Villar v. NLRC [G.R. No. 130935, May 11, 2000]

FACTS: Petitioners filed a petition for certification election. Their petition was granted but they lost in the election as majority of the employees voted for “no union.” The next day, they failed to report for work. They claim that they were barred from entering the premises. They filed a suit for illegal dismissal and backwages. The company denied these allegations and alleged that the workers refused to return to work despite their attention being called. The labor arbiter ruled that they were illegally dismissed and that they should be reinstated with full backwages. The NLRC however ruled that there was no illegal dismissal but they voluntarily abandoned their work so they shouldn’t be awarded backwages but they can return to work if they want to.


ISSUE: Whether or not there was illegal dismissal and whether or not they are entitled to backwages.


HELD: The Court ruled that an immediate filing of a complaint for illegal dismissal is incompatible with abandonment. Abandonment is a matter of intention. There must be proof of deliberate and unjustified intent to sever the employer-employee relationship. This burden rests on the employer. In this case, the employer failed to do so. There was illegal dismissal. As to the second issue, the Court ruled that since they were illegally dismissed, the employees are entitled to reinstatement with full backwages, undiminished by their earnings elsewhere.