Condemning some foreign employers' anti-labor acts

The sad reality of Filipino workers being subjected to racial and other forms of discrimination and injustice abroad are some of the bitter pills that our OFWs are compelled to swallow when they are in foreign lands. They have no access to foreign courts which usually favor their own nationals. However, when Filipino employees work here in our country in companies owned and controlled by foreigners, we should never allow alien businessmen and executives to insult their human dignity, or commit sexual harassment and/or subject our fellow Filipinos to disdain, insults, insensibility, and other serious affront against them. Our courts condemn such travesty of our national dignity and honor.

This is not a matter of xenophobia, or an irregular aversion against foreigners. I have many decent and honorable alien friends who are dignified, just, and decent in their character. But I am outraged at some arrogant foreigners who enjoy the hospitality of our people and the tolerance of our government, and have the temerity and gall to commit injustices against Filipinos. In the case of BMCI (full name hidden to protect the company's reputation despite what it has done to this Filipina), et al versus PHBP (full name undisclosed also to protect her dignity), GR 220170 decided by the Supreme Court on August 19, 2020 at the height of the pandemic. The ruling was penned by Justice J. Reyes, Jr. with the concurrence of all justices in the first division including retired chief justice Diosdado Peralta.

The company led by a foreign executive employed a woman who was perceived as good enough to be promoted in a matter of one year to being head of both HR and legal departments. And yet, in no time at all, the top honcho ordered her to do menial jobs like attending to telephone calls, taking notes, filling in forms, and other mundane tasks. When she suggested other ways, she was peremptorily told: "You don't know anything, stupid, stupid, stupid. I don't care what you say. If you do not accept this project, then resign. We do not need you here. All you have to do is to put in writing that you are not accepting and that you are incompetent." She was repeatedly told to resign. She even filed a sexual harassment case against the top guy but her immediate boss, also a woman, told her she could not do anything about it.

While the labor arbiter and the NLRC ruled in favor of the company, and I could not understand why and how, the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court favored the victim. The two higher courts ruled that there was constructive dismissal due to the harsh, hostile, and unfavorable conditions set by the management, declaring: "when strong words from the employer happen without any palpable reason, or are expressed only for the purpose of degrading the dignity of the employee, then a hostile work environment would be created." The Supreme Court stressed: "The doctrine of constructive dismissal has been a consistent vehicle by this Court to assert the dignity of labor.” Her demotion, the words “stupid, stupid, stupid” and the repeated pressures on her to resign were indicators of constructive dismissal.

In another case involving Imperial Hotel, the expat general manager uttered anti-Filipino words, a slur, repeatedly against the local staff. The Supreme Court condemned such actuations. In another case involving the International School in Makati, the High Court bewailed the discrimination institutionalized by management against Filipino teachers who were receiving very much lower salaries and benefits compared to expat teachers. That clear discrimination was declared a violation of the cardinal principle of “equal pay for equal work”. Thus, we are very glad that our Supreme Court is indeed the last bastion of justice, even while some arbiters and NLRC aren’t.