OLYMPIA GUALBERTO, petitioner vs MARINDUQUE MINING & INDUSTRIAL CORP.

,
respondent
23 CAR 528
June 28, 1978
FACTS:
The company employed plaintiff Olympia Gualberto as a dentist in 1971 while she was still
single. She married Roberto, another employee (electrical engineer) of the company, in 1972.
The company informed her that she was regarded to have resigned her office, invoking the firms
policy that stipulated that female employees were regarded to automatically terminate their
employment the moment they got married. Olympia filed a claim for compensation.
The Court of Appeals not only upheld her claim for damages but also awarded exemplary
damages, and held, inter alia: No employer may require female applicants for jobs to enter into
pre-employment arrangements that they would be dismissed once they get married and
afterwards expect the Courts to sustain such an agreement.
ISSUE:
WON an employer may terminate an employee by reason of marriage.
HELD:
No.
The Court made references to the Civil Code, the Woman and Child Labor Act and the 1935
Constitution of the Philippines. In light of this the Court further stated: The agreement which the
appellants want this Court to sustain on appeal is an example of discriminatory chauvinism. Acts
which deny equal employment opportunities to women because of their sex are inherently odious
and must be struck down.