Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Dario Nacar filed a labor case against Gallery Frames and its owner Felipe
Bordey, Jr. Nacar alleged that he was dismissed without cause by Gallery
Frames on January 24, 1997. On October 15, 1998, the Labor Arbiter (LA)
found Gallery Frames guilty of illegal dismissal hence the Arbiter awarded
Nacar P158,919.92 in damages consisting of backwages and separation
pay.
Gallery Frames appealed all the way to the Supreme Court (SC). The
Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Labor Arbiter and the decision
became final on May 27, 2002.
After the finality of the SC decision, Nacar filed a motion before the LA for
recomputation as he alleged that his backwages should be computed from
the time of his illegal dismissal (January 24, 1997) until the finality of the
SC decision (May 27, 2002) with interest. The LA denied the motion as he
ruled that the reckoning point of the computation should only be from the
time Nacar was illegally dismissed (January 24, 1997) until the decision of
the LA (October 15, 1998). The LA reasoned that the said date should be
the reckoning point because Nacar did not appeal hence as to him, that
decision became final and executory.
HELD: No. There are two parts of a decision when it comes to illegal
dismissal cases (referring to cases where the dismissed employee wins, or
loses but wins on appeal). The first part is the ruling that the employee
was illegally dismissed. This is immediately final even if the employer
appeals but will be reversed if employer wins on appeal. The second part
is the ruling on the award of backwages and/or separation pay. For
backwages, it will be computed from the date of illegal dismissal until the
date of the decision of the Labor Arbiter. But if the employer appeals, then
the end date shall be extended until the day when the appellate courts
decision shall become final. Hence, as a consequence, the liability of the
employer, if he loses on appeal, will increase this is just but a risk that
the employer cannot avoid when it continued to seek recourses against
the Labor Arbiters decision. This is also in accordance with Article 279 of
the Labor Code.
a.1. shall run from date of judicial demand (filing of the case)
b.1. shall run from date of default (either failure to pay upon extra-judicial
demand or upon judicial demand whichever is appropriate and subject to
the provisions of Article 1169 of the Civil Code)
b. If unliquidated, no interest
3. Compounded Interest