Case Digest (G.R. No. 239622)
Facts:
Ruben Carpio v. Modair Manila Co. Ltd., Inc., G.R. No. 239622, June 21, 2021, Supreme Court Third Division, Lopez, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner Ruben Carpio sued respondent Modair Manila Co. Ltd., Inc. for illegal dismissal and for regularization of his employment. Proceedings began before Regional Arbitration Branch No. IV of the NLRC as NLRC Case No. RAB-IV-10-01443-13-L, later appealed to the NLRC docketed as NLRC LAC Case No. 06-001497-15; Modair then petitioned the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 143736) by certiorari; Carpio filed the present Rule 45 Petition for Review on Certiorari to the Supreme Court.From 1998 to 2013 Carpio worked for Modair as an electrician. A Certificate of Employment dated May 23, 2013 described him as a “contractor’s employee (per project basis)” covering October 27, 1998 to April 10, 2013. Beginning in 2008 Modair issued several memoranda notifying Carpio of impending termination upon completion of specific projects (Back End Expansion, PIL Green, UTIL. Works, Ibiden CPU and NYK Tech Park). Modair produced project agreements for later engagements (NYK Project Agreement dated August 8, 2012; FUNAI Project Agreement dated December 11, 2013), Establishment Employment Reports to DOLE for completed projects, and several quitclaims/releases and a Final Release of Pay (April 25, 2013; May 24, 2013). Carpio presented payslips (2001–2010) and maintained that repeated re-hiring rendered him a regular employee; Modair contended he remained a project employee co-terminous with each project.
The Labor Arbiter, in a Decision dated March 12, 2015, dismissed Carpio’s complaint for lack of merit, finding that after an initial period of regular employment Carpio later became project-based. Carpio appealed to the NLRC which, in its Decision dated September 29, 2015 (Resolution October 30, 2015), reversed the Labor Arbiter, declared Carpio a regular employee, and ordered reinstatement without backwages. Modair filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (January 7, 2016), which granted relief in a Decisi...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was Carpio a project-based employee or a regular employee of Modair?
- If Carpio was a regular employee, was he illegally dismissed by Mo...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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