FACTS: Petitioner was an employee of Norkis Distributors. In the course of her duties, she collapsed and was subsequently diagnosed as suffering from meningitis. Norkis then terminated her, citing health reasons as basis. It also cited the petitioner’s supposedly unexplained absence for three months, which allegedly constituted abandonment. Petitioner then filed an illegal dismissal case against Norkis.
ISSUE: Was petitioner illegally dismissed?
HELD: Yes. Under the Labor Code, for disease to serve as the basis for dismissal of an employee, the latter’s continued employment while suffering from the disease must either be prohibited by law or prejudicial to his health or that of his co-employees. Furthermore, there must be a certification by a competent public health authority that the disease is such that it cannot be cured within a six-month period even with proper medical treatment. In the case at bar, Norkis failed to overcome the burden of proof incumbent upon it as the employer that it had complied with the aforesaid provision.
Furthermore, in order to constitute abandonment, there must be: 1) failure to report for work/absence without justifiable reason, and 2) clear intention to sever the employer-employee relationship. The second element is the more determinative factor. In the case at bar, the petitioner was absent because she was confined in the hospital for treatment for three months. Norkis could not have been unaware of her medical condition, since she had collapsed within company premises. Furthermore, in its termination letter, Norkis specifically stated her “ill-health” as the ground for her dismissal. Hence, there was no abandonment.
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