Announcement

Constructive dismissal claim by an employee alleging work stress depression

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ZUL RAFIQUE & partners’ Employment & Industrial Relations team, Ms Wong Keat Ching and Nur Elissa Baharudin succeeded in defending CIMB Bank Berhad in a constructive dismissal claim by an employee who alleged that he was subjected to constant harassment and verbal abuse by his superior which resulted in the employee tendering his resignation involuntarily in the case of Shankar a/l Ramiah @ Ramaya v CIMB Bank Berhad.

The employee in this case relied on nine medical reports to prove that he was suffering from work stress depression due to verbal abuse and harassment by his superior. The Industrial Court, however, noted that all the medical reports were given after the date of the employee’s resignation. The Court held that the employee did not provide any medical evidence from the time he was allegedly harassed until the date of his resignation. The Court also held that the two doctors who gave expert evidence on the employee’s behalf were not able to make a proper diagnosis as they merely stated in their medical reports what was told to them by the employee.

The Court held that the employee had tendered his resignation voluntarily and it is trite industrial law that a resignation, once tendered, cannot be withdrawn except with the consent of the employer.

The Court also held that there was prolonged delay in the employee’s claim of constructive dismissal as he raised the complaints of harassment and verbal abuse eleven months after the alleged breaches were said to have occurred.

For more insights into this area of law please contact our Partners in Employment & Industrial Relations Practice Group: P Jayasingam, Wong Keat Ching & Thavaselvi Pararajasingam.