Case Digest (G.R. No. 185335)
Facts:
Prudential Guarantee and Assurance Employee Labor Union and Sandy T. Vallota v. National Labor Relations Commission, Prudential Guarantee and Assurance Inc., and/or Jocelyn Retizos, G.R. No. 185335, June 13, 2012, the Supreme Court Third Division, Mendoza, J., writing for the Court.
Sandy T. Vallota was hired by Prudential Guarantee and Assurance, Inc. (PGAI) on May 16, 1995 as a Junior Programmer in the Electronic Data Processing (EDP) Department and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Prudential Guarantee and Assurance Employee Labor Union in August 2005. In November 2005 PGAI conducted an on-the-spot inspection of IT Department computers; the IT head, Jocelyn Retizos, discovered a folder named “MAA” in Vallota’s workstation and copies of its contents were saved. Vallota was placed under preventive suspension and later charged administratively (Ref. No. AC-05-02) with, inter alia, possession of company property without authorization and misuse or removal of company records.
Vallota requested a conference and Union representation; the Union also asked PGAI to convene a grievance committee and to inspect other IT computers, but the requests went unheeded. After exchanges of memoranda, PGAI terminated Vallota effective January 10, 2006 for loss of trust and confidence, citing the MAA folder and internal PGAI documents found in his computer.
The petitioners filed a complaint for illegal dismissal before the Labor Arbiter (LA), which, on March 31, 2006, ruled for Vallota: the LA declared the dismissal illegal, ordered reinstatement without loss of benefits and seniority, awarded full backwages partially computed then at P60,856.00, and attorneys’ fees of 10% of the monetary award, finding insufficient evidence of willful misconduct and a denial of a requested hearing.
Respondents appealed to the NLRC. The NLRC initially dismissed the appeal on June 30, 2006 for failure to file a certificate against forum shopping, but on reconsideration (Oct. 31, 2007) reversed the LA, found grounds for loss of trust and confidence, set aside the LA decision, but nonetheless ordered financial assistance equal to one-half month pay for every year of service (P92,000.00). The petitioners’ motion for reconsideration before the NLRC was denied on December 28, 2007.
The petitioners then filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 102699), whic...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the Court of Appeals committed grave abuse of discretion by allowing respondents’ procedural irregularities and other alleged violations of NLRC rules.
- Whether there is substantial evidence to justify the dismissal of petitioner Sandy T. Vallota for loss of t...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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