Gov’t risks wrongful termination suit for Chow Kit spa bust but dare any of the detainees front up?

 

THE recent raid on the now infamous all-men Otot Otot spa and sauna facility in Jalan Raja Laut has raised a number of concerns.

Apart from being treated in a humiliating fashion, the detainees have had their details leaked on social media, including those who are attached to the civil service.

The fall-out from this is that an administrative and diplomatic officer in the office of the Deputy Higher Education Minister has been instructed to resign immediately after being arrested, the ministry has confirmed.

Apparently, he was one of the 17 civil servants detained who also included teachers, doctors/surgeon and a deputy public prosecutor.

In a swift response, human rights activist and lawyer Siti Kasim has offered her legal expertise to those who may have been affected by the raid.

Offering hope that a suit for wrongful dismissal could be successful, the human rights activist pointed to a 2021 case involving one senior civil servant Nazrul Imran Mohd Nor.

As reported by Free Malaysia Today four years ago, Nazrul was an administrative and diplomatic (PTD) officer serving as the second secretary at the Malaysian embassy in Manila when the alleged offence took place.

He had been a PTD officer for eight years when he was told to return to Malaysia after he was found to have made an adverse comment about then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on his Facebook page on Jan 11, 2017.

In its judgment, the bench ruled that the law had restricted Nazrul’s constitutional right and his dismissal from service was unreasonable, irrational and the punishment too harsh.

At a glance, Siti Kasim’s offer to provide legal advice was well-received with many hoping that the 171 detainees (101 of whom are Muslims) would contact her and perhaps initiate judicial proceedings.

Take the government to the cleaners, declared one commenter. Highlighting that even the remand order was rejected by the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court, the Otot Otot Sauna detainees could sue “for millions” over wrongful termination if they had been dismissed due to the fall-out from the raid.

It was also claimed the raid was an invasion of privacy and trampling of human rights. This commenter further argued that a whole host of other establishments such as health clubs, gyms, swimming pools or in short – places where men congregate in towels – would have to be shut down.

The premise for the authorities swooping in was also questioned – aren’t most saunas and Jacuzzis gender segregated anyway?

While the precedent offers hope to the detainees who may have lost their jobs due to this raid becoming headline news, here is one pertinent difference.

Nazrul made comments critical of a serving PM, one who happens to be behind bars now. Making political commentary on social media is very different from being caught in compromising position in a house of ill-repute (allegedly).

The person stepping forward will have to face unprecedented vitriol and abuse from the anti-LGBTQ+ segment of the population. He will have to answer difficult questions as to why he was there at Otot Otot though it may not be anyone else’s business.

The odds are stacked against any plaintiff who dares to take up this challenge – not legally as the aboriginal rights advocate has highlighted – but having to swim against the tide of homophobia that is sure to engulf him. –  Focus Malaysia