The Court upheld that a dismissal for assaulting a Supervisor constituted just cause, emphasizing compliance with procedural justice in domestic inquiries.

AWARD

Zulhelmy Hasan:

Reference

[1] This is a Ministerial reference made under s 20(3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 ("the Act") arising out of the dismissal of Theventhiran Kurupusamy (hereinafter referred to as "the claimant") by Aalborg Portland Malaysia Sdn Bhd (hereinafter referred to as "the company") on 13 December 2019.

[2] The Ministerial reference in this case which was received by the Court on 5 August 2020 required the Court to hear and determine the claimant's complaint of dismissal by the company on 13 December 2019.

[3] This case was first heard before the previous Chairman Mohd Zulbahrin bin Zainuddin on 4 May 2021. Upon his transfer to the Industrial Court of Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur, the learned President of the Industrial Court of Malaysia made an order for Chairman Zulhelmy Hasan to complete the hearing on 16 February 2022 and for a final award be handed down.

[4] The parties to this case consented for the case to continue before me with the remaining witnesses. I now hand down this Award after perusing the documents tendered in Court, notes of evidence of the previous Chairman as well as my own notes and from the Court's own digital recording. This Court referred to the pleadings, witness statements and the notes of proceeding during the trial and also the written submissions to examine what, most probably, occurred.

Factual Backgrounds

[5] The claimant commenced employment with the company on 15 February 2017 as Production Operator (forklift operator) with basic salary of RM1,106.00 per month as per Letter of Appointment dated 14 February 2017 at pp 25-28 of COB. After the probationary period, the claimant was made a confirmed employee of the company vide a letter of Employment Confirmation dated 24 May 2017 (at p 29 of COB) effective 15 May 2017.

[6] The claimant was charged for allegedly assaulting and/or causing injuries by throwing a motorcycle helmet towards his Supervisor, one Tharmarajah a/l Andisamy (COW1) on 19 October 2019 at around 7.04 am at the motorcycles parking area of the company premises. The Supervisor lodged a police report (at p 1 of COB) stating that the claimant took a helmet to beat him. Thereafter, the Supervisor went to the clinic to seek medical treatment and he was given two (2) days of medical leave due to his hand was injured, painful and swollen as a result of the incident.

[7] The claimant also made his police report on the same day (p 20 of COB) stated that he was not satisfied with his Supervisor who used to force workers to work and scold workers, so the claimant beaten up COW1.

[8] The company had issued a show cause letter dated 19 October 2019 (at p 2 of COB) to the claimant seeking his explanation as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against him. In the same show cause letter, the claimant was suspended from his service with half-pay of his salary for a period of 14 days effective 19 October 2019 pending domestic investigation and inquiry.

[9] The claimant replied to the company's show cause letter vide his reply letter dated 22 October 2019 (at p 3 of COB) alleging that the Supervisor (COW1) allowed him to go out for meal for only l/2 hour instead of one hour and throwing a gate pass on his face. He was hungry, disappointed and angry so he beaten up the Supervisor. The claimant apologised of his act of beating up the Supervisor and asked the management to consider his apology.

[10] Thereafter, dissatisfied with the claimant's reply, the company issued a Notice of Domestic Inquiry dated 22 November 2019 (at p 4 of COB) to the claimant with the charged as follows:

"Pada 19hb Oktober 2019 jam lebih kurang 7.10 am anda memukul penyelia anda, En. Tharmarajah A/L Andisamy di kawasan tempat letak kereta motorsikal kilang."

[11] A letter of extension of suspension from service dated 2 November 2019 was later issued to the claimant (at p 5 of COB) pending the domestic investigation and inquiry. A Domestic Inquiry was conducted on 5 December 2019 with regard to the all