A Supervisor who Kept Silent on Falsification of Documents Done By Subordinates May be Dismissed for Loss of Trust and Confidence
A Supervisor who did not commit falsification but allowed falsification by his subordinates to be done and kept silent about it may be dismissed for loss of trust and confidence.
Loss of confidence as a just cause for termination of employment is premised from the fact that an employee concerned holds a position of trust and confidence. This situation holds where a person is entrusted with confidence on delicate matters, such as the custody, handling, or care and protection of the employer’s property. But, in order to constitute a just cause for dismissal, the act complained of must be “work-related” such as would show the employee concerned to be unfit to continue working for the employer. (See page 181, Guide to Valid Dismissal of Employees, 2nd Edition by Atty. Villanueva citing Caoile vs. NLRC, 299 SCRA 76 (1998).)
To validly dismiss an employee on the ground of loss of trust and confidence, the following guidelines must be followed: (Page 182, Guide to Valid Dismissal of Employees, 2nd Edition citing 
Midas Touch Food Corp. vs. NLRC, 259 SCRA 652, 659-660 [1996])
- The loss of confidence must not be simulated;
- It should not be used as a subterfuge for causes which are illegal, improper or unjustified;
- It may not be arbitrarily asserted in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary;
- It must be genuine, not a mere afterthought, to justify earlier action taken in bad faith; and
- The employee involved holds a position of trust and confidence.
In the case of Del Rosario vs. CW Marketing & Development Corporation (G.R. No. 211105, February 20, 2019), the Supreme Court (SC) held that the two requisites must concur to constitute a valid dismissal from employment:
- the dismissal must be for any of the causes expressed in Article 282 (now Article 297) of the Labor Code; and
- the employee must be given an opportunity to be heard and to defend himself.
Article 282 (now Article 297) of the Labor Code lists loss of trust and confidence in an employee, who is entrusted with fiducial matters, or with the custody, handling, or care and protection of the employer’s property, as a just cause for an employee’s dismissal.
See the Digest of Del Rosario vs. CW Marketing here
The SC recognized the employer’s authority to sever the relationship with an employee. The right to terminate employment based on just and authorized causes stems from a similarly protected constitutional guarantee to employers of reasonable return on investments.
In the case of Del Rosario the employee herself unwittingly provided proof of her infractions. At the outset and repeatedly thereafter, Del Rosario admitted to the assignment to her of the main computer connected to a shared network and a printer/scanner which became her accountability. She then admitted knowledge and awareness of others’ usage of her computer; the edited and falsified documents authored by her subordinates through the same computer; and even their submission of these falsified documents to HSBC in connection with their credit card applications.
Del Rosario attempted to extricate herself from liability by insisting that she never falsified any of the questioned documents and that only her subordinates who used her computer effected the falsification thereof. Unfortunately for Del Rosario, the charge against her is not the criminal act of falsification but the totality of her acts as supervisor, including her negligence and want of care for company property entrusted to her.
At the very least, this nonchalance caused CW Marketing damage to its reputation and standing with banks since the individuals pretending to be in its employ, or have higher salaries, might have no real capacity to pay for purchases made with the credit card. Worse, CW Marketing may even be held liable by the credit card companies for allowing the falsifications.
In the case of Etcuban, Jr. v. Sulpicio Lines, Inc., the amount is immaterial in determining the culpability of the employee for the fraudulent scheme on which his dismissal for loss of trust and confidence was based. Neither was the minuscule value of the financial prejudice to the employer considered.
HR Bundle books by Atty. Villanueva now available
Clearly, while the actions of Del Rosario do not point to her direct participation in the fraudulent scheme, which negatively bore on CW Marketing’s reputation and credit standing with banks, in general, and HSBC in particular, her actions evinced that she knew fully well that some of her subordinates were falsifying documents using company property.
From this point on, Del Rosario deliberately kept silent over her subordinates’ actions resulting in damage to CW Marketing. Moreover, her awareness of the identities of the culprits and her insistence that she did not herself falsify documents demonstrate her sheer apathy to CW Marketing not worthy of her position as Sales Supervisor.
See Sample NTE for Willful Breach of Trust here
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