SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 246776. July 8, 2019.]
ODFJELL PHILIPPINES, INC. AND/OR ODFJELL MANAGEMENT AS, petitioners, vs.WIGBERT F. CRUZ, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated08 July 2019which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 246776 (Odfjell Philippines, Inc. and/or Odfjell Management AS v. Wigbert F. Cruz)
After a judicious study of the case, the Court resolves to DENY the instant petition 1 and AFFIRM the November 21, 2018 Decision 2 and the April 11, 2019 Resolution 3 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 145871 for failure of petitioners Odfjell Philippines, Inc. and/or Odfjell Management AS (petitioners) to sufficiently show that the CA committed any reversible error in affirming the illegality of respondent Wigbert F. Cruz's (respondent) dismissal.
As correctly held by the CA, petitioners failed to prove the existence of a valid cause justifying respondent's dismissal. 4 Neither was there proof of service of petitioners' Show Cause Notice 5 and Notice of Penalty/Disciplinary Action 6 on respondent. 7 Fundamental is the rule that an employee can be dismissed from employment only for a valid cause. 8 The burden of proof rests on the employer to prove that the dismissal was valid, failing in which, the law considers the matter a case of illegal dismissal. 9 Petitioners failed to discharge this burden. It should likewise be stressed that factual findings of labor tribunals, especially when affirmed by the CA, are generally accorded not only with respect, but finality, and are thus binding on the Court, 10 as in this case. HTcADC
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) MARIA LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of CourtBy:
TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 3-26.
2.Id. at 34-43. Penned by Associate Justice Sesinando E. Villon with Associate Justices Edwin D. Sorongon and Rafael Antonio M. Santos, concurring.
3.Id. at 45-46.
4. See rollo, p. 40.
5. Not attached to the rollo.
6. Not attached to the rollo.
7. See rollo, p. 39.
8. See Sang-An v. Equator Knights Detective and Security Agency, Inc., 703 Phil. 492, 500 (2013).
9. See Buenaflor Car Services, Inc. v. David, 798 Phil. 195, 203 (2016). See also Philippine Airlines, Inc. v. Dawal, 781 Phil. 474, 508-509 (2016).
10. See Nahas v. Olarte, 734 Phil. 569, 580 (2014). See also Unsigned Resolution in Caboboy v. Tacloban Gleen Marketing, Inc., G.R. Nos. 231520-21, January 8, 2018.