CITIBANK N.A. VS NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION and ROSITA TAN PARAGAS

CITIBANK N.A.

VS

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION and
ROSITA TAN PARAGAS
563 SCRA 87 (2008)

The general prayer of “other reliefs” is applicable only to such other reliefs warranted by law and facts.

Rosita Tan Paragas (Paragas) worked as a filing clerk of Citibank, N.A. (Citibank) for eighteen (18) years. She was terminated by Citibank for serious misconduct, willful disobedience, gross and habitual neglect of duties and gross inefficiency. Paragas filed a complaint for illegal dismissal which was dismissed for lack of merit, finding that the dismissal on the ground of work inefficiency was valid. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) affirmed the decision of the Labor Arbiter with the modification that Paragas should be paid separation pay as a form of equitable relief in view of her length of service with Citibank.

Paragas filed a Motion for Partial Reconsideration of the NLRC Resolution. She no longer challenged her dismissal on the ground of work inefficiency, but prayed that Citibank be ordered to pay her the Provident Fund benefits under its retirement plan for which she claimed to be qualified pursuant to Citibank’s Working Together Manual. The said manual provides that an employee discharged for reasons other the misconduct will be paid a percentage of her share in the Fund.

Finding that Paragas’ dismissal was for causes other than misconduct, the NLRC granted Paragas’ Motion. On appeal, the Court of Appeals dismissed the petition for lack of merit and affirmed in toto the challenged NLRC Resolution.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the CA erred in affirming the NLRC’s decision despite the latter’s lack of authority to pass upon and resolve issues and grant claims not pleaded and proved before the Labor Arbiter

HELD:
Paragas indeed prayed for “other just and equitable relief,” but the same may not be interpreted so broadly as to include even those which are not warranted by the factual premises alleged by a party. Thus the January 24, 2003 Decision of the Court of Appeals correctly stated: “It has been ruled in this jurisdiction that the general prayer for ‘other reliefs’ is applicable to such other reliefs which are warranted by the law and facts alleged by the respondent in her basic pleadings and not on a newly created issue.”
Paragas’ assertion that she mentioned the matter regarding the Provident Fund even prior to her Motion for Partial Reconsideration — on page 14 of her position paper and again on pages 2 and 7 of her “Notice of Appeal and Appeal Memorandum” — is unavailing.

Her “Notice of Appeal and Appeal Memorandum” was filed after she had already submitted her position paper. Thus, any mention of the Provident Fund therein would fail to adhere to the above-ruling in Mañebo, the thrust of which was precisely that all facts, evidence, and causes of action should already be proffered in the position papers and the supporting documents thereto, not in any later pleading.

As to Paragas’ position paper, there was only the mere mention of “Provident A & C,” with the corresponding amount of P1,086,335.43, among the actual damages that she was allegedly suffering from her continued severance from employment. Paragas made no attempt to define what this “Provident A & C” was, nor offer any substantiation for including it to be among her actual damages. She did not even hint how “Provident A & C” had a bearing on retirement benefits. Thus, while Paragas did refer to the Provident Fund in her position paper, such reference was too vague to be a basis for any court or administrative body to grant her retirement benefits.

Paragas justifies her failure to claim for retirement benefits before the labor arbiter by alleging that it would be inconsistent with her prayer for reinstatement. Paragas, however, could have easily claimed such benefits as an alternative relief.

In any event, Paragas is not entitled to retirement benefits as this Court finds that she was validly dismissed for serious misconduct and not merely for work inefficiency.