Court ruling favors HIV-positive worker
THE Supreme Court ruled against a recruitment agency for terminating an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
It found Bison Management Corp. liable for the loss of livelihood of the OFW in Saudi Arabia.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, the Court ruled that the OFW was illegally dismissed and thus entitled to salaries for the unexpired portion of his employment contract and moral and exemplary damages, among others.
The Court cited Republic Act 11166, or the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act, which states that it is unlawful for employees to be terminated from work on the sole basis of their HIV status.
It pointed out that since Philippine law prohibits the use of a person’s HIV-positive condition as a ground for dismissal, there was no valid cause to terminate the OFW.
Further, if the foreign law stated in the employment contract contradicts Philippine law, morals, good customs, public order or public policy, then Philippine law shall apply, the Court said.
In this case, even if it is proven that Saudi Arabian law prohibits workers who test positive for HIV, RA 11166 takes precedence over it for being against Philippine law, the Supreme Court ruled.