Multinational Ship Management v. Briones
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: Respondent Lolet Briones was hired as a Cabin Stewardess by petitioner Multinational Ship Management Inc. (MSMI) and its foreign principal, Singa Ship Agencies PTE. LTD., for the vessel M/V Viking Mimir. After passing the Pre-Employment Medical Examination (PEME), Briones commenced work on May 15, 2015. While on board, she experienced back pains, which worsened despite medical attention from the ship's doctor and subsequent disembarkation for hospital visits in Hungary and Germany. Upon arrival in Austria on September 21, 2015, she was diagnosed with serious back pain and advised to be repatriated for physiotherapy. Briones was repatriated on September 24, 2015, and referred to MSMI's company-designated physician, Dr. Keith Adrian Celino. Dr. Celino's examinations revealed back pain and Lumbago, and Briones underwent physical therapy. Despite treatment, Briones claimed she did not recover and requested further MRI, which was denied for the thoracic portion. On November 17, 2015, Dr. Celino noted tenderness on the lumbar area and advised MRI of the lumbosacral area. On December 1, 2015, Dr. Celino cleared Briones, declaring her Lumbago resolved, and MSMI claimed to have shouldered all medical expenses and paid sick wages. Briones, however, consulted an orthopedic specialist, Dr. Manuel Fidel Magtira, who, after an MRI on February 4, 2016, certified on March 10, 2016, that Briones was permanently unfit for sea duties. Briones then filed a labor complaint for total and permanent disability benefits, sickness allowance, damages, and attorney's fees. Procedural History: The Labor Arbiter ruled in favor of Briones, granting her claims for total permanent disability, sick wage benefits, damages, and attorney's fees, opining that the third-doctor referral provision is merely directory and that Dr. Magtira's report was more complete. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) reversed this, holding that the third-doctor referral is mandatory and Briones' failure to comply made her complaint premature. The NLRC gave more weight to the company-designated physician's findings. The Court of Appeals (CA) granted Briones' petition, nullifying the NLRC decision except for the sickness allowance award. The CA found Dr. Celino's medical report to be lacking a categorical or definite assessment of Briones' fitness to work, and thus gave more weight to Dr. Magtira's assessment, granting Briones total and permanent disability benefits, sickness allowance, and attorney's fees. The CA denied petitioners' motion for reconsideration. The Petition: Petitioners Multinational Ship Management, Inc./Singa Ship Agencies, PTE. LTD., and Alvin Hiteroza seek to annul the CA's decision, arguing that the CA erred in awarding disability benefits despite Briones' failure to comply with the mandatory third-doctor referral provision of the POEA Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC), which rendered her claim premature and Dr. Celino's fit-to-work findings prevailing.
Issue(s)
Whether the Court of Appeals committed errors and grave abuse of discretion in reversing the NLRC's decision and awarding respondent full disability benefits, despite alleged non-entitlement. Whether respondent Briones is entitled to payment of total permanent disability benefit, considering the third-doctor referral provision in the POEA-SEC, and the validity and definiteness of the company-designated physician's assessment.
Ruling
The petition is DENIED for lack of merit. The assailed Decision dated January 12, 2018, and the Resolution dated May 30, 2018, of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 151642 are AFFIRMED in toto.
Ratio Decidendi
On the issue of entitlement to total permanent disability benefits and the alleged errors of the Court of Appeals: The Court reiterated that while the third-doctor referral procedure under Section 20(A)(3) of the 2010 POEA-SEC is generally considered mandatory, its application presupposes that the company-designated physician has issued a valid, final, and definite assessment as to the seafarer's fitness or unfitness to work within the 120-day or 240-day period. The duty to secure the opinion of a third doctor belongs to the employee, who must actively or expressly request it. However, non-compliance with this procedure does not automatically make the company-designated physician's diagnosis conclusive if the findings are clearly biased, lack scientific relation to the symptoms, or are not supported by medical records. The Court also noted that absent a certification from the company-designated physician, the seafarer is deemed totally and permanently disabled. Given the lack of a definite and substantiated assessment from the company-designated physician, and the detailed and comprehensive findings of the seafarer's physician indicating permanent unfitness for sea duties, the Court affirmed the CA's decision awarding total and permanent disability benefits, sickness allowance, and attorney's fees to Briones. On the issue of the third-doctor referral provision and the validity of medical assessments: The Court found that the medical report of Dr. Celino, the company-designated physician, failed to provide a definite assessment of Briones' fitness or unfitness to work or a disability rating. The report indicated that Briones was advised to continue home exercises and that pain was foreseen to improve with time, suggesting her pain was still subsisting. In contrast, Dr. Magtira's report provided a detailed explanation of Briones' injury, its causes, effects, and treatment, including specific findings from an MRI of the Thoraco-Lumbar Spine. Dr. Magtira concluded that Briones was permanently unfit to resume her sea duties, a conclusion supported by his detailed medical explanation. The Court gave more weight to Dr. Magtira's assessment, finding it more exhaustive and reflective of Briones' medical condition, especially since both medical reports acknowledged the passage of time as a key factor in resolving the back pain. The Court emphasized that total disability does not require complete incapacitation but rather the inability to pursue one's usual work and earn from it, and it is considered permanent if it lasts continuously for more than 120 days. The crucial factor is whether the employee can still perform their work despite the disability. The Court agreed with the CA that Dr. Celino's report was not a definite assessment, thus, there was no final assessment to contest through the third-doctor referral. Consequently, Briones' claim was not premature. The CA's finding that Briones was continuously suffering from back pain and was unfit to return to her previous occupation was based on the detailed findings of Dr. Magtira, which the Supreme Court found to be more persuasive.
Main Doctrine
The failure of a seafarer to comply with the mandatory third-doctor referral procedure under the POEA-SEC does not automatically render the company-designated physician's assessment conclusive if the latter's assessment is not definite, lacks substantiation, or is clearly biased. In such cases, the seafarer's physician's assessment may be given greater weight.