MAS confirms it sacked employee for alleged sexual assault

Malaysia Airlines today confirmed that the flight attendant, who had been held in a Paris detention centre for alleged sexual assault on a passenger, was no longer an employee with the airline. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 13, 2014.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) today confirmed that it terminated the services of a flight attendant who had been held in a Paris detention centre since August for alleged sexual assault on a passenger.

But, in a statement to The Malaysian Insider, the national carrier said it was not at liberty to discuss the matter further as the case was under the judicial purview of the Industrial Relations Department (IRD).

”Malaysia Airlines is not at liberty to comment on the matter as it is currently under the judicial purview of the authorities and we confirm that the person is no longer an employee of the company," the statement read.

Earlier today, The Malaysian Insider reported that the employee, who had served MAS for 32 years, was notified of his termination in a letter that was sent to his home in the Klang Valley two weeks after the alleged incident.

National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) president Ismail Nasaruddin said the letter was sent while he was still languishing in an overseas detention centre.

Ismail said that MAS gave the attendant 60 days to appeal against the termination on grounds of "misconduct", but added that he could not appeal as he had no idea he had been sacked.

The union had since referred the matter to the IRD to reinstate the 57-year-old employee.

The attendant was detained on August 7 after an Australian passenger Laura Bushney, 26, said he had sexually assaulted her twice during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Paris.

Bushney said the first incident occurred on the flight before it took off.

The second incident took place three-and-a-half hours later while the plane flew over the Bay of Bengal, India, in international airspace.

The passenger apparently expressed her nervousness about flying over the Indian Ocean following the disappearance of flight MH370 and the downing of flight MH17.

The passenger, it was reported, lodged a police report upon reaching the Charles de Gaulle airport on August 5.

Ismail said MAS had not provided any assistance to the family of the attendant, adding that the Malaysian embassy in Paris was the one helping him and the family cope.

He said that MAS wanted to wash its hands of the incident as it was struggling from the negative publicity generated following the MH370 and MH17 incidents.

On March 8, Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, went off the radar over the South China Sea, an hour after takeoff from the KL International Airport at 12.41am. The aircraft was bound for Beijing, China.

Efforts to locate the aircraft are still ongoing in the southern Indian Ocean but there has been no trace of the jet yet.

Flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have been shot down by a ground-to-air missile.

- TMI