[ G.R. No. 193324. July 23, 2014 ] 739 PHIL. 542
FIRST DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 193324. July 23, 2014 ]
ST. LUKE’S MEDICAL CENTER, PETITIONER, VS. DANIEL QUEBRAL AND ST. LUKE’S MEDICAL CENTER EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION - ALLIANCE OF FILIPINO WORKERS (SLMCEA-AFW), RESPONDENTS. D E C I S I O N
VILLARAMA, JR., J.:
Before us is a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended, assailing the April 22, 2010 Decision[1] and August 12, 2010[2] Resolution of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 108097. The appellate court affirmed the decision of the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) finding respondent Daniel Quebral to have been illegally dismissed by petitioner St. Luke’s Medical Center. The antecedents of the case follow: Respondent Daniel Quebral (Quebral) started working for petitioner on June 1, 2000 as an Executive Check-up Coordinator. His position was later renamed to Wellness Center Assistant, whose principal duty is to promote the Executive Check-up Program of petitioner to its target customers and generate revenue and census from corporate clients. As part of its customer service, petitioner provides free and/or discounted parking privileges to its patients. Wellness Center Assistants, such as Quebral, are tasked with claiming pre-approved parking tickets from the hospital’s Information and Concierge Section on behalf of the patients. The Parking Regulations and Conditions stated in the Parking Validation Ticket read:
This Parking Validation Ticket extends the flat rate of PHP 40.00 per 24 hours for self-driven vehicles and PHP 65.00 per 24 hours for valet service. This privilege is strictly for confined patients and their representative only. Each patient is allowed only one (1) Parking Validation Ticket per day. SLMC reserves the right to verify the identity of the Parking Validation Ticket holder. Vehicles must not be parked in a manner that will obstruct passageway of other vehicles, pedestrians, and wheelchairs. SLMC is not responsible for any damage to or loss of the vehicle and/or its accessories and articles left herein. The Parking Validation Ticket is valid only for the CHBC Parking Complex and SLMC Valet Service. All parking attendants have the right to refuse the tickets, which are not properly validated by the issuing party.[3] (Emphasis supplied.)
Quebral claims that on January 23, 2007, Arnel U. Ceriola, Department Manager, In-House Security of petitioner, called his attention regarding his unpaid parking fees totaling to P1,250. His parking records show that Quebral used the discounted parking privilege reserved for patients and their representatives for his personal use at least 20 times from December 3, 2006 to January 21, 2007. Ceriola asked Quebral as to how he was able to validate his parking tickets when such privilege was not extended to employees. Quebral replied that he just asks from the Concierge staff who provided him with parking tickets. He apologized to Ceriola and told him that he did not know that he was not allowed to avail of such validation benefits. On the same day, he paid his balance to Prestige Parking and returned to Ceriola to again apologize. According to Quebral, Ceriola accepted his apology and even remarked, “o, nabayaran mo na pala. Ok na yon… walang problema, sige na.”[4] On the same date, Ceriola sent the following memo to Victor Quiñones, Department Manager of Wellness Program Office:
TO : MR. VICTOR QUIÑONES Department Manager, Wellness Program Office FROM : Department Manager, In-house Security RE : DAN QUEBRAL (unauthorized use of parking validation) DATE : January 23, 2007