Tabang vs NLRC, 266 SCRA 462

Facts:

Purificacion Tabang was a founding member, a member of the Board of Trustees, and the corporate secretary of private respondent Pamana Golden Care Medical Center Foundation, Inc.,a non-stock corporation engaged in extending medical and surgical services. The Board of Trustees issued a memorandum appointing petitioner as Medical Director and Hospital Administrator of private respondent's Pamana Golden Care Medical Center in Calamba, Laguna.
 Petitioner was allegedly informed personally by Dr. Ernesto Naval that in a special meeting held on April 30, 1993, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution relieving her of her position as Medical Director and Hospital Administrator, and appointing the latter and Dr. Benjamin Donasco as acting Medical Director and acting Hospital Administrator, respectively. Petitioner averred that she thereafter received a copy of said board resolution. On June 6, 1993, petitioner filed a complaint for illegal dismissal and non-payment of wages, allowances and 13th month pay before the labor arbiter. Respondent corporation moved for the dismissal of the complaint on the ground of lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter. It argued that petitioner's position as Medical Director and Hospital Administrator was interlinked with her position as member of the Board of Trustees, hence, her dismissal is an intra-corporate controversy which falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Petitioner opposed the motion to dismiss, contending that her position as Medical Director and Hospital Administrator was separate and distinct from her position as member of the Board of Trustees. She claimed that there is no intra-corporate controversy involved since she filed the complaint in her capacity as Medical Director and Hospital Administrator, or as an employee of private respondent.

 

Issue:

Which has jurisdiction over the case at bar?

 

 

Held:

We agree with the findings of the NLRC that it is the SEC which has jurisdiction over the case at bar. The charges against herein private respondent partake of the nature of an intra-corporate controversy. Similarly, the determination of the rights of petitioner and the concomitant liability of private respondent arising from her ouster as a medical director and/or hospital administrator, which are corporate offices, is an intra-corporate controversy subject to the jurisdiction of the SEC. Contrary to the contention of petitioner, a medical director and a hospital administrator are considered as corporate officers under the by-laws of respondent corporation. Section 2(i), Article I thereof states that one of the powers of the Board of Trustees is "(t)o appoint a Medical Director, Comptroller/Administrator, Chiefs of Services and such other officers as it may deem necessary and prescribe their powers and duties."