Verdadero v. Barney (G.R. No. 195428; August 29, 2012)

CASE DIGEST: JOMAR S. VERDADERO, Petitioner, v. BARNEY AUTOLINES GROUP OF COMPANIES TRANSPORT, INC., and/or BARNEY D. CHITO, ROSELA F. CHITO and GEIURDO GIMENEZ, Respondents. (G.R. No. 195428; August 29, 2012).

FACTS: Jomar Verdadero (Verdadero) worked as a bus conductor of Barney Autolines Group of Companies Transport, Inc. (BALGCO). Sometime in 2008, an altercation took place between Verdadero and Atty. Gerardo Gimenez (Gimenez), BALGCO's Disciplinary Officer. Gimenez was on board BALGCO Bus. No. 55455, together with his wife and four other companions, travelling from Mulanay to Macalelon, Quezon. Verdadero was then the assigned bus conductor. BALGCO has a company policy of granting free rides to company employees and their wives. Verdadero allegedly berated Gimenez's wife when the latter refused to pay the bus fare.

After the said incident, Verdadero did not report for work because of his fear of being harmed by Gimenez and his friends. Thereafter, Verdadero filed a complaint for illegal dismissal claiming that he was constructively dismissed. The LA dismissed the petition. The NLRC partially granted the appeal and ruled that Verdadero was illegally dismissed. On appeal, the CA reversed the NLRC.ISSUE: Was Verdadero constructively dismissed?

HELD: Constructive dismissal exists where there is cessation of work, because continued employment is rendered impossible, unreasonable or unlikely, as an offer involving a demotion in rank or a diminution in pay and other benefits. Aptly called a dismissal in disguise or an act amounting to dismissal but made to appear as if it were not, constructive dismissal may, likewise, exist if an act of clear discrimination, insensibility, or disdain by an employer becomes so unbearable on the part of the employee that it could foreclose any choice by him except to forego his continued employment.

In this case, Verdadero cannot be deemed constructively dismissed. Records do not show any demotion in rank or a diminution in pay made against him. Neither was there any act of clear discrimination, insensibility or disdain committed by BALGCO against Verdadero which would justify or force him to terminate his employment from the company. It is to be emphasized that the above-mentioned acts should have been committed by the employer against the employee. Unlawful acts committed by a co-employee will not bring the matter within the ambit of constructive dismissal. DENIED.