Graceful exit

Dear Atty. Kathy,

Our Company’s Warehouse Manager, M, was caught covering up the fraudulent delivery receipts and theft committed by his assistant managers in the warehouse. During the administrative investigation, M admitted his offenses and asked that he be allowed to resign instead of terminated, so that he will not have any bad employment record. The Company agreed to allow M a graceful exit, but clarified that he will forfeit some of his benefits since he was found guilty of the serious offenses. However, instead of submitting his resignation letter, M filed a complaint for illegal dismissal, which he said is his way of getting the forfeited benefits. We are not sure now how to categorize M’s separation. Can we consider M as resigned?

Chris

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Dear Chris,

As ruled by the Supreme Court in the case of Peter Angelo N. Lagamayo vs Cullinan Group Inc., et al., (G.R. No. 227718, 11 November 2021), resignation is the voluntary act of an employee who is in a situation where he or she believes that personal reasons cannot be sacrificed in favor of the exigency of the service and has no other choice or is otherwise compelled to dissociate himself or herself from employment. It is a formal pronouncement or relinquishment of an office and must be made with the intention of relinquishing the office, accompanied by the act of relinquishment or abandonment.

The oft-repeated rule is that resignation is inconsistent with the filing of a complaint for illegal dismissal. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court has likewise ruled that “the employee’s filing of the complaint for illegal dismissal by itself is not sufficient to disprove that said employee voluntarily resigned.”

The Supreme Court has construed an employee’s informal voluntary termination of employment as tantamount to his or her resignation, perceiving such conduct as a “badge of guilt” on the part of the employee since in effect, the latter evades or thwarts the exercise by the employer of its prerogative to discipline him or her after observing due process.

In this regard, the Supreme Court declines to condone the employee’s act of preempting and refusing to cooperate in a process sanctioned by law to weed out undesirable workers, for to do so, would not only tie the employer’s hands but would also incapacitate them, to a point that legitimate measures to address employee iniquity would be futile.

Based solely on your narration, M was found guilty of the serious offenses; the Company accepted M’s offer to resign; some of M’s benefits are forfeited because he was found guilty of the serious offenses; and that M filed a complaint for illegal dismissal to collect the forfeited benefits. It is clear from the foregoing that M has no intention to return to work Thus, in accordance with jurisprudence, he is considered to have voluntarily severed his employment.

(Peter Angelo N. Lagamayo vs Cullinan Group Inc., et al., G.R. No. 227718, 11 November 2021)

Atty. Kathy Larios