MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has found two managers of a Shakey’s branch in Rizal guilty of theft for withholding service charges meant for their employees.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio T. Kho, Jr., the SC’s Second Division ruled that Shakey’s Angono managers Janice Teologo and Jennifer Delos Santos committed simple theft when they failed to distribute service charges to rank-and-file staff and kept the funds instead.

The case stemmed from complaints by employees who said they were made to sign payroll documents indicating they had received the charges—even though no money was given. The managers claimed company policy prevented the release, but the Court found otherwise.

Initially, the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals convicted the managers of qualified theft, citing abuse of trust by the employer, Big G Philfoods & Entertainment, Inc., which owns the Shakey’s branch. But the SC downgraded the offense to simple theft, emphasizing that the real victims were the employees, not the employer.

Under the Revised Penal Code, qualified theft involves a breach of trust or confidence. However, the SC noted that no special trust relationship exists between the store managers and the workers, thus ruling out qualified theft.

Two other managers, Diony Mesina and Jedalyn Mira, also face charges but remain at large.

Teologo and Delos Santos were sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to return the stolen service charges to the employees with interest.