The Philippines’ Court of Appeals (CA) has ordered a subsidiary of Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Philippines) Corp to pay nominal damages of Php30,000 (US$527) to each of 26 former employees of City of Dreams Manila who were terminated under a redundancy program initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
Local media outlet The Inquirer said the 38-page decision was handed down on 12 September by the CA’s Third Division, determining that while Melco’s redundancy program was in itself valid, the company had failed to follow procedural due process requiring it to provide employees with written notice 30 days prior to their termination.
The employees will therefore be paid a combined Php780,000 (US$13,700) but are not entitled to reinstatement, backpay or any other claims because Melco did not act in bad faith.
The decision comes with Melco currently looking to offload its stake in City of Dreams Manila as part of a new “asset light” philosophy. City of Dreams Manila is a joint venture with local real estate firm Belle Corp.
Melco revealed earlier this year that it is in discussions with potential buyers of its stake and was preparing a shortlist of interested parties that will partake in a bidding process.
The Philippines land-based gaming market has seen a significant decline in revenues this year, impacted by the cessation of the POGO industry and a fall in the number of visitors from its top source market of South Korea.
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