Employer cannot impose disciplinary penalty without prior employee hearing unless employee opts for written form.

The Supreme Court reversed the lower court's dismissal of the employer's disciplinary penalties, ruling that the employer violated the law by failing to offer an oral hearing. Although the employee provided written explanations and later refused further written ones, the employer had not created the necessary conditions for an oral hearing when the penalties were first imposed. The court held that the employer must offer an oral hearing first, allowing the employee to choose between oral or written forms, but cannot unilaterally force the written option.