PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court on Wednesday (Aug 5) dismissed an application by former project director and adviser Ismail Othman for leave to appeal a Court of Appeal ruling in his constructive dismissal case against Seacera Properties Sdn Bhd.
A three-member bench comprising Court of Appeal president Abu Bakar Jais and Federal Court judges Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Azimah Omar unanimously dismissed the application.
The court also ordered Ismail to pay RM50,000 in costs to Seacera Properties.
The dismissal of the leave application means the Court of Appeal's decision on Feb 9 this year, which overturned earlier rulings by the Industrial Court and the High Court in Ismail's favour, remains in force.
In its earlier judgment, the Court of Appeal allowed Seacera Properties' appeal, ruling that its parent company, Seacera Group Bhd (SGB), had the authority to issue a show-cause letter to Ismail and subsequently terminate his employment for misconduct.
Ismail joined SGB in 2005 before being transferred to its subsidiary, Seacera Properties, in 2014, where he served as project director and adviser.
In March 2019, he entered into a fixed-term employment contract with Seacera Properties.
In September that year, Ismail was issued a show-cause letter and suspended over alleged misconduct. He maintained that SGB was not his employer and argued that he was therefore under no obligation to respond to the letter.
SGB later warned that disciplinary action would be taken if he failed to comply with the suspension order. After he refused to attend a domestic inquiry, the company found him guilty of misconduct and terminated his employment on Oct 15, 2019.
Ismail subsequently filed a claim with the Industrial Court, which ruled that he had been constructively dismissed and awarded him RM340,000 in compensation in lieu of reinstatement.
Seacera Properties' application for judicial review to quash the Industrial Court's award was dismissed by the High Court on Dec 11, 2023.
However, the Court of Appeal later overturned both the Industrial Court and High Court decisions, holding that documentary evidence showed Ismail had been appointed by SGB before being assigned to Seacera Properties.
Seeking to reinstate the earlier decisions, Ismail applied for leave to appeal to the Federal Court, but the application was dismissed Wednesday.
At Wednesday's hearing, Ismail was represented by lawyers Aneera Joshini Chowdhury, Manmohan Singh Kang and Lu Yiing Suey, while lawyers Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, Auzan Hasanuddin Sazali and Marwan Abdullah represented Seacera Properties. - Bernama
