The employees of Restaurante Las Conchas filed a complaint with the Labor Arbiter after their employment was terminated when the restaurant shut down. The Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint but the NLRC ruled in favor of the employees. The Supreme Court affirmed the NLRC's ruling, finding the corporate officers personally liable for paying the separation pay and 13th month pay owed to the employees. Even though a corporation nominally owned the restaurant, the officers were effectively acting on behalf of the corporation and they failed to prove other corporate officers existed when the restaurant ceased operations, making the officers personally responsible for satisfying the judgment.
The employees of Restaurante Las Conchas filed a complaint with the Labor Arbiter after their employment was terminated when the restaurant shut down. The Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint but the NLRC ruled in favor of the employees. The Supreme Court affirmed the NLRC's ruling, finding the corporate officers personally liable for paying the separation pay and 13th month pay owed to the employees. Even though a corporation nominally owned the restaurant, the officers were effectively acting on behalf of the corporation and they failed to prove other corporate officers existed when the restaurant ceased operations, making the officers personally responsible for satisfying the judgment.
The employees of Restaurante Las Conchas filed a complaint with the Labor Arbiter after their employment was terminated when the restaurant shut down. The Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint but the NLRC ruled in favor of the employees. The Supreme Court affirmed the NLRC's ruling, finding the corporate officers personally liable for paying the separation pay and 13th month pay owed to the employees. Even though a corporation nominally owned the restaurant, the officers were effectively acting on behalf of the corporation and they failed to prove other corporate officers existed when the restaurant ceased operations, making the officers personally responsible for satisfying the judgment.
RESTAURANTE LAS CONCHAS and/or DAVID GONZALES, petitioners, vs. LYDIA LLEGO, SERGIO DANO, EDWARD ARDIANTE, FEDERICO DE LA CRUZ, SHERILITA ANIEL, LORNA AZUELA, ZENAIDA HERMOCILLA, FELICIDAD ROLDAN, HELEN MANALAYSAY, LUZ BALDELAMAR, FELICIDAD MENDOZA, DOLORES BAQUIZO, RODOLFO BAS, CIRIACO BATITES, and THE HONORABLE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, respondents. Facts: Private respondents were employees of petitioner Restaurante Las Conchas which was allegedly operated by the Restaurant Services Corporation and by petitioners David Gonzales and Elizabeth Anne Gonzales who are members of the board of directors and officers of the corporation. The Restaurant Services Corporation got involved in a legal battle with the Ayala Land, Inc. over the land allegedly being occupied by petitioners for their restaurant. Ayala Land, Inc. obtained a favorable judgment in the case filed against Restaurant Services Corporation for unlawful detainer and the latter were ordered to vacate the premises. The case was appealed to the Court of Appeals and ultimately to this Court which affirmed the decision of the trial court. Petitioners attempted to look for a suitable place for their restaurant business at the Ortigas Center but to no avail, thus, they shut down their business. This resulted in the termination of employment of private respondents. Private respondents filed a complaint with the Labor Arbiter for payment of separation pay and 13th month pay. This was, however, dismissed by the Labor Arbiter prompting the private respondents to appeal the case to the respondent NLRC. The NLRC rendered a Decision favorable to private respondents. Issue: Whether or not petitioners are personally liable to private respondents? Ruling: Yes. Assuming that indeed, the Restaurant Services Corporation was the owner of the Restaurante Las Conchas and the employer of private respondents, this will not absolve petitioners David Gonzales and Elizabeth Anne Gonzales from their liability as corporate officers. Although as a rule, the officers and members of a corporation are not personally liable for acts done in the performance of their duties, this rule admits of exceptions, one of which is when the employer corporation is no longer existing and is unable to satisfy the judgment in favor of the employee, the officers should be held liable for acting on behalf of the corporation. Here, the corporation does not appear to exist anymore. In the present case, the employees can no longer claim their separation benefits and 13th month pay from the corporation because it has already ceased operation. To require them to do so would render illusory the separation and 13th month pay awarded to them by the NLRC. Their only recourse is to satisfy their claim from the officers of the corporation who were, in effect, acting in behalf of the corporation. It would appear that, originally, Restaurante Las Conchas was a single proprietorship put up by the parents of Elizabeth Anne Gonzales, who together with her husband, petitioner David Gonzales, later took over its management. Private respondents claim, and rightly so, that the former were the real owners of the restaurant. The conclusion is bolstered by the fact that petitioners never revealed who were the other officers of the Restaurant Services Corporation, if only to pinpoint responsibility in the closure of the restaurant that resulted in the dismissal of the private respondents from employment. Petitioners David Gonzales and Elizabeth Anne Gonzales are, therefore, personally liable for the payment of the separation and 13th month pay due to their former employees.