First of four parts
THIS was the decision issued by our Supreme Court (SC) almost five months ago. In Leus v. St. Scholastica’s College Westgrove, G 187226, January 28, 2015, the SC ruled that the dismissal of a Catholic school’s nonteaching personnel who got pregnant outside of marriage may not be dismissed on the ground of immorality. But readers should carefully look at the facts of this case and should be able to discern when the dismissal may be considered valid on the same ground. The facts (which are almost copied completely or paraphrased from the SC decision) are as follows.
Leus was hired by St. Scholastica’s College Westgrove (SSCW), a Catholic educational institution, as a nonteaching personnel, engaged in pre-marital sexual relations, got pregnant out of wedlock, married the father of her child, and was dismissed by SSCW, in that order. The question that the SC resolved in this case is whether the petitioner’s conduct constitutes a ground for her dismissal. SSCW is a Catholic and sectarian educational institution in Silang, Cavite. In May 2001 SSCW hired the petitioner as an assistant to SSCW’s director of the Lay Apostolate and Community Outreach Directorate.
Sometime in 2003, Leus and her boyfriend conceived a child out of wedlock. When SSCW learned of the petitioner’s pregnancy, Sis. Edna Quiambao, SSCW directress, advised her to file a resignation letter effective June 1, 2003. In response, Leus informed Sister Quiambao that she would not resign from her employment just because she got pregnant without the benefit of marriage. Sister Quiambao then formally directed Leus to explain in writing why she should not be dismissed for engaging in pre-marital sexual relations and getting pregnant as a result thereof, which amounts to serious misconduct and conduct unbecoming of an employee of a Catholic school. SSCW, in subsequent communication to Leus, stated that it follows the 1992 Manual of Regulations for Private Schools (1992 MRPS) on the causes for termination of employments; that Section 94(e) of the 1992 MRPS cites “disgraceful or immoral conduct” as a ground for dismissal in addition to the just causes for termination of employment provided under Article 282 of the Labor Code.
In her response, Leus explained (through her counsel) that her pregnancy out of wedlock does not amount to serious misconduct or conduct unbecoming of an employee. She later on further explained that pre-marital sex between two consenting adults without legal impediment to marry each other (and who later on married each other) does not fall within the contemplation of “disgraceful or immoral conduct” and “serious misconduct” of the MRPS and the Labor Code of the Philippines. She then claimed that to dismiss her on that sole ground constitutes grave abuse of management prerogatives and considering her untarnished service for two years, dismissing her with her present condition would also mean depriving her to be more secure in terms of financial capacity to sustain maternal needs.
SSCW, through counsel, maintained that pre-marital sexual relations, even if between two consenting adults without legal impediment to marry, is considered a disgraceful and immoral conduct or a serious misconduct, which are grounds for the termination of employment under the 1992 MRPS and the Labor Code. That SSCW, as a Catholic institution of learning, has the right to uphold the teaching of the Catholic Church and expect its employees to abide by the same. They further asserted that the Leus’s indiscretion is further aggravated by the fact that she is the assistant to the director of the Lay Apostolate and Community Outreach Directorate, a position of responsibility that the students look up to as role model.
Sister Quiambao later on informed Leus that her employment with SSCW is terminated on the ground of serious misconduct. She stressed that pre-marital sexual relations between two consenting adults with no impediment to marry, even if they subsequently married, amounts to immoral conduct. She further pointed out that SSCW finds unacceptable the scandal brought about by the petitioner’s pregnancy out of wedlock as it ran counter to the moral principles that SSCW stands for and teaches its students. Thereupon, Leus filed a complaint for illegal dismissal with the Regional Arbitration Branch of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Quezon City against SSCW and Sister Quiambao. In her position paper, Leus claimed that SSCW gravely abused its management prerogative as there was no just cause for her dismissal. She maintained that her pregnancy out of wedlock cannot be considered as serious misconduct since the same is a purely private affair and not connected in any way with her duties as an employee of SSCW. Further, the petitioner averred that she and her boyfriend eventually got married even prior to her dismissal. For the part of SSCW, it claimed that there was just cause to terminate the petitioner’s employment with SSCW and that the same is a valid exercise of SSCW’s management prerogative. They maintained that engaging in pre-marital sex, and getting pregnant as a result thereof, amounts to a disgraceful or immoral conduct, which is a ground for the dismissal of an employee under the 1992 MRPS.
This column should not be taken as a legal advice applicable to any case, as each case is unique and should be construed in light of the attending circumstances surrounding such particular case.
Lawyer Toni Umali is the current assistant secretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs of the Department of Education (DepEd). He is licensed to practice law not only in the Philippines, but also in the state of California and some federal courts in the US after passing the California State Bar Examinations in 2004. He has served as a legal consultant to several legislators and local chief executives. As education assistant secretary, he was instrumental in the passage of the K to 12 law and the issuance of its implementing rules and regulations. He is also the alternate spokesman of the DepEd. To be continued
1 comment
This is an interesting case, Asec. I look forward to reading more about it in subsequent articles.