KUALA LUMPUR: Telecommunications company Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd has been ordered by the Industrial Court to pay over RM1 million in compensation to a former executive for unfair dismissal.
According to the recently published judgment, the court found that the company had failed to act in good faith, ruling the termination unjust and without cause.
Tung Yoke Leng, who had been with the company since 1996, was awarded RM1,036,640 in back wages and compensation in lieu of reinstatement.
Industrial Court chairman S. Vanithamany found that the decision to terminate Tung's employment on Sept 1, 2021, was flawed and procedurally unfair.
The court heard that Tung was placed under a performance improvement plan (PIP) in June 2021 despite her previous exemplary performance.
Tung achieved all her PIP goals during the fourth review but was nonetheless dismissed. She claimed the review process was unfair, with unresolved issues being carried forward across evaluations, creating an impossible standard to meet.
Tung said she was not provided with adequate or competent support staff and had to mentor inexperienced team members while managing her own responsibilities.
She raised concerns about "snowballing" key performance indicator (KPI) criteria in emails to the company.
In January 2021, Tung was seconded to the audit department for two years under a job development programme, despite having no prior experience in auditing.
The court found that she was not warned of the consequences of being placed on an enhanced PIP and that the company failed to provide documented evidence of coaching and guidance as claimed.
"This court believes that a fair and sufficient opportunity was not provided to Tung during the PIP to assist her in improving her performance," Vanithamany said.
The court noted that Tung still managed to meet her KPI goals despite the challenges.
The ruling concluded that Tung's termination was based solely on the results of the enhanced PIP, which the company failed to justify adequately.
The lack of proper warnings, combined with the burden of mentoring inexperienced staff, led the court to declare her dismissal unfair.
Lawyer Ravindra Murugavell represented Tung, while Leonard Yeoh and Chen Mei Yan acted for Maxis.