Justice Anand Ponnudurai ruled that Sofian Amirudin, 54, was entitled to four months’ basic salary and fixed allowances, covering the unexpired balance of his seventh contract with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN).
Anand also dismissed the bank’s counterclaim for RM108,600, and awarded Sofian RM30,000 in costs.
He ruled that Sofian’s seventh employment contract, dated July 8, 2019, as well as the preceding six contracts, were all fixed-term agreements.
Consequently, he said, Sofian was not entitled to a declaration that he was a permanent employee.
The judge held that BSN had breached the seventh contract by directing Sofian’s transfer to a special project unit in a manner that exceeded Clauses 10.1 and 10.2.
“It was effected without adequate definition of job scope or duties,” he said, adding that the transfer, in substance and effect, stripped Sofian of his substantive role and placed him into a materially different and lower position.
In the verdict delivered on Monday, Anand said that with the transfer, Sofian was no longer a head of department and no longer appeared on the bank’s organisational chart.
However, Sofian’s claims for back wages to retirement age, and for reputational and general damages were dismissed as not maintainable in the civil court.
Anand also affirmed the court’s jurisdiction to hear the breach of contract claim, noting that Section 52 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 bars dismissal cases from being brought against statutory bodies like BSN in the Industrial Court.
According to the facts of the case, Sofian was employed as head of the cards business and CRM.
On Aug 25, 2021, he received a transfer notice, directing him to report to the SPU effective Sept 1, 2021. Sofian refused to comply, contending that the move was a demotion.
By a letter dated Aug 25, 2021, Sofian declared himself constructively dismissed.
Sofian joined BSN in late November 2009 and entered seven successive fixed-term contracts over 12 years. His last monthly basic salary and allowance under the two-year contract starting Jan 1, 2020, was RM40,300.
BSN was unsuccessful in its contention that Sofian’s refusal to attend work on grounds of constructive dismissal was a wilful breach of his employment contract for which it was liable to be compensated three months’ wages equivalent in lieu of a termination notice.
Sofian was represented by counsel Srividhya Ganapathy and Eisyarmily Akhtar, while S Ravichandaran and P Tharuny appeared for BSN.