G.R. No.

L-7089             August 31, 1954

DOMINGO DE LA CRUZ, plaintiff-appellant,
vs.
NORTHERN THEATRICAL ENTERPRISES INC., ET AL., defendants-appellees.

FACTS

Petitioner was a special guard of a movie house of the defendant. Petitioner was charged with
the crime of homicide after he shot a stranger who attacked him when the latter was insisting to
enter the movie house without a ticket. After the petitioner was acquitted, he demanded from
the defendant of reimbursement of his expenses during his litigation, but the latter refused.
Consequently, the petitioner filed a present action to recover damages, however, the Court of
First Instance found that the petitioner had no cause of action.

ISSUE/S

Whether or not the petitioner may recover damages against his employer?

RULING

NO. The court held that a case involving damages caused to an employee by a stranger or
outsider while the said employee was in the performance of his duties, presents a novel question
which under present legislation we are neither able nor prepared to decide in favor of the
employee. If the employer is not legally obliged to give, legal assistance to its employee and
provide him with a lawyer, naturally said employee may not recover the amount he may have
paid a lawyer hired by him. Moreover, the damages incurred here consisting of the payment of
the lawyer's fee did not flow directly from the performance of his duties but only indirectly
because there was an efficient, intervening cause, namely, the filing of the criminal charges. In
other words, the shooting to the death of the deceased by the plaintiff was not the proximate
cause of the damages suffered but may be regarded as only a remote cause, because from the
shooting to the damages suffered there was not that natural and continuous sequence required
to fix civil responsibility.

Based on the foregoing, the court AFFIRMED the lower court’s decision.