MANILA - The Supreme Court has ruled that demotion, verbal abuse and indifferent behavior by an employer that forces an employee to quit constitute constructive illegal dismissal.

In the decision of the 2nd Division promulgated on April 3, 2024, Toyota Quezon Avenue, Inc (TQAI) and its officials were held solidarily liable for the illegal dismissal of petitioner Jonathan Bartolome.

The court ordered the company and its officials namely Lincoln Lim, Esteban Dela Paz, Jr. and Josefina De Jesus to pay Bartolome his full wages from 2016 up to the date of decision, as well as separation pay amounting to one month per year of service, commissions totaling P83,341.80 and moral and exemplary damages amounting to P70,000.

In 2015, Bartolome was suspended for seven days due to frequent absences and during a meeting with management, he brought his sibling who acted as his legal counsel.

The court noted that during the meeting, the president publicly humiliated Bartolome for bringing his sibling. At one point, his manager turned down his attempt to process a sale and his new boss explicitly asked if he planned on resigning.

The court also noted that because of the events and the hostile work environment, Bartolome resigned in 2016 but when he asked for his clearance, he was supposedly treated like a criminal and harassed for no reason.

Bartolome then filed a complaint with the labor arbiter at the National Labor Relations Commission which eventually ruled that he was constructively dismissed.

The Court of Appeals however reversed the ruling, finding that Bartolome voluntarily resigned and failed to prove his resignation was a result of coercion and intimidation.

But in reversing the CA decision, the Supreme Court held that the standard for constructive dismissal is whether a reasonable person in the employee’s position would have felt forced to give up their employment under the circumstances.

“Surely, the calculated and combined acts of TQAI President Lim, TQAI Group Retail Manager De Jesus, TQAI General Sales Manager Dela Paz, and Group Head Sobreviñas toward petitioner constitute acts of disdain and hostile behavior, supporting the conclusion that they were collectively easing out petitioner who consequently had no choice but leave his employment,” the court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier.

The court noted that in the defense of the company and its officials, Bartolome’s letter of resignation left no doubt that he voluntarily resigned.

But the court said it was not convinced, citing the Supreme Court decision on Torred vs. ICCP penned by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo which stated that constructive dismissal is a dismissal in disguise.

“As discussed, petitioner's resignation was brought about by respondents' acts of disdain and hostility toward him, rendering his continued employment with respondents impossible, nay unbearable,” the court said.