was fired as Secretary-General (Corp Sec) of the alumni association. She has been the elected board secretary for more than 8 terms already even though she was never a trustee. But the new board didn't re-elect her this year. Can she fight her dismissal by claiming security of tenure?"
My answer is No, a corporate secretary is a corporate officer who must be elected by the board of director or trustee as provided by the corporate bylaw. Her tenure is only up to what is provided in the bylaws.
In the case of Locsin v. Nissan, (http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2010/oct2010/gr_185567_2010.html) the Supreme Court had occasion to clarify that a corporate officer is not an employee. "An 'office' is created by the charter of the corporation and the officer is elected by the directors or stockholders. On the other hand, an "employee" usually occupies no office and generally is employed not by action of the directors or stockholders but by the managing officer of the corporation who also determines the compensation to be paid to such employee"
A corporate officer who questions the election that he lost should go to Regional Trial Court for an intra-corporate dispute. An employee who loses his job should go to the NLRC.
In this case, since she was simply not elected to the post, she cannot claim illegal dismissal. She has no right to the office.
"... the CA addressed Locsin’s invocation of Article 4 of the Labor Code. Dismissing the application of the provision, the CA cited Dean Cesar Villanueva of the Ateneo School of Law, as follows:
x x x the non-coverage of corporate officers from the security of tenure clause under the Constitution is now well-established principle by numerous decisions upholding such doctrine under the aegis of the 1987 Constitution in the face of contemporary decisions of the same Supreme Court likewise confirming that security of tenure covers all employees or workers including managerial employees."
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