Dear Atty. Kathy,

In a department meeting for the first quarter of this year, when one of our company’s managers pointed out what Employee A could do to contribute in improving the department’s performance, the Employee A made a loud outburst and repeatedly questioned and declared to the manager, in front of other team members, why she was being singled out; that the manager is always unfair in his performance evaluations of her; and that, while she cannot do anything in company premises, the manager should watch his back each time he steps out of the office because his days are numbered as she will put a stop to this unfair treatment. The manager reported this incident, emphasizing that he does not feel safe anymore with the employee around, and that the team’s morale has been negatively affected with the employee’s violent and disrespectful utterances during team meetings. Are the behavior and acts of Employee A valid ground to dismiss her when these appear to be caused by alleged unfair performance evaluations?

Michael

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Dear Michael,

The Supreme Court, in the case of Apolonio Bondoc, et al. vs. NLRC, et al., (G.R. No. 103209, 28 July 1997), ruled that dismissal is the appropriate sanction for an employee who uttered the following statements which partake the form of threat: “Di bale bilang na rin naman ang araw mo.”; “Sige lang, patawa tawa ka pa, eh bilang na bilang na ang araw mo.; and “Matakot ka sa Diyos, bilang na ang araw mo; Mag-ingat ka sa paglabas mo sa Silahis Hotel.”

In this regard, the Supreme Court said that the dismissal of the erring employee, being based on just cause, is in order; and upheld the right of the company to dismiss the employee for reasonable disciplinary rules and for committing serious misconduct, highlighting that the Company has the duty to maintain an atmosphere of peace and tranquility within its premises, and to expect from its employees to observe orderly conduct; and that to condone the erring employee’s conduct will erode the discipline that an employer should uniformly apply so that it can expect compliance to the same rules and regulations by its employees.

In addition to the foregoing, in a number of cases, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that the utterance of obscene, insulting or offensive words against a superior is not only destructive of the morale of co-employees and a violation of the company rules and regulations, but also constitutes gross misconduct (Sterling Paper Products Enterprises Inc. vs. KMM-Katipunan, et al., G.R. No. 221493, 2 August 2017), as valid grounds for the dismissal of an employee.

On the matter of Employee A’s alleged grievances on his performance evaluations, the Supreme Court has likewise ruled that an aggrieved employee who wants to unburden himself of his disappointments and frustrations in his job or relations with his immediate superior would normally approach said superior directly or otherwise ask some other officer possibly to mediate and discuss the problem with the end in view of settling their differences without causing ferocious conflicts; that no matter how the employee dislikes his employer professionally, and even if he is in a confrontational disposition, he cannot afford to be disrespectful and dare to talk with an unguarded tongue and/or with a baleful pen.

Based solely on your narration of events, it appears that Employee A made threats to harm her manager in front of her co-employees, which, in accordance with jurisprudence, evidently showed that she intended to disrespect her superior. Further, as ruled by the Supreme Court, Employee A’s alleged grievances against her manager cannot excuse her acts, if proven, nor justify, much less mitigate, the commission of the same. Thus, subject to supervening circumstances, the Company has valid grounds to dismiss Employee A.

Atty. Kathy Larios