Dear Atty. Kathy,

I received a show cause memo from the HR Department, asking me to explain the reported disrespectful behavior against my colleagues and immediate superior during a certain company activity, and why I should not be dismissed for it. When I asked for the specific allegations of said co-employees and also the names of co-workers, HR only told me to respond to what is in the memo, since they already specified the charge of disrespectful behavior and the company activity concerned. Is this already compliant with due process requirements?

Daniel

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Dear Daniel,

For charges to validly support employment termination, the charges should be supported by a narration of the specific acts that an employee allegedly committed, together with the dates when these acts were committed, as well as, the names of the co-workers affected by the employee’s alleged actions. As held by the Supreme Court, the specification of these facts and matters is necessary in order to fully apprise the employee of all of the charges against him/her, and enable him/her to present evidence in his/her defense. Otherwise, the employer’s failure to make these crucial specifications in the notice to explain clearly deprives the employee under investigation of due process.

Based solely on what you relayed, it appears that the show cause memo did not specify how you allegedly disrespected your co-employees, nor did the memo specify the co-workers whom you allegedly disrespected. Thus, based on jurisprudence, it appears that the show cause memo is not compliant with the due process requirements.

(Zaida R. Inocente versus St. Vincent Foundation for Children and Aging, Inc., et al., G.R. No. 202621, 22 June 2016)

Atty. Kathy Larios