Employee awarded RM71,500 after being discriminated against and dismissed without fair reason

The employee, Janarthen Subramaniam, alleged that his employer, Auto Abundance Sdn Bhd – and more specifically, the company’s chief financial officer Yim Kai Keong – dismissed him without good reason in March 2022.

In a court ruling dated July 11, the presiding judge, Paramalingam Doraisamy, said: “It is rather unfortunate that Yim played the racist card in justifying his action to dismiss the plaintiff.”

Yim, who represented the company in the proceedings, alleged that Janarthen had violated company policies by failing to use the punch card machine, smoking and drinking on company premises during working hours and even challenging Yim to a physical fight when questioned about his work ethic.

Janarthen joined the company in 2012 and worked as an administrative assistant. Six years later he resigned as a quality assistant.

In 2019, he returned to the company in the same position with a monthly salary of RM3,500, before being laid off in March 2022.