SC rules company ban on marriages between co-workers illegal

In what may be a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has ruled it illegal for a company to require its co-workers to resign if they get married.

In a 16-page decision penned by Associate Justice Reynato Puno, the High Tribunal affirmed a ruling of the Court of Appeals in a labor dispute between Star Paper Corp. and three former employees.

The Supreme Court held that Star Paper’s policy of banning spouses from working in the same company was "violative of the constitutional rights towards marriage and the family of employees" as well as the Labor Code.

The company also has a policy against hiring new employees if they have a spouse or relative already working in the company.

In the ruling, the SC said it could not uphold Star Paper’s policy because there are no laws against spouses working in the same company.

"The absence of a statute expressly prohibiting marital discrimination in our jurisdiction cannot benefit the petitioners (Star Paper)," the court stated in its decision.

"The protection given to labor in our jurisdiction is vast and extensive (so) that we cannot prudently draw inferences from the legislature’s silence that married persons are not protected under our Constitution and declare valid based on a prejudice or stereotype."

Star Paper also failed to give reasonable arguments or proof that its policy made business sense, the court added.

"The questioned policy is an invalid exercise of management prerogative. We do not find a reasonable business necessity in the case at bar. Petitioner’s sole contention that the company did not just want to have two or more of its employees related between the third degree by affinity and/or consanguinity is lame."

Two former employees, Wilfreda Comia and Ronaldo Simbol, had complained that they were compelled to resign by the company after marrying a co-worker because of a policy they viewed to be illegal.

Meanwhile, another former employee, Lorna Estrella, had accused the company of illegally dismissing her after she got pregnant by a co-worker, Luisito Zuñiga, who claimed that he was separated from his wife.

Estrella terminated her relationship after discovering that Zuñiga was still married because of the company policy.

In December 1999, when she returned to work after recuperating from an accident, Estrella was told she was being dismissed for immoral conduct.

After her dismissal, she filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Commission for illegal dismissal but lost.

She went to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the commission’s decision in a 2004 ruling.