G.R. No. 227070 , March 09, 2020
Adamson University Faculty and Employees Union, represented by its President, and Orestes Delos Reyes, Petitioners, vs. Adamson University, Respondent.

FACTS

Orestes Delos Reyes, a university professor and assistant chairperson of the Social Sciences Department at Adamson University, and president of the Adamson University Faculty and Employees Union, was dismissed from employment. The dismissal stemmed from an administrative complaint filed by Josephine Esplago on behalf of her 17-year-old daughter, Paula Mae Perlas, a student. The complaint alleged that Delos Reyes violated the University Code of Conduct and Republic Act No. 7610 when, upon encountering Paula Mae at a faculty room door, he exclaimed “anak ng puta” and walked away, causing her emotional trauma. Adamson University formed an Ad Hoc Investigating and Hearing Committee, which issued a show cause memorandum to Delos Reyes. He denied the accusations and filed a counter-complaint against Paula Mae. After a hearing where Delos Reyes was represented by counsel, he was issued a Notice of Dismissal. His motion for reconsideration was denied. The Panel of Voluntary Arbitrators ruled his dismissal was valid, a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeals. Delos Reyes and the Union filed a Petition for Review before the Supreme Court, arguing the dismissal was invalid and constituted unfair labor practice.

ISSUE

Whether the dismissal of Orestes Delos Reyes from employment was valid.

RULING

No, the dismissal was not valid. The Supreme Court ruled that the use of the expletive “anak ng puta” as a casual expression of surprise or exasperation is not, by itself, serious misconduct warranting dismissal. The Court found that the incident, as described, was a fleeting, isolated utterance without evidence of a willful or wrongful intent directed at the student. The Court held that the subsequent acts considered against Delos Reyes, such as his refusal to apologize and his filing of a counter-complaint, while indicative of an abrasive personality, did not transform the isolated utterance into gross misconduct justifying termination. The Court emphasized that the penalty of dismissal was too severe for a first offense after 20 years of service, and that the employer failed to prove the act constituted a depravity of will equivalent to a transgression of established rules. The Court ordered Delos Reyes’s reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and the payment of full backwages, but denied his claim for moral and exemplary damages. The Court also found no substantial evidence of unfair labor practice.