GR 105877; (January, 1996) (Digest)

G.R. No. 105877; January 25, 1996
VALIANT MACHINERY AND METAL CORPORATION AND JIMMY LUA SING, petitioners, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION (First Division), ELENO C. PONCIANO AND FERDINAND TRIA, respondents.

FACTS

Private respondents Eleno Ponciano and Ferdinand Tria were machinists employed by petitioner Valiant Machinery and Metal Corp. On April 18, 1990, they obtained salary advances from the company president, Jimmy Lua Sing. They were absent the next day but reported for work on April 20 and 21. They did not work on April 23, a Monday, availing of a company practice allowing non-work on Mondays during power outages. When they reported for work on April 24 and 25, they alleged they were barred from entering the company premises, constituting their illegal dismissal. They filed a complaint. Petitioners denied dismissal, claiming the employees had requested additional cash advances which were denied, after which they abandoned their jobs. The Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint, crediting the testimony of a company security guard.

ISSUE

Whether the National Labor Relations Commission committed grave abuse of discretion in reversing the Labor Arbiter and finding that the private respondents were illegally dismissed.

RULING

The Supreme Court upheld the NLRC’s finding of illegal dismissal, specifically constructive dismissal. The legal logic rests on the principle that in termination disputes, the burden of proof lies with the employer to show that the dismissal was for a just or authorized cause. Petitioners failed to discharge this burden. The NLRC correctly found the employer’s claim of abandonment inconsistent with the circumstances. Abandonment requires a clear, deliberate, and unjustified refusal to resume employment, coupled with overt acts showing a definitive intent to sever the employment relationship. The employees’ immediate filing of a complaint negated any intent to abandon. The Court found substantial evidence supporting the NLRC’s conclusion that management, following a change from a single proprietorship to a corporation, had maneuvered the employees into a position forcing them out without the obligation to pay separation benefits, constituting constructive dismissal. The award of reinstatement with full backwages, in accordance with Article 279 of the Labor Code, was affirmed. However, the award of attorney’s fees was deleted for lack of factual and legal justification in the NLRC’s decision, as such awards require express findings of bad faith.