Case Digest (G.R. No. 127838)
Facts:
Civil Service Commission v. Jose J. Lucas, G.R. No. 127838, January 21, 1999, Supreme Court En Banc, Pardo, J., writing for the Court. The petitioner is the Civil Service Commission (CSC); the respondent is Jose J. Lucas, a photographer employed by the Department of Agriculture (DA). The Board of Personnel Inquiry (BOPI), Office of the Secretary, DA, and the Secretary of Agriculture appear in the record as the administrative bodies that investigated and acted on the complaint.On May 26, 1992, Raquel P. Linatok, an assistant information officer at the DA, filed an affidavit-complaint with the Office of the Secretary, DA, accusing Lucas of touching her thigh, pushing her out of his office and otherwise behaving in a manner she described as misconduct. BOPI summoned Lucas to answer the complaint; Lucas denied intentional misconduct, insisting any contact was accidental when he reached for his shoes. After a formal investigation, on May 31, 1993, BOPI found Lucas guilty of simple misconduct and recommended suspension for one month and one day. The Secretary of Agriculture approved BOPI’s recommendation.
Lucas appealed to the Civil Service Commission, which on July 7, 1994 issued Resolution No. 94-3670 finding him guilty of grave misconduct and dismissing him from the service. Lucas moved for reconsideration, which the CSC denied. Lucas then filed a petition for review with the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals, in CA-G.R. SP No. 37137 (promulgated October 29, 1996), set aside the CSC resolution and reinstated BOPI’s finding of simple misconduct and its recommended penalty, holding that the CSC had effectively convicted Lucas of an offense more serious than that wit...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was respondent Jose J. Lucas denied due process when the Civil Service Commission found him guilty of grave misconduct after he was charged with simple misconduct?
- Does the act complained of—touching the complainant’s thigh and pushing her out of the office—constitute grave misconduct ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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