FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 243001. March 13, 2019.]
CONVERGYS PHILIPPINES, INC. [FORMERLY STREAM INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL SERVICES, PHILS., INC., petitioner, vs.SANTOS SANTILLAN LAM, JR., respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution dated March 13, 2019which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 243001 — (Convergys Philippines, Inc. [Formerly Stream International Global Services, Phils., Inc.] v. Santos Santillan Lam, Jr.)
After review of the records, the Court resolves to DENY the petition for failure to sufficiently show that the Court of Appeals (CA) committed any reversible error in its May 18, 2018 Decision 1 and November 6, 2018 Resolution, 2 as to warrant the exercise of the Court's appellate jurisdiction.
As correctly ruled by the CA, respondent's act of borrowing the usb charger of his co-employee does not amount to theft which would justify his termination from employment. Thus, the CA properly ruled that respondent was illegally dismissed.
Nevertheless, the Court finds that the CA decision to award moral and exemplary damages must be modified to the contrary. In labor cases, moral damages are recoverable when the dismissal of an employee is attended by bad faith or fraud or constitutes an act oppressive to labor, or is done in a manner contrary to good morals, good customs or public policy. Exemplary damages, on the other hand, are recoverable when the dismissal was done in a wanton, oppressive, or malevolent manner. 3
In this case, the CA granted moral and exemplary damages to respondent in the amount of P50,000.00 each because he had suffered sleepless nights, anxiety, and embarrassment. However, these reasons cited by the CA do not merit the award of moral and exemplary damages to respondent. Further, such reasons do not sufficiently show that petitioner employed bad faith or fraud against petitioner. Neither was it proven that respondent's dismissal was done in a wanton, oppressive, or malevolent manner.
WHEREFORE, the May 18, 2018 Decision and the November 6, 2018 Resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 142850 are AFFIRMEDwith MODIFICATION that the award of moral and exemplary damages be DELETED. CAIHTE
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) LIBRADA C. BUENADivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 42-55; penned by Associate Justice Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez, with Associate Justices Ramon R. Garcia and Germano Francisco D. Legaspi, concurring.
2.Id. at 57-58.
3.Symex Security Services, Inc. v. Rivera, Jr., G.R. No. 202613, November 8, 2017.