G.R. No. 82511 March 3, 1992
GLOBE-MACKAY CABLE AND RADIO CORPORATION, petitioner, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION and IMELDA SALAZAR, respondents.

FACTS

Private respondent Imelda L. Salazar was employed by petitioner Globe-Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation (GMCR) in May 1982 as a general systems analyst. Delfin Saldivar, the company’s manager for technical operations’ support, with whom Salazar was allegedly very close, was investigated in 1984 after reports that company equipment under his custody were missing. An internal audit report dated September 25, 1984, indicated Saldivar had entered into a partnership, Concave Commercial and Industrial Company, with Richard A. Yambao, owner of Elecon Engineering Services, a supplier often recommended by Saldivar. The report also disclosed Saldivar took a company airconditioning unit for personal use without authorization and connived with Yambao to defraud the company. The investigation further revealed that Salazar violated company regulations by involving herself in transactions conflicting with the company’s interests, as she signed as a witness to the articles of partnership between Yambao and Saldivar and had knowledge of the missing airconditioner’s whereabouts but failed to inform her employer. Consequently, by a letter dated October 8, 1984, petitioner placed Salazar under preventive suspension for one month, effective October 9, 1984, giving her thirty days to explain her side. Instead of submitting an explanation, Salazar filed a complaint for illegal suspension on October 12, 1984, which she later amended to include illegal dismissal after petitioner notified her in writing that effective November 8, 1984, she was considered dismissed due to her inability to refute the findings. The Labor Arbiter ruled in favor of Salazar, ordering reinstatement, full backwages, and moral damages. The NLRC, on appeal, affirmed the reinstatement but limited backwages to two years and deleted the moral damages award. Petitioner assails this decision.

ISSUE

Whether the preventive suspension and subsequent dismissal of private respondent Imelda Salazar were legal.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled that the preventive suspension of Salazar was legal. The investigative findings necessitated immediate action regarding any employee closely associated with Saldivar, and the discovery of the missing company property in the apartment she shared with Saldivar justified the suspension as a protective measure pending investigation. The suspension did not signify a judgment of guilt, and Salazar was given an opportunity to explain but instead filed a complaint without submitting her side.
However, the Court ruled that Salazar’s eventual dismissal was not for a just or authorized cause. There was no evidence presented to establish a legal ground for her termination. Consequently, her dismissal was illegal. Under Article 279 of the Labor Code, as amended, an employee unjustly dismissed is entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and to full backwages, inclusive of allowances and other benefits, computed from the time compensation was withheld up to the time of actual reinstatement. The Court emphasized the constitutional mandate to afford full protection to labor and the primacy of security of tenure. The remedies of reinstatement and payment of full backwages are intended to restore the employee to her former position and compensate for lost income, thereby making her whole. The NLRC’s limitation of backwages to two years was incorrect; the law mandates full backwages.