G.R. No. 194410 - Ocean East Agency, Corp. vs. Lopez

Ocean East Agency Corporation is a manning agency engaged in recruitment and deployment of Filipino seamen for overseas principals.
Arturo D. Carmen is President and General Manager of Ocean East.
Capt. Nicolas Skinitis is a representative of a foreign principal, European Navigation Greece.
Allan I. Lopez was employed on March 7, 1988 as Documentation Officer assigned to Ocean East's Operations Department.
Ocean East had two Documentation Clerks prior to and during Lopez's employment: Grace Reynolds (Documentation Clerk) and Ma. Corazon P. Hing (hired in 1996 as Documentation Clerk).
Duties of the Documentation Clerks and Officer included: preparing line-ups of requested crew, assisting in operational expenses and disbursements, coordinating with former crew for pooling/immediate employment, and supervising preparation of crew documents such as travel documents and clearances.

Ocean East sent Lopez a letter dated February 5, 2001 serving notice that his services would be terminated effective March 6, 2001 on the ground of redundancy.
On February 7, 2001, Lopez received separation pay in the amount of P202,282.00 and was issued a Certificate of Service.
Ocean East alleged the Documentation Officer position was a duplication of duties performed by its two Documentation Clerks.

On May 23, 2001, Lopez filed an Amended Complaint for illegal dismissal, damages and attorney's fees against Ocean East, Carmen, and Skinitis.
Lopez alleged that Skinitis accused him of taking money from crew, maligned his physical handicap as a polio victim, and ordered his removal from the job.
Labor Arbiter Decision dated January 25, 2002 dismissed the illegal dismissal complaint for lack of merit, citing employer's management prerogative to abolish positions and absence of proof of malice or ill-will.
Lopez appealed to the NLRC; NLRC Resolution dated August 30, 2002 dismissed the appeal for lack of merit, upholding employer's leeway in business decisions including streamlining, and noting that redundancy is distinct from retrenchment and need not prove business losses.
The NLRC denied Lopez's motion for reconsideration on January 30, 2004 for lack of palpable or patent errors.

Lopez filed a petition for certiorari before the Court of Appeals (CA).
CA Decision dated January 26, 2010 granted Lopez's petition, reversed and set aside the NLRC resolutions, and ordered Ocean East to pay Lopez backwages from March 6, 2001 until finality of the CA decision.
CA found Ocean East failed to prove the validity of the redundancy dismissal, citing absenc...(Subscriber-Only)

Whether the Court of Appeals committed error in finding Allan I. Lopez to have been illegally dismissed on the ground of redundancy.