SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 250692. February 3, 2020.]
DATEM, INC., petitioner,vs. HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS AND JOSELITO DELOS SANTOS, respondents.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated03 February 2020which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 250692 (Datem, Inc. vs. Honorable Court of Appeals and Joselito Delos Santos). — The Court NOTES the ex-parte manifestation dated 28 January 2020 of counsel for petitioner, submitting two (2) additional copies of the petition.
After a careful review of the records of the case, the Court finds the petition for review on certiorari1 to be lacking in merit. The Court finds no reversible error on the part of the Court of Appeals when it declared that the National Labor Relations Commission did not commit grave abuse of discretion in affirming the ruling of the Labor Arbiter that respondent Joselito Delos Santos is a regular employee of petitioner Datem, Inc. and that he was illegally dismissed. As such, he is entitled to backwages, separation pay, in lieu of reinstatement, and attorney's fees. In line with well-established jurisprudence, 2 the Court deletes the award of nominal damages which can only be awarded in favor of an employee in a case where a valid cause for dismissal exists but the employer fails to observe procedural due process in dismissing the employee, which is not the case here. The Court sustains the imposition by the Court of Appeals of interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum on the total monetary awards, computed from the date of finality of this Resolution until fully paid. HTcADC
WHEREFORE, the Court resolves to DENY the instant petition. The Decision 3 dated 26 June 2019 and the Resolution 4 dated 26 November 2019 of the Court of Appeals, 11th Division, in CA-G.R. SP No. 153652 are hereby AFFIRMED WITH MODIFICATION in that the award of nominal damages in favor of respondent Joselito Delos Santos is DELETED.
SO ORDERED. Hernando, J., on official leave."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 12-35.
2.Libcap Marketing v. Baquial, 737 Phil. 349, 360-364 (2014).
3.Rollo, pp. 41-54.
4.Id. at 55-56.