KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court's decision to annul the RM66,000 award granted by the Industrial Court to a former security guard at the United States embassy goes against the ruling by the Federal Court in 2022, said Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy chairman S. Arutchelvan.
He said the Federal Court had upheld the decision by the Court of Appeal on the basis that embassies did not have absolute immunity.
He said the Industrial Court had concluded that sovereign immunity did not extend to this matter and ruled that security guard L. Subramaniam's dismissal was without cause or excuse.
"PSM is shocked by the High Court ruling this morning. This means Malaysian workers who work at foreign embassies have no legal protection as the foreign embassies seem to have absolute immunity.
"The decision seems to be contrary to the Federal Court's ruling on June 26, 2022, which upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal on the basis that foreign embassies don't have absolute immunity," he said today.
Earlier today, the High Court allowed a judicial review application filed by the US government to annul the RM66,000 award granted by the Industrial Court to Subramaniam for wrongful dismissal.
Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh, in allowing the application, said the court found that the applicant (US government) and its embassy had immunity from the Industrial Court in the claim by Subramaniam under Section 20 (3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967.
"Therefore, the court allows the judicial review. The second respondent (Subramaniam) has to pay costs of RM8,000," said the judge in a decision delivered via email.
Arutchelvan urged the government, as the first defendant, to appeal the decision due to the possibility of serious repercussions for the welfare and wellbeing of workers in Malaysia.
"We have yet to receive the grounds of the judgment, but we will definitely appeal this case."
The US government filed the application on Aug 9 last year, naming the Industrial Court and Subramaniam as the first and second respondents.
It sought an order for the High Court to annul the award granted by the Industrial Court to Subramaniam.
The US government also sought a court order declaring that Subramaniam's dismissal over internal disciplinary misconduct was within the embassy's powers, saying that the country and its embassy had immunity from the Industrial Court.