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Northwest Airlines v. Del Rosario

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355 NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC. v. MA. CONCEPCION M.

DEL ROSARIO  Morales: it was more than an animated discussion; Del Rosario had even
G.R. No. 157633 | September 10, 2014 | Bersamin, J. challenged Gamboa to a sabunutan
o tried to pacify both, but the two did not stop
SUMMARY o because the two were still arguing although the Business Class
Respondent was involved in an argument with a fellow flight attendant which resulted to passengers were already boarding, she ordered them out of the plane
her dismissal on the ground of engaging in the prohibited act of fighting. The Court ruled and transfer to another nearby aircraft
that even though the last two requirement of gross misconduct and willful disobedience o inquired from them about what had happened, and even asked if
is present, the act was not serious enough to merit termination and thus she was illegally they were willing to fly on the condition that they would have to stay
dismissed. away from each other
 Del Rosario was not willing to commit herself to do so, she
PROVISIONS decided not to allow both
Art. 282, LC. TERMINATION BY EMPLOYER. — An employer may terminate an employee for  Morales furnished them a Notice of Removal from Service pending an
any of the following causes: investigation of the fighting incident
(a) Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders of  Morales sent a letter to Del Rosario telling her that Northwest
his employer or representative in connection with his work; would conduct an investigation of the incident, held on May 28, 1998 before
(b) Gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties; Atty. Ceazar Veneracion III, Northwest's Legal Counsel and Head of Human
(c) Fraud or willful breach by the employee of the trust reposed in him by Resource Dept.
his employer or duly authorized representative;  Jun. 19, 1998: Del Rosario was informed of her termination. The investigation
(d) Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against the person of his found that both had engaged in a fight, even if there had been no actual
employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly authorized representative; physical contact between them;
and o fighting was strictly prohibited to the point that fighting could entail
(e) Other causes analogous to the foregoing dismissal from the service even if committed for the first time
o Northwest considered her dismissal from the service justified and in
DOCTRINE accordance with the Rules of Conduct for Employees (see NOTES)
Misconduct - improper or wrong conduct that transgresses some established and definite  LA Teresita D. Castillon-Lora ruled in favor of Northwest; Del Rosario’s dismissal
rule of action, a forbidden act, a dereliction of duty, willful in character, and implies had been justified, taking into account that Northwest had been engaged in
wrongful intent and not mere error in judgment. the airline business in which a good public image had been demanded
o To be a just cause for termination: o flight attendants - expected to maintain an image of sweetness and
(a) must be serious amiability
(b) relate to the performance of the employee's duties o fighting among its employees even in the form of heated arguments
(c) show that the employee has become unfit to continue working for or discussions were contradictory to that expected image
the employer o it could validly dismiss its employees because it had been entitled to
protect its business interests by putting up an impeccable image to the
FACTS public
 Northwest Airlines employed Ma. Concepcion M. Del Rosario as one of its  NLRC reversed the LA’s decision, ordering Del Rosario reinstatement
Manila-based flight attendants (FA) o incident could not be considered as synonymous with fighting as the
 May 18, 1998: Del Rosario was assigned at the Business Class Section of activity:
Northwest Flight NW 26 bound for Japan Fight - hostile encounter, affray, or altercation; a physical or verbal
 During the boarding preps. Kathleen Gamboa, another FA assigned at the First struggle for victory, pugilistic combat (Black’s Law Dict)
Class Section needed to borrow a wine bottle opener because her wine bottle Fighting - did not necessarily imply that both parties should exchange
opener was dull. blows, for it was sufficient that they voluntarily put their bodies in
 Vivien Francisco, Gamboa's runner, went to the Business Class Section to borrow position with that intent (Bouvier’s Law Dict)
a wine bottle opener from Del Rosario - existence of an underlying hostility between the parties
o Del Rosario remarked that any flight attendant who could not bring a which is so intense that there is an imminent danger of a
wine bottle opener had no business working in the First Class Section physical conflict
 Gamboa overheard Del Rosario's remarks, and later on verbally confronted her - project a general appearance of wanting to physically
which escalated into a heated argument strike each other
o Escaño intervened but was ignored, prompting her to rush outside the o incident could not be held similar to the fight that Northwest penalized
aircraft to get Maria Rosario D. Morales, the Asst. Base Manager, to o NWA’s witnesses refer to the incident as "arguing" or a "serious or
pacify them animated discussion”
 Del Rosario: only an animated discussion had transpired
 Argument - effort to establish belief by a course of reasoning words that usually succeeded the provocation by either party
(Bouvier's Law Dict)  The incident could not be justly considered as akin to the fight contemplated by
 Arguing - talking or debating about a certain issue Northwest.
o There are no underpinnings of animosity in the discussion nor (sic)  The understanding of fight as one that required physical combat was absent
between the parties. Witnesses never saw any hostility between both. during the incident. Morales’ claim that Del Rosario challenged Gamboa to a
Neither did they see them wanting to strike each other. sabunutan could not be given credence by virtue of its being self-serving in
o What they saw were two FAs engaged in an animated verbal favor of Northwest, and of its being an apparent afterthought on the part of
exchange, arguing but not fighting Morales during the investigation of the incident, without Del Rosario having the
 CA sustained the NLRC’s ruling opportunity to contest Morales' statement
o Northwest did not discharge its burden to prove not merely reversible o the investigation served only as Northwest's means to establish that the
error but grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of grounds of a valid dismissal based on serious misconduct really existed
jurisdiction on NLRC’s part  Assuming arguendo that the incident was the kind of fight prohibited by
o Del Rosario's conduct did not constitute serious misconduct. The NLRC, Northwest's Rules of Conduct, the same could not be considered as of such
in determining the usual, ordinary and commonly understood meaning seriousness as to warrant Del Rosario's dismissal
of the word fighting, had resorted to authoritative lexicons that o The gravity of the fight which was not more than a verbal argument
supported its conclusion that the exchange of words did not come between them, was not enough to tarnish or diminish Northwest's
within the definition of the word fighting public image.
 Grave abuse of discretion - "must be grave, which means either that the judicial
ISSUES/RATIO or quasi-judicial power was exercised in an arbitrary or despotic manner by
WHETHER THE MISCONDUCT WAS SERIOUS AS TO MERIT DEL ROSARIO'S DISMISSAL. IN THAT reason of passion or personal hostility, or that the respondent judge, tribunal or
RESPECT, THE FIGHT BETWEEN HER AND GAMBOA SHOULD BE SO SERIOUS THAT IT ENTAILED board evaded a positive duty, or virtually refused to perform the duty enjoined
THE TERMINATION OF HER EMPLOYMENT EVEN IF IT WAS HER FIRST OFFENSE. - NO or to act in contemplation of law, such as when such judge, tribunal or board
 As provided in Article 282, LC, an employer may terminate an employee for a exercising judicial or quasi-judicial powers acted in a capricious or whimsical
just cause (see PROVISIONS) manner as to be equivalent to lack of jurisdiction” (De los Santos v. Metropolitan
 Northwest: Del Rosario was dismissed on the grounds of serious Bank and Trust Company)
misconduct and willful disobedience  NLRC did not gravely abuse its discretion by declaring Del Rosario's dismissal
 Misconduct - improper or wrong conduct that transgresses some established unjustified
and definite rule of action, a forbidden act, a dereliction of duty, willful in o Northwest did not show how the NLRC could have abused its
character, and implies wrongful intent and not mere error in judgment. discretion, let alone gravely, in ruling adversely against it.
o To be a just cause for termination:
(a) must be serious Court AFFIRMS the decision of the Court of Appeals promulgated on June 21, 2002;
(b) relate to the performance of the employee's duties and ORDERS the petitioner to pay the costs of suit.
(c) show that the employee has become unfit to continue
working for the employer
 In Del Rosario’s case, the last two elements were present. The cause of her NOTES
dismissal related to the performance of her duties as a FA, and she became unfit
to continue working Section 1, General
 The fight should be so serious that it entailed the termination of her employment . . . . Rule infractions will be dealt with according to the seriousness of the offense
even if it was her first offense. and violators will be subjected to appropriate disciplinary action up to and
 American Jurisprudence: including discharge. Some acts of misconduct, even if committed for the first
o Fight pertained to combat or battle, like the hostile encounter or time, are so serious that, standing alone, they justify immediate discharge. Some
engagement between opposing forces, suggesting primarily the examples of these offenses are violations of rules regarding theft, alcohol and
notion of a brawl or unpremeditated encounter, or of a pugilistic drugs, insubordination, dishonesty, fighting, falsification of records, sleeping on
combat the job, failure to cooperate or lying in a Company investigation, intentional
o Argument was a connected discourse based upon reason, or a course destruction or abuse of property, threatening, intimidating or interfering with
of reasoning tending and intended to establish a position and to other employees, abuse of nonrevenue and reduced rate travel privileges and
induce belief unauthorized use of Company communications systems.
 Fight was different from Argument
o People v. Asto: fight as not just a merely verbal tussle but a Section 24 (c), Disturbing Others
physical combat between two opposing parties Harassing, threatening, intimidating, assaulting, fighting or provoking a fight or
o Pilares, Sr. v. People: fight - more than just an exchange of similar interference with other employees at any time, on or off duty Is prohibited.

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