Title
Jacob vs. 1st Step Manpower International Services, Inc.
Case
G.R. No. 229984
Decision Date
Jul 8, 2020
Jacob, an OFW, alleged sexual harassment, maltreatment, and constructive dismissal in Saudi Arabia. Despite a contested settlement, the Supreme Court ruled in her favor, awarding damages and reinstating her claims.
sexual harassment
maltreatment
constructively dismissed

Case Summary (G.R. No. 229984)

Factual Background

Petitioner accepted employment through First Step Manpower Int'l Services, Inc. under a two-year household service worker contract for deployment to Riyadh at a salary of US$400 monthly. She arrived in Saudi Arabia in January 2015 and, on January 31, 2015, alleged that her male foreign employer attempted to rape her while she was washing dishes. She reported the incident to her female employer, who disbelieved and thereafter mistreated her. Petitioner asserted that on February 16, 2015 the female employer struck her with a shoe, prompting her to seek refuge at the agency’s premises, where she and another worker attempted an escape through a second-floor restroom window, fell, and suffered injuries. A passerby allegedly groped them and they were taken to King Saud Medical City, where petitioner underwent posterior spinal fixation and fusion on February 28, 2015. After intervention by OWWA representatives and POLO, petitioner executed a document captioned “Final Settlement and Certification” before the Philippine Embassy/POLO and was repatriated.

Claims and Reliefs Sought

Petitioner filed a complaint before the Labor Arbiter for constructive illegal dismissal, maltreatment, and unpaid wages for the unexpired portion of her contract, and sought moral and exemplary damages, medical expenses, and attorney’s fees. Petitioner later amended her complaint and pursued the case alone. Respondents were charged jointly and severally as the placement agency, the foreign employer, and the agency president.

Labor Arbiter Proceedings and Ruling

The Labor Arbiter found that petitioner had been constructively dismissed, credited her narration of hostile and unbearable conduct by her foreign employers, and declined to give credence to the Final Settlement because its authenticity and due execution were contested and photocopies were submitted. The Labor Arbiter awarded petitioner wages for the unexpired portion of the contract calculated at US$400 × 23 months = US$9,200, or its peso equivalent, and denied other claims for lack of supporting receipts or proof.

NLRC Proceedings and Ruling

On appeal, the National Labor Relations Commission reversed the Labor Arbiter in a divided decision. The majority held the Final Settlement and Certification valid, premised on the presumption of regularity in the performance of official functions by the Labor Attache, and dismissed the complaint for lack of merit. The majority also relied on a certification by Labor Attache Rustico S.M. Dela Fuente. Commissioner Gerardo C. Nograles dissented, agreeing with the Labor Arbiter that petitioner was constructively dismissed and questioning whether the “seen and noted” stamps demonstrated that petitioner had freely and knowingly attested to the settlement.

Court of Appeals Proceedings and Ruling

Petitioner filed a petition for certiorari to the Court of Appeals, which dismissed the petition. The Court of Appeals found petitioner’s allegations of maltreatment and attempted rape unsubstantiated and inconsistent, and it gave evidentiary weight to the Certification of the Labor Attache and the presumption that official acts were regularly performed. The Court also found no proof that petitioner was coerced into signing the settlement.

Issues Presented to the Supreme Court

The principal issue before the Supreme Court was whether the Court of Appeals correctly found that the NLRC did not commit grave abuse of discretion in reversing the Labor Arbiter’s finding of constructive dismissal. Subsidiary issues included the validity and effect of the Final Settlement and Certification executed before POLO/Philippine Embassy and the appropriate monetary reliefs, including interest and attorney’s fees.

Parties’ Contentions on Review

Petitioner contended that she was constructively dismissed, relying on her sworn declaration and medical records to corroborate maltreatment, attempted rape, and injury, and that the Final Settlement was either forged or signed under duress as a condition for repatriation. She argued that the Labor Arbiter’s factual findings should be reinstated and that the Court of Appeals erred in applying technical rules against an impoverished worker. Respondents maintained that petitioner voluntarily pre-terminated her contract due to homesickness, formalized by the Final Settlement certified by POLO, and that petitioner failed to substantiate allegations of maltreatment or molestation; they invoked the presumption of regularity attaching to official acts of the Labor Attache.

Standard of Review and Legal Framework

The Court reiterated that, in a Rule 45 petition challenging a Rule 65 ruling, it generally does not resolve factual issues and confines review to whether the Court of Appeals erred in finding that the NLRC did or did not commit grave abuse of discretion. The Court expounded the doctrine of constructive dismissal as an illegal dismissal that exists where conditions imposed by the employer render continued employment impossible, unreasonable, or involuntary, quoting prior precedents including Siemens Philippines v. Domingo and recognizing that constructive dismissal may arise from acts of clear discrimination, insensibility, or disdain that foreclose any real choice but to quit.

Supreme Court’s Fact Finding and Assessment of Evidence

The Court examined the totality of circumstances and found that petitioner’s sworn declaration was detailed and that its material points were corroborated by medical records, specifically the discharge summary from King Saud Medical City documenting admission for fall from the second floor, lumbar spine tenderness, and surgical posterior spinal fixation from T11 to L2 on February 28, 2015. The Court rejected respondents’ criticism that petitioner’s failure to immediately report maltreatment undermined her claim, explaining that traumatic circumstances may reasonably delay reporting and that human behavior is not uniform. Weighing the sworn declaration together with medical evidence, the Court concluded that petitioner established an intolerable working environment that impelled her to leave and thus proved constructive dismissal.

Analysis of the Final Settlement and Burden of Proof

The Court addressed respondents’ reliance on the Final Settlement and the Certification by POLO. It observed that the document bore a “seen and noted” stamp signed by an Assistant Labor Attache and that the space for a witness was blank. The Court accepted Commissioner Nograles’ view that such stamps did not necessarily indicate that petitioner attested to the contents before the Labor Attache, and it emphasized that the employer bears the burden of proving that an employee voluntarily resigned. The Court recalled that deeds of release and quitclaims are disfavored and cannot bar an employee from claiming legally entitled benefits unless executed voluntarily, with full understanding and credible consideration. Finding respondents failed to establish voluntary resignation or free and voluntary execution of the s

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