- Petitioner
- Reno Foods
- Respondent
- National Labor Relations Commission
- Citation
- G.R. No. 116462
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- First Division
- Ponente
- Davide, Jr., J.
- Decided
- October 18, 1995
Summary
Utility worker Noel Cantonjos claimed illegal dismissal from Reno Foods, Inc. on January 3, 1990, while company alleged job abandonment. After filing complaint in 1992, Labor Arbiter initially dismissed case but later reversed after NLRC remand, ordering reinstatement without back wages. NLRC affirmed this decision. Supreme Court dismissed company's certiorari petition, holding no grave abuse of discretion occurred. Court emphasized employer's burden to prove abandonment with clear evidence of employee's deliberate intent to discontinue employment, which company failed to establish. Company's failure to provide written termination notice for alleged abandonment violated Labor Code procedural requirements. The two-year delay in filing complaint was within prescriptive period and did not constitute laches in labor cases where worker rights are constitutionally protected.