G.R. No. L-87799 December 15, 1993
SUNSET VIEW CONDOMINIUM CORPORATION, petitioner, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION AND EVELYN A. LORENZO, respondents.

FACTS

Respondent Evelyn A. Lorenzo started as a probationary clerk-typist with petitioner Sunset View Condominium Corporation, became a permanent employee on January 1, 1979, and was appointed administrative secretary in 1980. On October 4, 1985, she received a memorandum from the company president suspending her indefinitely effective immediately due to evidence linking her to irregularities, and giving her five days to show cause why her services should not be terminated. Lorenzo replied the next day, stating she could not comply as there were no specific charges. Petitioner proceeded with the suspension, stopped paying her salary on November 5, 1985, and failed to give her 13th month pay for that year. After thirty days, she was not reinstated nor paid. Lorenzo filed a complaint for illegal suspension, praying for reinstatement, back wages, 13th month pay, moral/exemplary damages, and attorney’s fees. In its position paper, petitioner alleged that prior to October 4, 1985, it discovered Lorenzo had tampered with three duplicate copies of official receipts by erasing and replacing amounts with lesser figures and appropriating the difference, and that she was confronted and given a chance to return the amounts but failed. Lorenzo denied the offense, contended the handwriting on the falsified copies was not hers, and requested production of the original receipts. At the hearing, subpoenaed originals and duplicates were presented, with Lorenzo’s counsel observing that the altered figures on the duplicates had handwriting different from her accepted handwriting on the originals. The Labor Arbiter found the indefinite suspension amounted to constructive dismissal, ordered reinstatement with full back wages, 13th month pay for 1985, moral damages, and attorney’s fees, and concluded Lorenzo was not properly apprised of the charges. The NLRC affirmed the findings and order for reinstatement, back wages, and 13th month pay, but deleted moral damages and attorney’s fees.

ISSUE

Whether the National Labor Relations Commission committed grave abuse of discretion in affirming the Labor Arbiter’s decision finding the suspension and dismissal of Evelyn A. Lorenzo illegal.

RULING

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition and affirmed the NLRC Resolution, with modification regarding back wages. The NLRC did not commit grave abuse of discretion. The burden of proving misconduct rendering an employee unworthy of employment is on the employer. Factual findings of quasi-judicial agencies like the NLRC, supported by substantial evidence, are accorded respect and finality. The Court found no evidence directly pointing to Lorenzo as the perpetrator of the falsification, nor any showing of negligence in handling receipts. Her role was more akin to general housekeeping; the accountant held the key to the cabinet for receipts and funds, and while she accepted payments and issued receipts, she endorsed collections and duplicates to the collector. The anomaly took almost one and a half years to discover (receipts dated May 1984, suspension October 1985), and the specific charge of falsification was only raised in petitioner’s position paper before the Labor Arbiter, casting doubt on its veracity. The alleged failure to furnish petitioner a copy of Lorenzo’s manifestation on handwriting was not a fatal denial of due process, as petitioner was allowed to appeal and file a motion for reconsideration, and technical rules are not controlling in labor proceedings. Since Lorenzo was illegally dismissed, she is entitled to reinstatement with back wages for three years without qualification and deduction, without loss of seniority rights. If reinstatement is no longer feasible, petitioner shall pay, in addition to back wages, separation pay equivalent to one month salary for every year of service.