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Temporarily misappropriating Company's fund can warrant a dismissal

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Ms Teoh Alvare and Mr Muhamad Sharulnizam Mohd Roni, from ZUL RAFIQUE & partners’ Employment & Industrial Relations team, succeeded in defending CIMB Bank Berhad (the ‘Company’) in an unfair dismissal claim in the case of Norfadilah binti Abdul Halim (the ‘Claimant’) v CIMB Bank Berhad (Case No: 22/4-1427/18), Industrial Court.

The Claimant was employed by the Company as a Customer Service Representative - Teller. The Claimant was charged for misconduct in relation to her not raising and validating a cash transfer voucher into the Branch Delivery System (BDS) after buying the cash of MYR10,000 from another teller and consequently, failure to declare or report that cash excess in her possession

On this issue, the Industrial Court found that the Claimant’s failure to declare the cash excess by the day end cash balancing, but somehow declaring it only on the following day raised suspicion and doubts on the Claimant’s actions and intentions. The Court further held that the Claimant’s admission in failing to raise and validate the cash transfer voucher into the BDS for the said purchase of cash from another teller and then failing to declare the said excess cash to the Bank by the day end cash balancing, resulted in a strong circumstantial evidence establishing the Claimant’s culpability in temporarily misappropriating the said sum of MYR10,000.

The Industrial Court also held that as an employee of the Bank, the Claimant was expected to discharge her duties with full trustworthiness and probity. This is more so where the Bank is a custodian of public funds and thus places its employees on strict standards of trust, honesty and integrity. Any form of misconduct which challenges the ability of its employees to carry out its duties with honesty and integrity is one that warrants dismissal.


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