Sharpe Sea Personnel v. Mabunay
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: Macario G. Mabunay, Jr. (Mabunay) was employed as an oiler by Sharpe Sea Personnel, Inc. (Sharpe Sea) for a nine-month period. On April 15, 2009, Mabunay slipped and hit his back while cleaning the engine room, causing him to lose consciousness and experience numbness. Despite his pain, he continued working until he was allowed a medical checkup in Nanjing, China, where he was diagnosed with chest and spinal column bone damage and declared unfit to work. He was medically repatriated to Manila on April 29, 2009. Procedural History: Upon repatriation, Mabunay reported to Sharpe Sea and was directed to see Dr. Nicomedes G. Cruz, a company-designated physician. From April 30, 2009, to June 3, 2009, Mabunay was confined and diagnosed with cervical and thoracolumbar spondylosis, and a compression fracture. He underwent physical therapy and, on August 14, 2009, Dr. Cruz recommended surgery, which Mabunay underwent on November 24, 2009. He was discharged on December 5, 2009. On January 21, 2010, Mabunay filed a complaint for disability benefits, medical expenses, damages, and attorney's fees. He also sought opinions from private physicians, Dr. Alan Leonardo R. Raymundo and Dr. Rommel F. Fernando, who both diagnosed him with conditions related to his spine and declared him unfit to work as a seaman. The Labor Arbiter ruled in favor of Mabunay, awarding US$60,000.00 for permanent and total disability benefits and attorney's fees. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) affirmed the award but deleted attorney's fees. Subsequently, on reconsideration, the NLRC modified its decision, reducing the award to US$16,795.00, corresponding to a Grade 8 disability rating, based on a medical report from Dr. Cruz that was submitted late. The Court of Appeals reversed the NLRC, reinstating the Labor Arbiter's decision with modifications, awarding moral and exemplary damages, and reimbursement for transportation and MRI expenses, finding that Sharpe Sea acted in bad faith by belatedly submitting the Grade 8 disability rating. The Petition: Petitioners Sharpe Sea Personnel, Inc., Monte Carlo Shipping, and Moises R. Florem, Jr. assailed the Court of Appeals' decision, arguing that the Grade 8 disability rating from the company-designated physician should prevail over the private physicians' findings, and that the POEA-SEC, not Article 192(c)(i) of the Labor Code, governs disability claims. They also contended they were not in bad faith.
Issue(s)
Whether the Grade 8 disability rating of the company-designated physician should be upheld over the contrary findings of respondent's private physicians. Whether there is sufficient basis for the award of damages and attorney's fees.
Ruling
The Petition for Review on Certiorari is DENIED for lack of merit. The Court of Appeals' Decision dated October 24, 2012, is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION. Petitioners Sharpe Sea Personnel, Inc. and Monte Carlo Shipping, Inc. are ORDERED to solidarily pay Macario Mabunay, Jr. the amount of US$60,000.00 as permanent and total disability benefits plus ten percent (10%) thereof as attorney's fees. Furthermore, petitioners Sharpe Sea Personnel, Inc. and Monte Carlo Shipping, Inc. are ORDERED to pay ₱100,000.00 as moral damages, ₱100,000.00 as exemplary damages, ₱36,500.00 as reimbursement of transportation expenses, and ₱7,300.00 as reimbursement of MRI expenses. Legal interest shall be computed at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum of the total award from date of finality of judgment until full satisfaction.
Ratio Decidendi
On the issue of whether the Grade 8 disability rating of the company-designated physician should be upheld over the contrary findings of respondent's private physicians: The Supreme Court held that the petitioners failed to convince the Court. The records showed that petitioners repeatedly claimed Dr. Cruz gave Mabunay a Grade 8 disability assessment, yet they failed to substantiate this claim before the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC. The Labor Arbiter and the NLRC both found that the records were bereft of proof of such a disability grading. Petitioners only managed to produce a medical report with a Grade 8 disability assessment from Dr. Cruz when they filed a Motion for Reconsideration with the NLRC, two years after the initial complaint and without adequate explanation for the delay. The Court emphasized that while technical rules of evidence are not binding in labor cases, the delay in submitting evidence must be adequately explained, which petitioners failed to do. Furthermore, even if the belatedly submitted report were accepted, it was an interim disability grading, which is merely an initial prognosis and does not provide a sufficient basis for the award of disability benefits. The company-designated physician is expected to issue a definite assessment within 120 or 240 days from repatriation; failure to do so, and if the seafarer's medical condition remains unresolved, leads to the seafarer being deemed totally and permanently disabled. In this case, Dr. Cruz, or any other company-designated physician, failed to issue a fit-to-work certification or a final disability rating after Mabunay's operation and before the lapse of 240 days from his repatriation. Therefore, Mabunay's disability was rightfully deemed total and permanent. On the issue of whether there is sufficient basis for the award of damages and attorney's fees: The Supreme Court found no reason to reverse the Court of Appeals' findings. Bad faith imports a dishonest purpose or some moral obliquity and conscious doing of wrong. By not timely releasing Dr. Cruz's interim disability grading, petitioners revealed their intention to leave Mabunay in the dark regarding his future as a seafarer and forced him to seek diagnoses from private physicians. Petitioners' bad faith was further exacerbated when they tried to invalidate the findings of Mabunay's private physicians for his supposed failure to move for the appointment of a third-party physician, despite their own deliberate concealment of their physician's interim diagnosis from Mabunay and the labor tribunals. The Court agreed with the Court of Appeals that private respondents acted in bad faith by belatedly submitting the Grade 8 disability rating, compelling Mabunay to seek opinions from his private doctors, causing him mental anguish, serious anxiety, and wounded feelings, thus entitling him to moral damages. The award of exemplary damages was also granted to serve as a deterrent. The Court increased the award for moral and exemplary damages to ₱100,000.00 each, considering the petitioners' patently malicious act in belatedly submitting an ante-dated medical report. The award of attorney's fees was also reinstated.
Main Doctrine
The company-designated physicians' failure to arrive at a final and definite assessment of a seafarer's fitness to work or level of disability within the prescribed periods (120 or 240 days) means that the seafarer shall be deemed to be totally and permanently disabled.