GR 87673; (January, 1992) (Digest)
G.R. No. 87673 and G.R. No. 88088, January 24, 1992
Milagros I. Dolores, petitioner, vs. National Labor Relations Commission (Fifth Division), San Miguel Corporation and Petronilo O. Juliano, respondents. / San Miguel Corporation, petitioner, vs. The Hon. National Labor Relations Commission and Milagros I. Dolores, respondents.
FACTS
Milagros Dolores, a long-time employee of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), applied for a two-month leave in September 1986 to attend a French language course in Paris at her own expense. Her immediate superior, Dr. Petronilo Juliano, approved only one month due to an anticipated heavy workload. Dolores sought reconsideration but, without receiving a formal denial, proceeded to leave for the full two-month period. Upon her return, she was served a termination letter dated November 25, 1986, effective December 1, for alleged continuous absence without permission, though she was granted retirement benefits.
Dolores filed an illegal dismissal case. The Labor Arbiter ruled the dismissal was without just cause, ordering SMC to pay separation pay, limited backwages, and damages. The NLRC affirmed but deleted the award of damages. Both parties elevated the case to the Supreme Court.
ISSUE
Whether the National Labor Relations Commission erred in finding the dismissal of Dolores to be without basis and in modifying the awards granted by the Labor Arbiter.
RULING
The Supreme Court modified the NLRC decision. It held that Dolores, holding a managerial position requiring trust and confidence, was indeed guilty of breach of trust and violation of company rules by willfully disregarding the one-month leave limitation. This constituted a valid cause for disciplinary action. However, the Court applied the principle that dismissal must be commensurate to the offense.
Considering Dolores’s 21 years of satisfactory service, the fact this was her first offense, and that her studies incidentally benefited the company, the penalty of dismissal was deemed too harsh. The legal logic balances the employer’s right to discipline a managerial employee for insubordination against the equitable principle of proportionality. Where a valid cause exists but dismissal is excessively severe due to long service and mitigating circumstances, reinstatement is the appropriate remedy. Consequently, the Court ordered her reinstatement with two years’ backwages, but without damages, finding no malice or bad faith in SMC’s actions given its efforts to contact her during her absence.