an action based on a claims-made EPL policy by arguing that timely notification of the claim was a condition precedent to coverage under the policy. See Marina Águila v. Den Caribbean, Inc., 490 F.Supp.2d 244 (D.P.R.2007).
In other federal cases, Ms. Colón-Rivera has obtained judgments in favor of insurers by arguing the untimeliness of insureds’ notification of the first claim reported by plaintiffs. For example, in a case where the insured did not notify its EPL insurer of a former employee’s administrative charge of discrimination within the term established in its claims-made policy, she successfully argued that the insurer had no obligation to provide coverage for a subsequent judicial complaint regarding the same claims. See Hoffman v. Metrohealth, Inc., 246 F.Supp.3d 527 (2017); Galarza-Cruz v. Grupo HIMA San Pablo, Inc., 17-1606 (RAM) (D.P.R. 2020).
As part of her robust employment practice, Ms. Colón-Rivera defends employers from employees’ judicial and administrative claims, advising them on day-to-day issues, and the drafting of policies, employment and severance contracts, and employee handbooks. In so doing, Ms. Colón-Rivera helps employers resolve employees’ workplace claims in a timely and efficient manner. She is also a skillful negotiator who has obtained numerous settlements that protect her clients’ best interests.
Moreover, Ms. Colón-Rivera’s strategic litigation has resulted in the dismissal of numerous employment claims. In one such case, she convincingly argued that the incidents alleged by plaintiff did not constitute a sexual hostile environment under the applicable federal law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. See Acosta v. Harbor Holdings & Operations, Inc., 674 F.Supp.2d 351 (D.P.R. 2009). In another federal case, she obtained a judgment in favor of her client by arguing that plaintiff was not perceived as disabled, and that the alleged disability was not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. See Arce Montalvo v. Hospital Buen Samaritano, 384 F. Supp. 2d 515 (D.P.R. 2005).
Ms. Colón-Rivera is a Partner at SCVR. She joined the firm in 2003 to collaborate in the development of its employment law practice and handle insurance defense on employment cases.