KUALA LUMPUR, July 31: Engineer Chong Fui Thung today claimed the final victory against Sena Diecasting Industries Sdn Bhd for wrongful dismissal when the Federal Court dismissed an application of leave from the company against the Court of Appeal’s judgement, which had reinstated a 2019 Industrial Court award he had won.
The Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision to reinstate the Industrial Court’s decision was made in October last year.
This came after a long, costly and frustrating journey as the case kept getting postponed many times over a period of 6 years, Chong said.
But the wait for a final decision continued again as the company moved to apply for a leave from the Federal Court last year.
“With the Federal Court’s decision today, I hope there will be no other avenue of appeal from the company as this will be certainly be a relief for me from the frustrations and uncertainly of the past few years,” Chong told Weekly Echo.
Chong first sought justice in the Industrial Court when his company terminated his services in 2017, and his case was first heard by the Industrial Court in 2018.
According to the case history, Chong had started with Sena Diecasting as a general manager in 2001, and was later promoted to become the executive director, beside being appointed as a company director, with an increased salary in 2005. He was also a shareholder in the company.
On April 24, 2019, the Industrial Court issued an award in favour of Chong, concluding that Chong was indeed ‘constructively dismissed’. It then ordered the company to pay Chong compensation in lieu of reinstatement for the sum of RM1,026,210.00 (the Award) https://www.mp.gov.my/eicpp/MainServlet?action=downloadAward&awardCategory=4&awardIndex=29991
However, Sena Diecasting Industries Sdn Bhd filed for a Judicial Review at the Kuala Lumpur High Court against the award.
In April 2023, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh J quashed the award by the Industrial Court, citing that Chong continued to sign company cheques after his date of dismissal and therefore ‘condoned’ his dismissal by the company. (https://www.kuekong.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Sena-Diecasting-Industries-Sdn-Bhd-v-Mahkamah-Perusahaa.pdf)
Chong immediately filed an appeal at the Court of Appeals and the matter was heard on the 5th Oct 2023. In an unanimous decision, the panel concluded that the judge at Kuala Lumpur High Court had erred in arriving at a decision that was devoid of justification when it concluded that Chong ‘condoned’ his dismissal by continuing to sign cheques as a company director mandated to sign every cheque issued by the company.
The panel also pointed out that the Industrial Court arrived at the right decision when it concluded that Chong was indeed a workman who was ‘constructively dismissed’.
— WE