Mel Tiangco’s appeal on the wrongful dismissal and suspension action against ABS-CBN for her presence in a TV commercial in 1995 has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The high court affirmed a 2012 Court of Appeals judgment that allowed a 2011 partial settlement deal between Mel Tiangco and ABS-CBN in a ruling dated December 6, 2021, but just made public on Thursday.
The settlement agreement covered Tiangco’s salary during her 3-month suspension, 13th-month pay, and travel allowance, although she had requested separation compensation, damages, and attorney’s costs.
In a decision written by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda, the Supreme Court Third Division ruled that she was not entitled to these benefits because she was not an ABS-CBN employee.
Instead, SC treated her as an independent contractor, claiming that ABS-CBN had no control over her job as co-anchor of TV Patrol.
“As a well-known veteran news anchor, petitioner’s manner in delivering the news was distinctly her own,” the SC decision said.
Tiangco claimed that ABS-CBN was in charge of her performance as a co-anchor on TV Patrol, among other claims, based on the four-fold test for determining an employer-employee connection.
She claimed that ABS-CBN employed her because of her unique qualities and skills, that ABS-CBN paid her salaries through a payroll account and withheld compensation income tax, and that she was bound by ABS-CBN’s law and regulations.
Mel Tiangco loses appeal vs. ABS-CBN
However, the court determined that Tiangco’s admission that she was hired because of her unique qualities and skills demonstrated the presence of independent contractor characteristics.
“Her voice, stature, aura, and representation, form part of the unique qualities that impelled ABS-CBN to pick her for the job,” the court said.
“Petitioner ‘reading the news’ is not the same as an average person reading the same news. The impact would simply be not the same as there is a premium that goes with petitioner’s stature,” it added.
SC further stated that paying Mel Tiangco’s wages through the company payroll on predetermined dates with income tax deducted was “not a conclusive proof of employer-employee relationship, as such an arrangement is often agreed upon only for purposes of convenience.”
Before she was suspended for three months and transferred to GMA-7, Mel Tiangco was one of the original co-anchors of TV Patrol.
Her suspension and subsequent constructive dismissal were found unconstitutional by the labor arbitrator.
The National Labor Relations Commission, on the other hand, sided with ABS-CBN.
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