FUJITELEVISION NETWORK,I

NC.VS.ARLENES.ESPI
RITU
G.R.NO.204944-
45DECEMBER3,2014
J.Le
one
n

FACTS:Ar le
neS.Espiri
tu(Arle
ne )wase ngaged byFuj iTe l
evis
ionNe twork,Inc
.
(Fuji
)asane wscor
respondent
/pr oducert
askedtor e
por tPhili
ppinene wstoFuji
throughit
sManil
aBur e
aufiel
doffice.Theemployme ntcontractwasini
tial
lyforone
year,butwassuc
ces
sivel
yr e
newedonaye arlybasiswi t
hs alaryadjus
tme nt
supon
everyrene
wal.

InJanuary2009,Arlenewasdiagnosedwi thlungcanc er
.Shei nf
ormedFujiabout
herconditi
on,and theChie
fofNe wsAge ncyofFuj i,YoshikiAoki,inf
orme dthe
for
me rthatthecompanyhadapr oble
m wi t
hr ene
winghe rcontractc
onside
ringher
condit
ion.Ar l
eneinsis
tedshewass til
lfitto work asc er
tifie
d by heratt
ending
physi
cian.

Aft e
ras e
rie
sofverbalandwr i
tte
nc ommuni c
ations,ArleneandFujisignedanon-
renewalcontrac
t.I
nc onsi
de r
ationthere
of ,Arleneac knowledgedt
her eceiptofthe
totalamountofhersalar
yf rom Mar ch-
Ma y2009,ye ar-
endbonus,mi d-yearbonus
and s e
parat
ion pa
y.Howe ver,Arlene executedt he non-rene
walc ontractunder
protest
.

Arle
nefiledacomplaintforill
egaldis
mi ss
alwiththeNCRAr bit
rat
ionBr anchoft he
NLRC,al l
egi
ngthatshewasf orcedtosignthenon-re
newalcontr
actafterFujicame
toknow ofhe ril
lness.Sheal soall
egedt hatFuj
iwi t
hhe
ld hersalar
iesa nd other
benefit
swhensherefusedt osi
gn,andt hatshewaslef
twit
hnoot herrecoursebutt o
si
gnt henon-
renewalcontracttogethersalar
ies
.

I
SSUES:
1.WasArleneani ndependentc ontr
actor
?
2.WasArlenearegularempl oyee?
3.WasArleneill
egallydis
mi ssed?
4.DidtheCour tofAppeal sc orrect
lya war
ded r
eins
tat
ement
,damagesand
at
tor
ney’sfees
?

LAWS:
Ar t.280.Regul arandc asualemployment .Theprovi
sionsofwr i
tt
enagreementt o
thec ontrarynot wi t
hstandingandr egardles
softheoralagre
eme ntoft
hepartie
s,an
empl oyme ntshallbede e medtober egularwheretheemployeehasbeenengagedto
pe rf
orm ac ti
viti
eswhi char eusual
lyne cess
aryordesir
ableintheusualbusi
nessor
tradeoft hee mpl oyer
,e xceptwhe r
et hee mploymenthasbe e
nfixedforas peci
fic
pr oj
ectorunde rt
aki ngthec omplet
ionort erminat
ionofwhichhasbe e
nde t
ermined
atthet i
meoft
heengage
me ntoft
heemployeeorwheret
heworkors
e r
vice
stobe
perf
or mediss
eas
onalin nat
ureand t
hee mployme
ntisfort
hedurati
on oft
he
season.

Ane mploymentshal
lbede emedt obecasualifitisnotc over
e dbyt hepr
eceding
paragraph;Provi
ded,That,anye mployeewhohasr e
nde red atleas
toneye arof
service,whet
hersuchservi
ceisconti
nuousorbr oken,shallbec ons
idere
dar e
gular
empl oyeewit
hr e
specttotheact
ivit
yinwhi chhei sempl oyedandhi sempl
oyme nt
shallconti
nuewhilesuc
hac t
ivi
tyexis
t.

Art.279.Sec ur
ityoft enure.Incasesofregularempl oyment,t hee mployers
hallnot
ter
mi natetheservicesofane mpl oyeeexceptforajustcauseofwhe nauthori
zedby
thi
sTi tl
e.Ane mpl oyeewhoi sunjustl
ydi smisse
df rom wor ks hal
lbee nti
tl
edt o
rei
nstatementwi thoutl os
sofs e
niorit
yr i
ghtsand ot herprivi l
egesand tohisf ul
l
backwage s
,i ncl
us i
veofal l
owanc es
,and t o hi
sot herbene fitsort heirmonetary
equivale
ntc omput edf r
om thetimehi scompe nsat
ionwaswi thhe ldfrom hi
m upt o
thetimeofhi sactualreins
tatement.

Thus,ontheri
ghttos ec
urit
yoftenur
e,noemploye
eshallbedi
smiss
ed,unl
essther
e
arejustorauthorizedc ause
s and onl
y af
tercompli
ance wit
h proc
eduraland
subs
tanti
vedueproc e
ssisconduct
ed.

Art.284.Di seas
e as gr ound fort ermination.An e mpl oyerma yterminatethe
servi
c e
sofane mpl oyeewhohasbe e nfoundt obes uffe
ringfrom anydi seaseand
whos ec ont
inuede mpl oymentispr ohi bi
tedbyl aw ori spr e
judici
altohishe al
thas
we l
last othehe alt
hofhi sco-e
mpl oye es:Provide
d,Thathei spaids e
parationpay
equivalenttoatleastone(1)mont hs alaryortoone -half(1/2)mont hsal
aryfore ve
ry
yearofs er
vice,whi cheverisgr eat
e r,af ract
ion ofatl eas
ts i
x( 6)monthsbe i
ng
consideredasone( 1)whol eyear.

BookVI ,Rule1,Sec ti
on8oft heOmni busRul esImpl ement ingtheLaborCode.
Diseaseasagroundf ordismis
sa l.–Whe r
et hee mployeesuffersfrom adi seaseandhi s
conti
nue de mpl oyme ntispr ohi bit
ed byl aw orpr ej
udic i
alt ohi shealthort ot he
healt
hofhi sco- employe es
,thee mpl oye rs hallnotter
mi natehi sempl oyme ntunless
thereisac ert
ificat
ionbyac ompe t
e ntpubl i
che alt
haut horityt hatthedi s
e as
ei sof
such natureorats uc h astaget hati tc annotbec ured wi t
hi nape ri
od ofs ix(6)
mont hse ve
nwi thprope rme dicaltreatme nt.Ifthediseaseorai l
mentc anbec ured
withinthepe riod,thee mpl oye rshal lnott erminatethee mpl oyeebuts hallaskt he
empl oye
et otakeal eave.Thee mpl oyers hallreins
tat
es uche mployeet ohisfor mer
posit
ioni mme diatel
yupont her e s
torationofhi snormalhe alth.
CASEHI STORY:
LaborAr bi
terdi
smi
sse
dthecomplaintand he
ldt
hatAr
lenewasnotar
egul
ar
employe
ebutaninde
pende
ntc
ontr
actor.

TheNLRCr everse
dtheLaborArbi
ter
’sdeci
si
onandrule
dthatArl
enewasaregul
ar
employeesinc
es he c
onti
nuous
lyr ende
redservi
cesthat we
re ne
cess
ary and
des
irabl
etoFuji
’sbusi
ness
.

The Cour tofAppe alsa ffir

me dt hatNLRC r uling wi th modi fic
at ion thatFuji
imme diat
e lyreinstateAr l
enet ohe rpositi
onwi thoutl ossofs eniori
tyr ightsandt hat
shebepai dhe rbac kwage sandot heremol ume ntswi thheldf rom he r.TheCour tof
Appe alsagr eed wi t
ht heNLRC t hatAr lenewasar egulare mploye e ,engagedt o
perform wor kt hatwasne c
essary orde sir
ablei nt hebus inessofFuj i
,and t he
success
iver enewal sofhe rfix ed-t
ermc ontractresultedi nr e
gul arempl oyme nt
.The
caseofSo nzadoe snotappl yint hec asebe c
aus eAr le
newasnotc ontracte
d on
accountofas pec i
altalentors kill
.Arlenewasi llegall
ydi smi s
s edbe caus eFujifai
led
tocompl ywi tht her equireme ntsofsubstanti
veandpr oceduralduepr ocess
.Ar le
ne,
infact,signedt henon- r
ene walc ontr
ac tunderpr ot
e stass hewasl e ftwithouta
choice.

Fujifil
edape t
it
ionforrevi
ew oncert
iorariunderRule45be foretheSupr e
meCour t,
all
egingthatArlenewashiredasaninde pendentcontr
ac t
or;thatFujihadnocontr
ol
over he r wor
k;t hat t
he employme nt contr
acts we r
er ene wed upon Arlene’
s
insi
stence;t
hattherewasnoill
egaldi
s missalbec
auses hefreelyagreednottore
new
herfixed-t
ermcontrac
tasevidenc
edbyhe remailcorr
esponde nces.

Arl
enefil
edamani f
est
ati
onstat
ingt
hatt
heSC c
ouldnottakej
uri
sdi
cti
onove rt
he
cas
esinc
eFujif
ail
edtoauthor
izeCor
azonAc
erden,t
heass
ignedat
tor
ney-i
n-f
actf
or
Fuj
i,t
osignt
heveri
fic
ati
on.

RULI
NG:
1.Ar
lenewasnotani
ndependentc
ont
rac
tor
.

Fujial
legedt
hatArl
enewasani ndependentcontr
actorci
ti
ngtheSo nzacas e
.Shewas
hiredbecaus
eofherskil
ls.He
rs al
arywashi gherthanthenormalr ate
.Shehadt he
powe rt
obargai
nwi t
hhe remployer
.He rcontr
actwasforafix
e dterm.I tals
os t
ated
thatArlenewasnotf
orcedtosignthenon- r
enewalagreement,consideringthatshe
sentane mai
lwit
hanotherver
sionofhernon- r
enewalagreement.

Arle
near gued( 1)t
hatshewasaregul
aremployeebecauseFujihad cont
roland
supervi
sionoverherwork;(
2)t
hats
hebase
dhe rworkoni nst
ruct
ionsfr
om Fuji
;(3)
t
hatt hesucces
siverene
walofherc
ontr
act
sforfouryearsindic
atedthatherwor k
wasne ces
saryandde s
irable;(4)thatthepaymentofsepar
ati
onpa yindicat
edt hat
shewasar e
gularemploye e
;( 5)t heSo
hatt nzacasei
snotappli
cablebecaus
es hewas
aplainreporte
rf orFuji
;(6)t hatherill
nes
swasnotagr oundf orherdismissal
;(7)
t
hats hesignedt henon- re
ne walagr eementbec
auseshewasnoti n aposi
t i
on to
r
e j
ectthesame.

Dist
incti
onsamongfix
ed-
ter
m empl
oyees
,independentc
ont
rac
tor
s,andr
egul
ar
employees
Fi
xedTer m Empl
oyment

1)Thefix
edperi
odofe mpl oyme ntwasknowingl
ya ndvol
untar
ilyagreeduponby
thepar
tieswi
thoutanyforc e,dures
s,orimproperpres
sur
ebe i
ngbr oughttobear
upon t
hee mpl
oyeea nd absentany othe
rc i
rcumst
ancesvit
iat
ing hi
sc ons
ent;or

2)Itsati
sfact
or i
lyappe arsthatthee mpl oyerandt heempl oyeede altwi the achot her
onmor eorl esse qualtermswi t
hnomor aldomi nancee xercis
edbyt hef orme rort he
lat
ter
.
Theseindi c
ations,whi chmus tber eadt oge the r
,maket heBr entdoc t
rineappl icable
onlyinaf ews pecialcaseswhe reint hee mpl oyerande mpl oyeear eonmor eorl ess
inequalfoot i
ngi ne nteri
ngi ntot hec ont r
act.Ther easonf orthi sise vident :whe na
prospecti
vee mpl oyee,onac c
ountofs pec i
als kil
lsormar ketforc es,isinapos it
iont o
makede mandsupont hepr ospe ct
ivee mpl oyer,suchpr ospec ti
vee mpl oye ene eds
les
spr ote
c t
iont hant heor di
nar ywor ker.Le sserli
mi t
ationsont hepar ties
’f re
edom
155
ofcontractarethusr equiredfort hepr ote c
tionoft heempl oyee.( Citationsomi tted)

Foras long as the gui

del
ineslai
d down inBre
ntar
es at
isfied,thiscourtwi
ll
recogni
zetheval
idityoft
hefix
ed-
termcont
rac
t GMANe
.( twor
k,I nc.v
s.Pab
rig
a)
IndependentContract
or

Onewhoc arri
esonadi st
inctandindependentbusi
nessandunde r
takest
ope rform
thejob,wor k,ors e
rvi
ceon i t
sown accountand underone’sown responsibil
it
y
accor
dingtoone ’
sownma nnerandme t
hod,freefr
om thecontr
olanddi r
ec t
ionof
theprinc
ipalinallmatt
ersc onnec
tedwit
ht heperf
ormanceofthewor kexceptasto
theresul
tsthereof
.

Noemployer
-empl
oye
ere
lat
ions
hipe
xis
tsbe
twe
ent
hei
nde
pende
ntc
ont
rac
tor
sand
t
hei
rpri
ncipal
s.

Art.106.Contr
actororsubcontr
act .Whe
or neve
rane mploye
re nt
ersi
ntoac ontr
act
withanotherpers
onf ortheper
formanceoftheforme r
’swork,theemployeesofthe
contr
actorandoft helat
ter
’ss
ubcontrac
tor
,ifany,shallbepaidinacc
or dancewith
t
hepr ovis
ionsoft
hi sCode.
 XXX
TheSe cretaryofLaborandEmpl oyme ntma y,byappropr i
ater egul
ati
ons,rest
ric
tor
prohi bitt hecontract
ing-outofl abort o prote
ctt herightsofwor ker
se st
abli
shed
unde rt his Code.I ns o pr ohibi
ti
ng or r estr
icti
ng,he ma y make appropriat
e
distincti
ons be twe en labor-
onlyc ontracti
ng a nd job c ontract
ing as we l
l as
differentiati
onswi thi
nt heset ypesofc ontr
acti
ngand de ter minewhoamongt he
par ti
esi nvolveds hallbec onsidere
dt hee mployerforpur posesoft hi
sCode ,to
pre vent any vi olat
ion or c i
rcumve ntion of any pr ovisi
on of t his Code .

Therei s “l
abor-only” contr
acti
ng whe ret he pe r son supplyi
ng wor kerst o an
employerdoe snotha ve subst
antialcapit
alori nve s
tme ntinthe form oft ools
,
equi
pme nt,mac hineri
es,wor kpremises,amongot he r
s,a ndthewor ker
sr e cr
uited
andplacedbys uc hpersonarepe r
formingactivitieswhi c
har edi
rect
lyrelatedtot he
pri
ncipalbusine
s sofsuc hemployer.Insuchc as e
s,t hepe rsonorint
erme diarys hal
l
beconsideredme r
elyasa nage ntofthee mpl oyerwhos hallberesponsibletot he
workersinthes amemanne rande xt
entasi ft hel atterwe redi
rect
lyempl oyedby
him.

Depar
tmentOr
derNo.18-
A,Ser
iesof2011,Sec
tion3

(c)...a narrangementwhe re
byapr inci
palagreestoputoutorf arm outwi t
ha
cont ract
orthepe r
formanceorc omplet
ionofas pec
ificj
ob,workors ervic
ewi thi
na
de finit
eorpr ede
terminedperiod,re
gardle
ssofwhe thersuchjob,wor korservic
eis
tobepe rf
orme dorcompl e
tedwi thi
noroutsidethepr e
misesoft heprinci
pal.

Thisdepart
me ntorderalsostatesthattherei
sat ril
ater alrel
ati
ons hi
pinl egi
timat e
j
obc ontr
act
ingand s ubcontracti
ngar r
angeme nt
samongt hepr i
nc i
pal,cont r
ac tor,
and employees ofthe c ontract
or.The r
ei s no empl oyer-
employe er elati
ons hip
bet
we enthec ontr
act
orand pr inci
palwho e ngagest hec ont
ract
or ’
ss ervices,but
ther
ei san employer-e
mpl oye erel
ati
onship bet
we ent hec ontr
actorand wor ke r
s
162
hir
edt o accomplisht he wor kf or the pri
nci .c
pal hanRoblesvir
tualLa wli
br ary

Jur
isprudencehasr ecogni
zedanothe rki ndofinde pe
nde ntc ont
ract
or:individual
s
withuniqueski l
lsandtale
ntsthatsetthe m apar
tfrom ordinaryemploye e
s.The rei
s
notril
ater
alrelati
onshipinthiscas
ebe causetheindepende ntcontr
actorhims el
for
hersel
fperformst hewor kf orthepr inc i
pal.I
n otherwor ds,t
her elat
ionshipis
bil
ater
al.

XXX
Therear
ediffe
rentkindsofi
ndependentcontrac
tor
s:t
hoseengagedi
nl e
git
imatej
ob
cont
ract
ingandthosewhoha veuniqueskil
lsandtal
entst
hatsett
hem apar
tfr
om
ordi
naryemployees.

Sinc
enoe mploye r
-employeer e
lati
onshi
pe xi
stsbet
we e
nindepe
ndentcont
r ac
tor
s
andtheirpri
nc i
pals,t
heircontract
saregover
ne dbytheCivi
lCodeprovi
sionson
cont
ractsandothe rappl
icablelaws.
RegularEmpl oyees

Contract
sofemployme ntarediffe
rentandhaveahigherle
velofregul
ati
onbecause
theyareimpres
sedwi t
hpubl i
cinteres
t.Art
icl
e13,Sec
tion3ofthe1987Cons
tit
ution
provi
desfullpr
otec
tiontolabor
.

Apar tfrom t heCons t

itutionalguarantee,Ar t
icl
e1700oft heCi vilCodes tat
est hat:
Ther elationsbe t
weenc apit
ala nd laborar enotme r
elyc ontractual
.The y ares o
impre s
se dwi thpubl i
ci nteres
tthatlaborc ontr
actsmus tyie
ldt ot hecommongood.
The r
efore,s uchc ontr
actsar esubjecttothes peciall
awsonl aboruni ons,colle
c t
ive
bargaining,s tr
ikesandl ockouts
,closeds hop,wage s,workingc ondit
ions
,hour sof
laborands i
mi larsubj
ects.

Incontract
sofe mployme nt,theemployerandt heemployeearenotone qualfoot i
ng.
Thus ,i
tissubjecttoregulatoryrevi
ew bythel abortr
ibunal
sa ndc ourt
soflaw.The
l
a w s e
rvestoe qual
ize the unequal .The l
aborf orceisa s pecialcl
asst hati s
176
constit
uti
onall
ypr ote
ctedbe causeoftheinequalit
ybetweencapitalandlabor
. Thi s
presupposesthatthelaborfor c
eiswe ak.

Thelevelofprot
ect
iontolaborshouldvaryf
rom casetocaes
e.Whe naprospe
cti
ve
employee,on ac
countofs pec
ialskil
lsormarke
tf orc
es,isin aposi
ti
on t
omake
demandsupon t heprospect
ivee mploye
r,s
uch prospect
iveemployeeneedsle
ss
prot
ecti
onthantheordi
narywor ker
.

Thelevelofprot
ect
iont
olabormustbedet
ermine
dont hebasi
softhenat ureofthe
work,quali
fic
ati
onsoftheempl
oyee,andothe
rrele
vantci
rcumst
ancessuc hasbut
not limit
ed t o educ
ati
onal at
tai
nment and others pec
ial qual
ificat
ions
.

Fuji’
sar gume ntthatAr l
ene wasan i nde pendentc ontrac t
orunde ra fixed-t
erm
contracti sc ontradictory. Employees unde r fixed-t
erm c ontractsc annot be
indepe ndentc ont
r act
orsbe causein fixed-t e
rm c ontr
acts,an e mpl oyer-
empl oyee
relat
ionshipe xist
s.The t es
ti nthis kind ofc ontractis nott he necessit
y and
des i
rabil
ityoft hee mpl oyee
’sact
ivit
ies,“butt heda yc ertai
n agr e
ed upon byt he
par t
iesforthecomme nce mentandtermi nationofthee mpl oyme ntrelat
ionship.
”For
regulare mployees,thene ces
sit
yandde s ir
abi l
it
yoft hei
rwor kintheus ualc ourseof
t
heemploye
r’sbusi
nes
sarethedet
ermini
ngfact
ors.Ontheot
herhand,inde
pendent
c
ont
rac
tors do nothave e
mployer
-employe
er el
ati
ons
hips wi
tht he
irprinc
ipal
s.

To de t
ermine t
he s t
atus of employment
,the e
xis
tence of e
mpl oyer
-employee
rel
ati
onship mustfir
stbes ett
led wit
htheuseofthefour-
fol
dt es
t,especi
all
yt he
quali
fic
ati
onsforthepowe rtocontr
ol.

Thedisti
nc ti
oni sint
hi sguis
e :
Rulesthatme r
elyserveasgui del
inestowardstheac hie
ve mentofamut ual
lyde
sir
ed
res
ultwi thoutdi c
tat
ingt heme ansorme thodstobee mployedcreatesnoe mpl
oyer-
employeer elat
ionshi
p;whe r
e asthosethatcontrolorfixtheme thodologyandbind
orrest
rictthepar t
yhi r
e dtotheus eofsuchme anscreatesthere
lati
onship.

In appli
acat
ion,Ar l
enewashi r
ed by Fuj
iasane wspr oduc e
r,butt he rewasno
evidencethatshewashi r
edforhe runiques ki
ll
sthatwoul ddi st
ingui s
hhe rfr
om
ordinaryemployees.Hermonthlysal
aryappe ar
edt obeas ubstant
ials um.Fuj ihad
thepowe rto dis
mi s
sArlene
,aspr ovidedf orin herempl oyme ntc ontract.The
contrac
talsoindicatedt
hatFujihad contr
olove rherworkass hewasr quiredto
reportfor8hour sf r
om Monda ytoFriday.Fujigaveheri nst
ructionson whatt o
reportand eve n hermodeoft rans
portati
on inc ar
ryi
ng outhe rf unctionswas
control
led.

The
ref
ore
,Ar
lenec
oul
dnotbeani
nde
pende
ntc
ont
rac
tor
.

2.Ar
lenewasar
egul
are
mpl
oyeewi
thafix
ed-
ter
mcont
rac
t.

In de t
ermi ning whe t
he ran e mpl oyme nts hould be c onsi
deredr egularornon-
regular,the appl icablet es
ti st he reasonablec onne ct
ion betweent he parti
c ular
acti
vitype rforme dbyt hee mploye einre l
ati
ont ot heus ualbusines
sort radeoft he
employe r.Thes t
andar d,suppl i
edbyt helawi t
sel
f,iswhe therthewor kunde rtake n
isnec es
saryorde s
irableint heus ualbusinessort radeoft heempl oyer
,af actt hat
canbeas s essedbyl ookingi ntothenat ureoft heservicesrenderedandi t
sr el
ati
ont o
thege neralsche meunde rwhi chthebus inessort r
adei spursuedi ntheusualcour se
.
Itisdi st
ingui shedf rom as peci
ficunde r
takingt hatisdi vorc
e dfrom t henor mal
acti
vitie
sr equiredinc ar r
yingont hepartic
ularbus inessortrade.

Howe ve
r,t
he r
ema ybeas it
uat
ionwhereanemploye
e’swor
ki snece
ssar
ybuti snot
alwaysdes
irableintheusualcour
seofbusi
nes
soft heemployer
.Inthiss
ituati
on,
ther
eisnoregularemployment
.

2
13
Fuj
i’
sMani
laBur
eauOffic
eisas
malluni
t andhasaf
ewempl
oye
e s.Arl
enehadt
o
do al
l act
ivi
tie
s re
lat
ed to news gathe
ring.
A ne wspr oducer“plansands upe rvis
esne wscast[and]wor kswi threport
ersint he
field planningand gat heringinformation,incl
udingmoni t
oringand ge tt
ingne ws
stories,rporti
ngi nt
erviewingsubjectsinfrontofavi deocame ra,submissi
onofne ws
andc urrenteventsreportspert
ainingtot hePhili
ppines,andt r
a ve
lingtotheregional
officeinThai land.”Sheal sohadt or eportforwor kinFuj i
’sofficeinMa nilafrom
Monda ysto Fridays,eightpe rda y.Shehad no e quipme ntand had t o uset he
facil
ities of Fuj
i to acc
ompl ish he
r t
asks.

Thesucc
essi
ver e
newalsofhercontr
acti
ndicat
edt henec
essi
tyanddes
irabi
li
tyofhe
r
workintheus ualc
ours eofFuji
’sbusi
ne s
s.Becauseofthi
s,Arl
enehadbe comea
re
gularemployeewit
ht heri
ghttosecur
ityofte
nur e
.

Arlene
’scontractindic
atingafix edterm didnotautomati
cal
lyme anthatshecould
neverbear egulare mploye e.Foraslongasitwast heemployeewhor equest
ed,or
bargai
ned,thatthec ontrac thavea“defini
tedateofter
mination,
”orthatthefix
ed-
ter
mc ontractbef reel
ye nteredint
obyt heemployerand theemployee,thenthe
vali
dit
yoft hefix
ed-termc ontr
actwil
lbeuphe l
d.

3.Ar
lenewasi
ll
egal
lydi
smi
ssed.

Asar egul
aremploye
e ,Arl
enewasenti
tl
edt
os ec
uri
tyofte
nureunderArt
icl
e279of
theLaborCodeandc ouldbedi
smis
s e
donlyforj
ustoraut
hor
izedcaus
aesandaft
er
obser
vanceofdueproc e
ss.

Thee xpir
ati
onoft hec ont r
actdoesnotne gatethefindi
ngofi l
legaldismissal
.The
manne rbywhi c
hFuj iinforme dArleneofnon- r
enewalthroughemai lamont hafte
r
shei nf
ormed Fujiofhe ri ll
nessistantamountt oc ons
truct
ivedismissal.Furt
her,
Ar l
enewasas kedtos i
gnal et
terofresi
gnationpreparedbyFuji.Thee xis
tenceofa
fix
ed-ter
mc ontractshoul d notme an t
hatt herecan beno ill
egaldismi ss
al.Due
processmuststi
llbeobs e
r ved.

Mor eoe ver,diseasea sagr oundforterminati

onunde rAr t
icl
e284oft heLaborCode
andBookVI ,Rul e1,Se cti
on8oft heOmni busRul esImpl ementingtheLaborCode
requiret wor e quireme ntstobecompliedwi t
h:( 1)theempl oyee’
sdi s
easecannotbe
cured wi thins i
xmont hsand hisconti
nuede mployme nti sprohibi
ted bylaw or
prejudic i
alt o hi she alth aswellast othe he alt
h ofhi sc o-employees;and (2)
cert
ificati
oni s
s ued byac ompe t
entpubliche al
thaut horit
yt hatevenwi t
hpr oper
me dicalt reatme nt,thedi seas
ecannotbec ure dwi thi
ns ixmont hs.Thebur denof
provingc ompl iancewi tht hes
erequis
ite
sisont hee mployer.Non-complianceleads
to ill
egal dismissal. bl
esvir
tual
La wli
brary
Arlenewasnotac corde d duepr oce
ss.Afterinforminghe re mploye
rofhe rlung
cancer,s
hewasnotgi ve nthec hancetopr
e s
e ntme di
calcer
tific
ate
s.Fuj
ii mme diatel
y
concludedthatArle
nec ouldnol ongerperf
or m herduti
esbe causeofche motherapy.
Ne i
therdiditsuggestforhe rtotakealeave.Itdidnotpresentanyc er
tific
atefrom a
compe te
ntpublichealt
haut hori
ty.

The
ref
ore
,Ar
lenewasi
ll
egal
lydi
smi
sse
d.

4.The Courtof Appeal

scor
rec
tlya
war
ded r
eins
tat
ement
,damages and
at
tor
ney’sf
ees
.

TheCourtofAppe
alsawardedmor alandexempl
arydamagesandat
tor
ne y’
sfe
es.It
al
soordere
drei
nst
atement,ast
hegr oundswhensepar
ati
onpaywasawardedinli
eu
ofre
inst
ate
mentwerenotproven.

TheLaborCodeprovi
desin Ar
tic
le279 t
hatil
legal
ly di
smis
sedemploye esar
e
ent
it
ledt
ore
ins
tat
ement
,bac
kwagesinc
ludi
ngall
owances,andal
lot
herbe
ne fit
s.

Separat
ionpayinl i
euofrei
nst
atementisall
owedonly(1)whe nthee
mpl oyerhas
ceased ope
rat
ions;(2)whenthe employee’
sposi
ti
on isno longeravail
abl
e;(3)
st
rainedrel
ati
ons;and(4)as
ubstant
ialper
iodha
slapsedfrom dat
eoffil
ingtodate
offinal
it
y.

Thedoc tri
neofs trai
ne drelat
ionsshouldbes tri
ctl
yappl i
edt oavoidde pri
vati
onof
therighttoreinstate
me nt
.Int hecaseatbar,noe videncewaspr esentedbyFuj ito
provethatr e
instateme ntwasnol ongerfeasi
ble.Fujidid notall
eget hatitceased
operati
onsort hatAr l
e ne’
spositi
onwasnol ongerfeasi
ble
.Not hi
ngs howe dthatthe
rei
nstate
me ntwoul dc auseanat mosphereofantagonismint heworkplace.

Moraldamage
sareawarded“whe nthedi smis
salisat
tendedbybadf ai
thorfr
audor
cons
tit
ute
san actoppr
e s
sivetolabor ,orisdonei n ama nnerc ont
rar
yt o good
morals
,goodcus
tomsorpublicpoli
cy.
”Ont heotherhand,exemplarydamagesma y
beawardedwhenthedi
s miss
alwase ffec
ted“inawant on,oppre
ssiveormalevol
ent
manner.

AfterAr l
enehadi nforme dFujiofhercance r
,shewasinformedt hattherewouldbe
problemsi nr ene
wi nghe rcontrac
tonac countofherc ondit
ion.Thi sinf
ormation
causedAr leneme ntalanguish,ser
iousanxi e
ty,andwounde df e
e l
ings.Themanne r
ofhe rdismissalwase ffe
cte
di nanoppr essi
veapproac
hwi t
hhe rsal
aryandot her
benefit
sbe i
ngwi thhelduntilMa y5,2009,whe nshehadnoot he rchoicebuttosign
the non-re
ne wal cont
ract
.
Wi thregardtot hea wardofat t
orney’sf
e e
s,Arti
cle111oftheLaborCodes t
atesthat
“[i]ncasesofunl a
wf ulwi t
hholdingofwage s,theculpabl
epar t
yma ybeas sesse
d
attorney’
sf e
ese quival
entt oten percentoftheamountofwage sr ecover
ed.”In
actionsforrecoveryofwage sorwhe reane mployeewasforcedtolit
igateand,thus,
incure xpensest o prote
c thi srightsand int
erest,t
hea ward ofattorney’
sf e
esi s
legall
yandmor all
yj us
tifiable
n.”Duet ohe ri
llegaldi
smissal
,Arlenewasf orcedt o
lit
igate
.

The
ref
ore
,thea
war
dsf
orr
eins
tat
eme
nt,damage
sandat
tor
ney’
sfe
eswe
repr
ope
r.