THE SUPREME COURT has cleared the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) of any liability but held the Metro Transit Organization, Inc. (Metro) liable for the illegal dismissal of employees whose strike in 2000 paralyzed LRT System operations.

In a decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Reynato S. Puno, the Court’s Second Division granted the LRTA’s petition to dismiss the complaint for illegal dismissal filed against it by respondents Perfecto H. Venus, Jr., et al. At the same time, however, the Court affirmed the assailed Court of Appeals’ decision insofar as it holds Metro liable for the illegal dismissal of private respondents and orders it to pay their benefits and full back wages, as well as moral damages. Further, the Court ordered Metro to pay attorney’s fees equivalent to ten percent of the total money judgment.

The Court said that the workers were indeed illegally dismissed by Metro. It noted that they could not have defied the return-to-work order of the Secretary of Labor simply because they were dismissed immediately, even before they could obey the said order. On the other hand, the Court held that LRTA has no employer-employee relationship with the private respondents since they were hired by Metro alone. (LRTA v. Venus, Jr., et al., GR No. 163782,; Metro Transit Organization, Inc. v. CA, et al., GR No. 163881, March 24, 2006)