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    Case#4 MEJILA vs. WRIGLEY PHILIPPINES

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    Rio Tolentino
    Wrigley Philippines Inc. terminated Gertrudes Mejila, a registered nurse and occupational health practitioner, as part of a manpower rationalization program to outsource its clinic operations for cost efficiency. Mejila filed a complaint claiming illegal dismissal. While the lower courts found the outsourcing valid, the Supreme Court ruled that Wrigley failed to properly notify the Department of Labor regional office of Mejila's termination as required by law. The Court upheld the redundancy of Mejila's position due to outsourcing being a valid business decision, but ruled she was entitled to nominal damages since termination procedures were not fully complied with.

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    Case#4 MEJILA vs. WRIGLEY PHILIPPINES

    Uploaded by

    Rio Tolentino
    324 views2 pages
    Wrigley Philippines Inc. terminated Gertrudes Mejila, a registered nurse and occupational health practitioner, as part of a manpower rationalization program to outsource its clinic operations for cost efficiency. Mejila filed a complaint claiming illegal dismissal. While the lower courts found the outsourcing valid, the Supreme Court ruled that Wrigley failed to properly notify the Department of Labor regional office of Mejila's termination as required by law. The Court upheld the redundancy of Mejila's position due to outsourcing being a valid business decision, but ruled she was entitled to nominal damages since termination procedures were not fully complied with.

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    Wrigley Philippines Inc. terminated Gertrudes Mejila, a registered nurse and occupational health practitioner, as part of a manpower rationalization program to outsource its clinic operations for cost efficiency. Mejila filed a complaint claiming illegal dismissal. While the lower courts found the outsourcing valid, the Supreme Court ruled that Wrigley failed to properly notify the Department of Labor regional office of Mejila's termination as required by law. The Court upheld the redundancy of Mejila's position due to outsourcing being a valid business decision, but ruled she was entitled to nominal damages since termination procedures were not fully complied with.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    324 views2 pages

    Case#4 MEJILA vs. WRIGLEY PHILIPPINES

    Uploaded by

    Rio Tolentino
    Wrigley Philippines Inc. terminated Gertrudes Mejila, a registered nurse and occupational health practitioner, as part of a manpower rationalization program to outsource its clinic operations for cost efficiency. Mejila filed a complaint claiming illegal dismissal. While the lower courts found the outsourcing valid, the Supreme Court ruled that Wrigley failed to properly notify the Department of Labor regional office of Mejila's termination as required by law. The Court upheld the redundancy of Mejila's position due to outsourcing being a valid business decision, but ruled she was entitled to nominal damages since termination procedures were not fully complied with.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    GERTRUDES MEJILA

    vs.
    WRIGLEY PHILIPPINES, INC., JESSELYN PANIS, ET AL.,
    G.R. NO. 199469 : September 11, 2019
    JARDELEZA, J.

    Facts:

    WPI is a corporation who manufactures chewing gum. It engaged the service of petitioner Mejila, a
    registered nurse, as an occupational health practitioner. After months of service, WPI sent a
    memorandum to Mejila informing the latter that her position has been abolished due to the company’s
    manpower rationalization program and that her employment will be terminated effective the next
    month. WPI then engaged the services of Activeone Health, Inc. as a replacement to the occupational
    health practitioners. This was part of the management’s Headcount Optimization Program to improve
    cost efficiency.

    Petitioner Mejila filed a complaint for illegal dismissal against the respondent. The Labor Arbiter ruled
    that Mejila was illegally dismissed and held that WPI failed to comply with the procedural due process
    requirements. Also, the Labor Arbiter found that the outsourcing of clinic operations is more expensive
    for WPI, which belies its intention to economize. Upon appeal, the NLRC reversed the decision of the LA.
    It found that the outsourcing of clinic operations is less expensive than the income of the in-house nurse
    because of the additional benefits on top of the monthly salary. With regards to due process, the NLRC
    held that the notice to the Rizal Office is sufficient since it is a satellite office of the Regional Office. The
    CA affirmed the decision of NLRC and held that the outsourcing of the clinic operations enabled WPI to
    focus more on its core business of gum manufacturing. However, the CA also held that WPI failed to
    properly serve notice of termination to the DOLE Regional Office as required by the IRR of the Labor
    Code.

    *both parties filed their respective petitions for review.

    Issue:

    1. Whether the outsource clinic operations renders redundancy whimsical or arbitrary.

    2. Whether the WPI complied with the notice of termination.

    Held:

    The SC upheld the decision of CA and NLRC with modifications as to the attorney’s fees.

    1. No. Redundancy exists where the services of an employee are in excess of what is reasonably
    demanded by the actual requirements of the enterprise and the determination that the employee's
    services are no longer necessary or sustainable and, therefore, properly terminable is an exercise of
    business judgment of the employer.

    The Headcount Optimization Program was a fair exercise of business judgment for its purpose was of
    streamlining the organization and increasing its productivity. WPI's rationale for outsourcing its clinic
    operations is reasonable as it wanted to focus on the core business of gum manufacturing, and clinic
    operations is not an integral part of it.

    2. No. The employee is entitled to nominal damage. In implementing a redundancy program,


    Article 298 requires employers to serve a written notice to both the affected employees and the
    appropriate Regional Office of the Department at least thirty days before the effectivity of the
    termination, specifying the ground or grounds for termination.

    The notice of termination of WPI to Mejila did not cause the latter’s severance from work. This practice
    is known as, the “garden leave” which is commonly used in relation to the 30-day notice period for
    authorized causes of termination.

    As to the notice to DOLE, where termination is based on authorized causes under Article 298, substantial
    compliance is not enough. Since the dismissal is initiated by the employer's exercise of its management
    prerogative, strict observance of the proper procedure is required in order to give life to the
    constitutional protection afforded to labor.

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