On July 11, the Industrial Court ruled that Auto Abundance Sdn Bhd unfairly fired an employee, S. Janarthen, because of his race and awarded him RM71,500 in back wages and compensation.
According to FMT, Court chairman D. Paramalingam explained that a conflict between the company’s two directors led to Janarthen being unfairly targeted.
Racially charged statements
The finance director, Yim Kai Keong, tried to justify Janarthen’s dismissal by using racially charged statements.
Yim claimed that Janarthen refused to follow instructions and disrespected coworkers because he had a “godfather” of the same race defending him.
Paramalingam criticized Yim’s use of race in his arguments and said Janarthen was a victim of the directors’ feud.
“The claimant had clearly been victimised by Yim, when in fact Yim’s actual grouse is against Muralidharan. Due to the disagreement between the two directors, the claimant had to pay the price and lost his job,” the court chairman said in the court award document.
No evidence for wrongdoing
Janarthen, who joined the company in 2012 and rejoined in 2019, was fired in 2022 for allegedly drinking alcohol at work and challenging Yim to a fight.
However, the court found the company’s evidence, including photos and videos, inconclusive.
The court noted that the videos were edited and Yim did not testify directly, which hurt the company’s case. As a result, the court ruled against Auto Abundance Sdn Bhd and awarded Janarthen RM71,500.
Janarthen was represented by lawyers R. Thayalan and Ambbi Balakrishnan.
