Federal Court rejects ex-Grab driver’s unfair dismissal challenge

 

Loh Guet Ching had filed a claim with the industrial relations department seeking reinstatement with MyTeksi Sdn Bhd, which operates under Grab.

PUTRAJAYA: 

The Federal Court today dismissed a former Grab driver’s application for leave to appeal a Court of Appeal decision which upheld the human resources minister’s refusal to refer her alleged unfair dismissal to the Industrial Court.

The leave application by Loh Guet Ching, 45, was dismissed by a three-member panel, comprising Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Justices Nallini Pathmanathan and Rhodzariah Bujang.

We find that the (questions of law) formulated do not meet Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964,

 said Tengku Maimun in the proceedings held online, adding that there was no order as to costs.

Loh’s lawyer, Ng Kian Nam, had asked the court to determine six questions of law, contending that they related to whether e-hailing drivers and gig economy workers should file unfair dismissal disputes in the industrial or civil courts.

Senior federal counsel Nik Noor Nik Kar, appearing for the human resources minister and the industrial relations department director-general, as well as lawyer T Thavalingam, representing MyTeksi Sdn Bhd, objected, saying the questions proposed by Loh were not novel.

To obtain leave for a Federal Court appeal, an applicant must demonstrate that the proposed appeal raises novel legal or constitutional questions of public importance that have not been previously addressed and require further arguments.

Previously, Loh filed a claim with the industrial relations department seeking reinstatement with MyTeksi, which operates under Grab.

Exercising his discretion, the human resources minister declined to refer the case. Loh subsequently filed a judicial review application in the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

On July 9, 2021, the High Court dismissed her judicial review application, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeal on Nov 27, 2023.

The Court of Appeal ruled that Grab drivers do not fall within the category of 

workmen

, as defined under Section 2 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967, and therefore cannot file representations for unfair dismissal at the Industrial Court.

In early 2019, Loh reported Grab to the industrial relations department, claiming she was unfairly removed from the platform following a dispute with a passenger at Senai International Airport, Johor, in November 2018. - FMT