Case Digest (G.R. No. 229984)
Facts:
Donna B. Jacob v. First Step Manpower Int'l Services, Inc., Muhammad/Elnor E. Tapnio, G.R. No. 229984, July 08, 2020, Supreme Court Third Division, Leonen, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Donna B. Jacob sought employment as a household service worker with respondent First Step Manpower Int'l Services, Inc. and signed a two‑year contract for deployment to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a monthly wage of US$400. She was deployed in January 2015 and was assigned to a foreign employer identified as Abdulaziz Masser/Abdulaziz Al Masoud. Less than three months later Jacob escaped and was repatriated after alleging sexual harassment, maltreatment and sustaining serious injury while fleeing.
Jacob testified that on January 31, 2015 her male employer attempted to rape her; her female employer disbelieved and thereafter maltreated her, including an incident on February 16, 2015 when the female employer struck her with and threw a shoe. Jacob fled to the agency’s counterpart, attempted escape through a second‑floor window, fell and injured her spine, and was hospitalized and operated on February 28, 2015. Representatives of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) later assisted her; Jacob executed a Final Settlement and Certification before the Philippine Embassy/POLO in Riyadh dated March 25, 2015 and was repatriated on March 31, 2015.
On July 2, 2015 Jacob (with co‑complainant Rosalie Bermido) filed a complaint with the Labor Arbiter for constructive illegal dismissal, maltreatment, and nonpayment of wages for the unexpired portion of her contract. Jacob pursued the case; Bermido’s claim was dismissed for failure to prosecute. The Labor Arbiter (Sept. 4, 2015) found Jacob constructively dismissed, rejected the Final Settlement as untrustworthy, and ordered respondents (First Step, Muhammad and Elnor Tapnio) to pay wages for the unexpired portion of the contract (US$9,200), dismissing other claims for lack of merit.
Respondents appealed to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) which, in a divided February 29, 2016 Decision, reversed the Labor Arbiter and dismissed Jacob’s complaint after giving effect to the Final Settlement and the Labor Attache’s certification; Presiding Commissioner Gerardo C. Nograles dissented, agreeing with the Labor Arbiter that Jacob was constructively dismissed and that the settlement was not proof of voluntary resignation. The NLRC denied Jacob’s motion for reconsideration on March 31, 2016 (with Commissioner Nograles again dissenting).
Jacob then filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 146028). The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition on October 24, 2016, finding Jacob’s allegations unsubstantiated, giving weight to the Labor Attache’s certification and the presumption of regularity of official acts; it denied reconsideration...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals err in finding that the NLRC did not commit grave abuse of discretion in reversing the Labor Arbiter?
- Was petitioner Donna B. Jacob constructively dismissed from her employment?
- Was the Final Settlement and Certification executed before the Philippine Embassy a valid bar to Jacob's illegal dismissal claim?
- What monetary reliefs and interest, if any, is petitioner entitled to...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)