Wilfredo alleged that he was engaged as a bus driver by the employer bus company since August 5, 2005.
Wilfredo narrated that on May 31, 2015, a representative from the head office of the employer bus company instructed him to alight from his assigned bus and no longer allowed him to continue his supposed trip that day. When Wilfredo reported for work the next day, he was advised not to come to work in the meantime. He was told that the employer bus company will just send him an e-mail as to when he will be given a bus assignment.
Wilfredo thus filed a complaint for illegal dismissal, money claims, damages and attorney’s fees against the employer bus company.
Since the employer bus company failed to file its position paper during the proceedings, the Office of the Labor Arbiter deemed Wilfredo’s allegations to be admitted. The Office of the Labor Arbiter declared Wilfredo to be illegally dismissed from employment and ordered the employer bus company to pay Wilfredo separation pay and backwages, among other awards.
In its appeal to the National Labor Relations Commission, the employer bus company averred that it filed its position paper with respect to the claim of Wilfredo and mailed the same to the Office of the Labor Arbiter.
The Commission admitted the position paper of the employer bus company and ruled that just cause attended the dismissal of Wilfredo from employment. The Commission found that Wilfredo was involved in several reckless driving incidents that constituted misconduct.
Wilfredo’s petition before the Court of Appeals was dismissed for lack of merit. The Court of Appeals found that there was valid ground to dismiss Wilfredo from employment and that the employer bus company complied with the procedural requirements of due process in such dismissal.
Wilfredo elevated his case before the Supreme Court. Wilfredo insisted that the employer bus company failed to substantiate his alleged cumulative infractions of company rules for reckless driving that warranted his dismissal. Wilfredo further mentioned that the employer bus company failed to afford him procedural due process since he was not given a notice to explain, there was no hearing or conference to afford him an opportunity to present evidence to support his claim, and he did not receive a notice of termination.
Was Wilfredo validly dismissed from employment?
The Supreme Court ruled that Wilfredo was validly dismissed from employment.
The Court discussed that dismissal from employment has two facets: first, the legality of the act of dismissal, which constitutes substantive due process; and second, the legality of the manner of dismissal, which constitutes procedural due process. The burden of proof rests upon the employer to show that the disciplinary action was made for lawful cause or that the termination of employment was valid. In administrative and quasi-judicial proceedings, the quantum of evidence required is substantial evidence or “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Thus, unsubstantiated suspicions, accusations, and conclusions of the employer do not provide legal justification for dismissing the employee.
With regard to the substantive aspect, the Court found that the employer bus company terminated Wilfredo’s employment on the ground of serious misconduct. The Court stated that for serious misconduct to be a just cause for dismissal, the concurrence of the following elements is required: (a) the misconduct must be serious; (b) it must relate to the performance of the employee’s duties showing that the employee has become unfit to continue working for the employer; and (c) it must have been performed with wrongful intent.
In the present case, the Court found that the employer bus company presented sufficient evidence to prove that Wilfredo committed numerous infractions of company rules and regulations since he started working with the employer bus company. According to the Court, the infractions can be traced as far back as 2002 up to the time he was rehired in 2008 when he admitted to hitting a concrete mixer truck in Baliuag, Bulacan. The Court added that in the year 2009, the side mirror of Wilfredo’s assigned bus was destroyed while he was trying to overtake another bus; and in 2013, he had an altercation with an inspector of the employer bus company for which he was meted a penalty of suspension. The Court continued that the last infraction was in March 2015 when he figured in a vehicular accident that caused injuries to his passengers.
For the Court, the repeated and numerous infractions committed by Wilfredo in driving the passenger bus assigned to him cannot be considered minor. The Court took judicial notice of the gross negligence and the appalling disregard of the physical safety and property of others so commonly exhibited today by the drivers of passenger buses. Taking into account the nature of Wilfredo’s job, the Court determined Wilfredo’s infractions to be numerous to be ignored or treated lightly that the same may already be subsumed as serious misconduct. The Court accordingly held that Wilfredo was validly dismissed from employment on the ground of serious misconduct.
With regard to requirements of procedural due process, the Court found that the employer bus company failed to comply with the same. The Court expounded that the following should be considered in terminating the services of employees:
- The first written notice to be served on the employees should contain the specific causes or grounds for termination against them, and a directive that the employees are given the opportunity to submit their written explanation within a reasonable period of at least five (5) calendar days from receipt of the notice.
- After serving the first notice, the employers should schedule and conduct a hearing or conference wherein the employees will be given the opportunity to explain and clarify their defenses to the charge against them; present evidence in support of their defenses; and rebut the evidence presented against them by the management.
- After determining that termination of employment is justified, the employers shall serve the employees a written notice of termination indicating that: all circumstances involving the charge against the employees have been considered; and grounds have been established to justify the severance of their employment.
In the present case, the Court found that the employer bus company was unable to send Wilfredo a first written notice containing the specific causes or grounds for termination against him. Although Wilfredo submitted a lengthy explanation letter dated June 3, 2015 explaining his side on the incident that transpired two months back, the Court stressed that such explanation did not excuse the fact that there was a complete absence of the first notice. The Court thus sanctioned the employer bus company for disregarding due process requirements.
According to the Court, where the dismissal is for a just cause, as in this case, the lack of statutory due process will not nullify the dismissal, or render it illegal or ineffectual. The employer will not be required to pay the employee backwages. However, the employer should indemnify the employee for the violation of his statutory right in the form of nominal damages in the amount of Thirty Thousand Pesos (Php30,000.00) in accordance with prevailing jurisprudence.
Further reading:
- Mariano v. G.V. Florida Transport, G.R. No. 240882, 16 September 2020.
