A Supervisory Employee is still Liable for his Failure to Perform his Duties when Company Property gets Stolen Under his Watch
Angeli
to Publico was employed to work at Cardinal Santos Memorial Center (CSMC) in 1989, and was the hospital’s Chief of Blood Bank Section, Laboratory Department when he was dismissed from employment by Hospital Managers, Inc. (HMI) in 2008.
The dismissal was founded on Publico’s gross and/or habitual negligence, as penalized under the provisions of the HMI’s Code of Discipline for employees, and indicated in an inter-office memo that directed Publico to answer the charges.
Prior to Publico’ s dismissal, HMI discovered incidents of unauthorized sale of blood and apheresis units by laboratory personnel, who also issued fake receipts and failed to remit payments to the hospital.
When asked to explain his side on the issue, Publico denied any participation in the anomalous transactions. He claimed to have known of the incidents of unauthorized sale only when he was asked to participate in the investigation. He further evaded any responsibility by claiming that while five employees were investigated for the scheme, only one of them was under his supervision in the blood bank section.
After investigation, Publico was dismissed from service. He filed an illegal dismissal case.
Is a supervisor who did not have any direct participation on actual commission of theft liable?
The charge of gross and habitual neglect on an employee who has the supervisory duty over the safe keep of property which was stolen does not pertain to his own participation but to his failure to perform his duties as a supervisor.
Publico’s obligations as Section Chief include personnel supervision (only one of his several functions, all intended to ensure proper and orderly operations within his department), all matters affecting the laboratory, such as workflow supervision, record management, equipment and inventory control. He was duty-bound to monitor and supervise all equipment, supplies, work, and personnel operating in his department, regardless of whether these people were under his direct supervision and the shift when they reported for work.
Thus, he cannot advance the excuses to evade any to limit his liability for the acts of his personnel only reinforce. He cannot avoid liability by insisting that some of the wrongdoers were not under his watch; second, the transactions happened during the night shift when he supervised only those in the morning shift; and third, the questioned transactions were not recorded in the log book.
Publico could not have simply relied on the laboratory log book to monitor activities within his department, especially since the erring employees would not have recorded their illegal activities, to be able to perpetuate the commission thereof.
The foregoing circumstances show that Publico’s neglect was gross and habitual. “Gross negligence connotes want of care in the performance of one’s duties. Habitual neglect implies repeated failure to perform one’s duties for a period of time, depending upon the circumstances.
The liability of Publico did not depend on his knowledge or direct participation in the wrongful sale of blood and apheresis units. Even as the Court considers the inter-office memo sent by HMI to inform Publico of the charges, references were on negligence and non-observance of operating policies and procedures.
The accusations pertained to his failure to perform his duties as a supervisor, rather than his own participation in the unlawful sales.
Learn the Valid Dismissal of Employees
(Angelito R. Publico Vs. Hospital Managers, Inc., G.R. No. 209086, October 17, 2016)
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