G.R. No. 119157 March 11, 1999
Golden Thread Knitting Industries, Inc., George Ng and Wilfredo Bico, petitioners, vs. National Labor Relations Commission, George Macaspac, Mary Ann Macaspac, Romulo Albasin, Melchor Cachucha, Gilbert Rivera and Flora Balbino, respondents.

FACTS

Employees of Golden Thread Knitting Industries, Inc. filed consolidated complaints for unfair labor practice, illegal dismissal, and monetary claims. The complainants alleged that after organizing a union in May 1992, they suffered retaliatory acts, including the reduction of workdays and the successive dismissals or suspensions of union officers and members, such as Romulo Albasin, George Macaspac, Gilbert Rivera, Mary Ann Macaspac, and Flora Balbino. Petitioners contended the dismissals were for valid causes: Albasin and Macaspac for slashing towels; Rivera and Macaspac due to redundancy; and Balbino for misconduct and threatening the personnel manager. They also claimed the work reduction was due to low product demand.
The Labor Arbiter dismissed the unfair labor practice charge, finding the company was unaware of the union when the initial acts occurred, and upheld the dismissals, except awarding separation pay to Rivera and Mary Ann Macaspac. The NLRC reversed this decision on appeal. It found the dismissals illegal and ordered the reinstatement of the six individual respondents with full back wages and awarded holiday pay and attorney’s fees. Petitioners sought review by the Supreme Court.

ISSUE

Whether the National Labor Relations Commission committed grave abuse of discretion in ruling that the individual respondents were illegally dismissed.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the NLRC decision, finding no grave abuse of discretion. On the dismissals for cause, the Court found petitioners’ evidence insufficient. The affidavits against Albasin and George Macaspac for slashing towels were deemed suspect as they were executed by security guards only after the filing of the complaints and were not corroborated by the alleged eyewitness during the hearings. For Gilbert Rivera and Mary Ann Macaspac, the redundancy claim failed because petitioners did not substantiate the alleged overstaffing with proof of a fair and reasonable criteria for selection, nor was there evidence that other employees were similarly affected. Regarding Flora Balbino, the charge of serious misconduct was not proven by substantial evidence; the alleged threat was uncorroborated and the act of removing her time card was a minor infraction. For Melchor Cachucha, abandonment was not established as there was no clear showing of a deliberate and unjustified refusal to work. The proximity of these dismissals to the union’s establishment supported the inference of unlawful termination. The awards for holiday pay and attorney’s fees were likewise sustained.