Case Digest (G.R. No. 200352)
Facts:
Celiz v. Cord Chemicals, Inc., G.R. No. 200352, July 20, 2016, the Supreme Court Second Division, Del Castillo, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Mary June Celiz was employed by private respondent Cord Chemicals, Inc. (Cord, Inc.) beginning in 1992 and rose to become Chief of Sales and Senior Operations Manager, the company's second highest officer. Cord, Inc. was owned and managed by Leonor G. Sanz, who took over operations after the death in 2008 of her husband, Francisco Sanz. Marian Ontangco (Human Resources Manager) was also impleaded in subsequent proceedings.
After Francisco’s death, Leonor advised Celiz not to report for work and convened a meeting (with company lawyers present) in which Leonor expressed jealousy over an alleged intimate relationship between Celiz and Francisco; Celiz denied any relationship beyond the professional. Celiz requested a graceful exit and was told she could claim separation pay by end-October 2008. When Celiz later reported and tendered resignation, company counsel informed her that she would instead be dismissed for failure to account for alleged unliquidated cash advances originally shown at P713,471.00.
Cord, Inc. served Celiz a Notice to Explain, placed her on preventive suspension, and afforded limited access to company files. The company later reduced the attributed unliquidated balance to P445,272.93 after some partial liquidations by Celiz. Cord, Inc. alleged also that audits revealed padded sales figures and negligent customer-service conduct; Celiz maintained that ledger entries included disbursements actually given to other employees and that she was denied full access to statements of account.
On 6 December 2008 Cord, Inc. dismissed Celiz for serious breach of trust and confidence. Celiz filed for illegal dismissal and monetary benefits before the Labor Arbiter, impleading Cord, Inc., Leonor and Marian. The Labor Arbiter rendered a decision on 29 June 2009 finding just cause and due process and dismissed the complaint. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) affirmed in a May 13, 2010 Decision (and denied reconsideration), and the Court of Appeals (CA) likewise dismissed Celiz’s petition for certiorari in CA-G.R. SP No. 116098 on October 26, 2011 (Decision penned by Japar B. Dimaampao, J., with Stephen C. Cruz and Ramon A. Cruz, JJ., concurring), and denied reconsideration on January 18, 2012.
Celiz elevated the matter to the Supreme Court by a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45, assailing the CA’s findings that (a) substantial evidence supported dismissal for loss of trust and confidence grounded on the unliquidated advances and other audit findings, and (b) procedura...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals err in sustaining petitioner’s dismissal for serious breach of trust and confidence when petitioner contends the finding was contrary to the rule in Lima Land, Inc. v. Cuevas requiring substantial evidence of an actual breach of duty?
- Did the Court of Appeals err in finding that respondents complied with procedural due process prio...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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