KOTA KINABALU: A former Sabah hospital director was ordered by the Sexual Harassment Tribunal (TAGS) to pay RM10,000 in compensation to a woman who lodged a sexual harassment report against him recently.
Counsel Joan Goh, who represented the senior medical doctor, said the tribunal ordered her client to pay the compensation to the woman directly via bank transfer within 30 days from the date of the award made on Sept 18.
She said her client was also ordered to apologise to the woman by sending an email to her through the tribunal’s email address.
Two witnesses from the woman and five witnesses from the director were called to testify during the hearing prior to the tribunal decision.
Goh said her client will challenge the tribunal’s decision in the High Court through a judicial review, and that her client had instructed the legal team to commence proceedings in the High Court and seek a stay of the award pending determination of the challenge.
She said the doctor maintained that the decision was legally unsustainable and raised serious issues warranting consideration by the High Court.
“This includes whether the tribunal took into account irrelevant considerations and evidence in arriving at its findings, and whether the relevant statutory requirements for a finding of sexual harassment were properly considered and applied,” she said.
Goh said the doctor respected the tribunal and its legal process but stressed that the tribunal’s decision is not the end of the legal process, and that he is entitled to exercise the remedies available to him under the law.
She said it would be inappropriate to debate the evidence in detail through the media as the matter will now be placed before the High Court.
“The respondent will allow the judicial process to take its course,” she said.
The former hospital director was removed from his position and reassigned as a medical officer at the state Health Department in Aug this year, after the woman lodged a police report accusing him of sexual harassment last year.
