Case Digest (G.R. No. 168273)
Facts:
Harborview Restaurant v. Reynaldo Labro, G.R. No. 168273, April 30, 2009, Supreme Court Second Division, Tinga, J., writing for the Court.Harborview Restaurant (petitioner) employed Reynaldo Labro (respondent) as a cook since August 1985. On 29 January 1999 respondent reported for work and found a co-employee performing his duties; the chief cook and respondent’s brother (the restaurant’s over-all supervisor) told him to go home and that he was being replaced on instructions of the general manager, allegedly because respondent had on 20 January 1999 taken a plastic bag of ground meat and given it to a supplier. Respondent denied the theft, saying he had removed a “throw away” bottle; he left the premises.
On 5 February 1999 respondent filed a complaint for illegal dismissal with the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). Petitioner countered that it never dismissed respondent but that respondent had refused to work and therefore abandoned his job, pointing to a general manager’s letter dated 8 February 1999 instructing respondent to report or be deemed to have abandoned his work. Respondent denied receipt of that letter.
The labor arbiter found for respondent, ruling the dismissal illegal for lack of proof of theft and for lack of due process; the arbiter also disregarded the abandonment claim. The NLRC reversed, concluding there was no dismissal but abandonment, and dismissed respondent’s complaint. Petitioner then filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals granted the petition, applying Ranara v. NLRC, finding that respondent had in fact been dismissed through the concerted acts of his immediate superiors, that there was no adequate proof of abandonment, and that petitioner faile...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was respondent dismissed from employment or did he abandon his job?
- If respondent was dismissed, did petitioner prove just cause and accord due process, or was the dismissal...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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