Case Digest (G.R. No. 149793)
Facts:
Wack Wack Golf & Country Club v. National Labor Relations Commission, Martina G. Cagasan, Carmencita F. Dominguez, and Business Staffing and Management, Inc., G.R. No. 149793, April 15, 2005, Supreme Court Second Division, Callejo, Sr., J., writing for the Court.The case arose after a fire on November 29, 1996 destroyed much of Wack Wack Golf & Country Club’s main clubhouse, prompting management to notify the DOLE on April 14, 1997 of a one-month suspension of operations of its Food & Beverage (F&B) Department and to advise 54 F&B employees they need not report for work after April 14, 1997 but would be paid through May 14, 1997. The Wack Wack Golf Employees Union challenged the suspension as union-busting and filed a strike notice with DOLE’s NCMB, leading to negotiations and an Agreement (referred to in the records as the June 16, 1997 Agreement) that offered a special separation/early-retirement package (one-and-one-half months’ pay per year of service plus other benefits) and provided that qualified separated employees would be given priority for reemployment by concessionaires, contractors or the Club upon resumption of operations.
Respondents Carmencita F. Dominguez and Martina G. Cagasan opted to avail themselves of the package, received separation pay and signed Releases and Quitclaims (September 18 and 30, 1997, respectively). Union president Crisanto Baluyot, Sr. later availed of the package and likewise signed a release. On October 15, 1997, Business Staffing and Management, Inc. (BSMI) entered into a management contract with Wack Wack to provide, among other services, management of food and beverage operations and to give priority hiring to retired employees; on October 21, 1997 BSMI hired Cagasan and Dominguez as probationary project employees.
Following an organizational review, BSMI terminated Cagasan and Dominguez by letters dated February 27, 1998 on grounds of redundancy; Baluyot was offered but declined an alternate lower post and was dismissed. The three filed complaints for illegal dismissal with the Labor Arbiter. The Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaints of Dominguez and Cagasan for lack of merit but found Baluyot’s dismissal illegal and ordered his reinstatement and backwages.
Dominguez and Cagasan filed partial appeals to the NLRC, which on September 27, 2000 reversed and ordered Wack Wack to reinstate them with full backwages, relying on the Union–management Agreement (especially its priority-for-rehire provision) and concluding that BSMI was merely a supplier of workers (a labor-only contractor), making Wack Wack the principal employer. A motion for reconsideration was denied on December 15, 2000.
Wack Wack filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 63658) alleging grave abuse of discretion by the NLRC; BSMI filed a related certiorari petition (CA-G.R. SP No. 63553). The CA (Twelfth Division) dismissed Wack Wack’s petition on April 3, 2001 for insufficiency in form (lack of affidavit of service under Sec. 11, Rule 13, 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure; and a verification/certificate against forum-shopping signed by the general manager without proof of authority). A motion for reconsideration submitting proof of authority was denied on ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals properly dismiss petitioner Wack Wack’s certiorari petition for insufficiency in form (lack of affidavit of service and proof of authority for the signatory of the verification/certificate against forum-shopping)?
- Did respondents Cagasan and Dominguez validly waive their employment rights by accepting the special separation package and signing Releases and Quitclaims, thereby precluding claims for illegal dismissal against Wack Wack?
- Was Business Staffing and Management, Inc. (BSMI) an independent contractor (making it the employer of Cagasan and Dominguez) or a labor-only contractor/supplier (making Wack Wack the principal ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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