THE Court of Appeals has affirmed its decision dismissing the petition of a senior political contributor of online news portal InterAksyon questioning the termination of his employment.
InterAksyon is the online news site of television station News5.
In its order, the appellate court’s Former Seventeenth Division said Albert Lee did not present new arguments or evidence to warrant the reversal of its July 27, 2021 decision.
In his motion, Lee insisted that an employer-employee relationship existed between him and TV5 Network Inc. and InterAksyon, adding he is a regular employee illegally dismissed by the network.
Also named respondents in the case were TV5 Chairman Manny Pangilinan, Ray Espinosa, president and CEO of TV5; Vincent “Chot” Reyes, former CEO of the network; and Christine Ona, legal department head.
Lee said he was hired by the network on May 1, 2014 on a three-month basis and his contract renewed several times under the same terms.
He presented as evidence of the private respondent’s control over him email communications from 2014 to 2017 to prove his relationships with TV5.
But the appellate court disagreed and denied his motion.
“After a study of the grounds relied upon in the motion, the Court finds no compelling reason to reconsider or reverse the Assailed Decision as petitioner is unable to raise new issues or matters that warrant reconsideration thereof,” the CA’s 4-page decision promulgated on July 29, 2022 said.
The decision was penned by Associate Justice Zenaida Galapate-Laguilles, with Associate Justices Florencio Mamauag Jr. and Bonifacio Pascua concurring.
The CA said the email messages presented by Lee “do not provide specifications on how certain topics are created or how Lee should do his job. Clearly, Lee was an independent contractor, contracted to do a piece of work according to his own method and without being subjected to the control of TV5 except the results of his work.”
The appellate court stressed that Lee’s independent contractor agreement “shows the absence of an employee-employer relationship” as he is free to market his professional services to other clients.
