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ATHENNA INTERNATIONAL MANPOWER SERVICES, INC., petitioner, vs. NONITO VILLANOS, respondent.
G.R. No. 151303. April 15, 2005
R.A. 8042 Migrant Workers Act
QUISUMBING,J:
Facts:
The petitioner is a domestic corporation engaged in recruitment and placement of workers for overseas employment. Respondent applied to work overseas as caretaker thru petitioner. The petitioner asked for a placement fee amounting to P100,000 but the respondent begged to reduced the fee and it was reduced to P94,000 with the petitioner paying only P30,000 and the remaining will be paid through salary deductions. Upon arrival on Taiwan, he was assigned to a mechanical shop, owned by Hsien, as a hydraulic installer/repairer for car lifters, instead of the job for which he was hired. He did not, however, complain because he needed money to pay for the debts he incurred back home. Barely a month after his placement, he was terminated by Hsien and received his salary and instructed for departure to the Philippines. Upon arrival, the respondent went to petitioner’s office and demanded for the reimbursement of P30,000 but instead the petitioner gave him a summary of expenses relating his deployment. The respondent filed a complaint before Adjudication Office of the POEA. However, because of financial constraints, he had to go home to Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte and filed a complaint against petitioner for illegal dismissal, violation of contract, and recovery of unpaid salaries and other benefits before the NLRC Sub-Regional Arbitration Branch No. 9, Dipolog City. In its defense, petitioner alleged that under the employment contract, respondent was to undergo a probationary period of forty (40) days. However, at the job site, respondent was found to be unfit for his work, thus he resigned from his employment and requested for his repatriation signing a statement to that effect. The Labor Arbiter rendered a Decision holding petitioner and Wei Yu Hsien solidarily liable for the wages representing the unserved portion of the employment contract, the amount unlawfully deducted from respondent’s monthly wage, moral damages, exemplary damages and attorney’s fees. On appeal, the NLRC reversed the Labor Arbiter and dismissed the complaint for lack of merit. It found that respondent was not at all dismissed, much less illegally. Respondent seasonably filed a motion for reconsideration, which the NLRC denied in its second resolution. respondent appealed to the Court of Appeals and granted the petition and reversing the questioned resolutions of the NLRC.
Issue:
1. Did the respondent voluntarily resign or was he illegally dismissed?
2. Assuming that the respondent was illegally dismissed, was it proper for the Court of Appeals to affirm in toto the monetary awards in the Decision of the Labor Arbiter?
Held:
The SC denied the petition and affirmed with modification the resolution by the Court of Appeals. On the first issue, An employee voluntarily resigns when he finds himself in a situation where he believes that personal reasons cannot be sacrificed in favor of the exigency of the service; thus, he has no other choice but to disassociate himself from his employment. In this case respondent avers that petitioner did not explain why he was unqualified nor inform of any qualifications needed for the job prior to his deployment as mandated by Art 281[9] of the Labor Code and failed to prove the legality of the dismissal, despite the fact that the burden of proof lies on the employment and recruitment agency. On the second issue, the SC declared the petitioner solidarily liable with Wei Yu Hsien to pay the unexpired portion based on Sec 10 RA 8042. Lastly, because of the breach of contract and bad faith alleged against the employer and the petitioner, we must sustain the award of P50,000 in moral damages and P50,000 as exemplary damages, in addition to attorney’s fees of ten percent (10%) of the aggregate monetary awards.
Acknowledgement: Barbie pinos
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