DM CONSUNJI VS COURT OF APPEALS GR. NO. 137873 (2001)

FACTS:

Jose Juego, a construction worker of D. M. Consunji, Inc., fell 14 floors from the Renaissance Tower, Pasig City to his death. His widow, Maria, filed in the RTC of Pasig a complaint for damages against the deceased’s employer, D.M. Consunji, Inc. The employer raised, among other defenses, the widow’s prior availment of the benefits from the State Insurance Fund. RTC ruled in favor of Maria. 

ISSUE: Whether the Respondent is not precluded from recovering damages under the civil code.

RULING:

Yes. The claimants may invoke either the Workmen’s Compensation Act or the provisions of the Civil Code, subject to the consequence that the choice of one remedy will exclude the other. Here, the CA held that private respondent’s case came under the exception because she was unaware of petitioner’s negligence when she filed her claim for death benefits from the State Insurance Fund. The CA further held that not only was private respondent ignorant of the facts, but of her rights as well. Waiver is the intentional relinquishment of a known right. It bears stressing that what negates waiver is lack of knowledge or a mistake of fact. There is also no showing that private respondent knew of the remedies available to her when the claim before the ECC was filed.