KUALA LUMPUR – The recent election of Joe Biden to America’s top political office was hailed as a breath of fresh air for the US, especially given his intention to pursue policies beneficial to workers, such as higher minimum wage.
However, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has taken the opportunity to flag up an irony in this matter in the firing of Malaysian security guard Subramaniam Letchimanan from the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
In an open letter to Biden, former deputy chairman and now current central committee member of PSM, S. Arutchelvan, said that Subramaniam, who worked at the embassy here for more than two decades, had fallen sick and sent his medical certificate (MC) to his supervisor on April 2, 2008.
Two days later, Subramaniam was told to return all work-related equipment and was terminated from his job.
He filed a claim for wrongful dismissal, with his case going all the way to the Court of Appeal, where he won.
Unfortunately for him, the star-spangled state filed an appeal to Malaysia’s apex court to overturn the decision.
“Mr President, I know you are busy with domestic issues, especially when this case is 15,328km away from the United States,” Arutchelvan said in an open letter, which was also raised to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and US ambassador to Malaysia Brian D. McFeeters.
“But I need to highlight how petty and arrogant the US government has been in dealing with a simple case of unlawful dismissal,” he added in the letter posted on his Facebook page yesterday.
He said the embassy was initially reluctant to entertain the case, citing diplomatic immunity, an excuse it continued to use all the way to the Court of Appeal.
He said that the court had ruled on February 3 this year that the nature of employment is a question of fact that can only be decided by the industrial court, and referred the matter to there to decide whether Subramaniam was dismissed with just cause or not.
On March 4 this year, the US government sought to challenge the Appeal Court’s landmark decision and take the case to the Federal Court.
“This is yet the latest attempt by the US government to frustrate Subramaniam’s attempt to get a day in court to discuss his dismissal, which has never been heard yet in any domestic inquiry or in any court to date,” Arutchelvan said.
He said the US government is seeking a certiorari order to quash the Malaysian human resources minister’s order July 12, 2018 to refer the case to the industrial court under Section 20 (3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 for wrongful dismissal.
“The pretext was that the US embassy was immune and applying for a declaration that they have immunity and cannot be taken to court,” he said in the open letter.
He went on to remind Biden that this is not a high-profile case such as that of Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi Arabian government who was murdered in the Saudi embassy in Turkey.
“Mr President, the only rightful thing to do is for the US government not to further delay this matter and, if possible, reinstate Subramaniam or pay whatever is due to him.
“The least is to allow him a day in court to argue his unlawful dismissal case. Mr President, it is not enough for the US to proclaim that they are the leader of the free world when workers rights are trampled on so unjustly?”
Biden won last year’s presidential election against incumbent Donald Trump.
Biden, who also served as vice-president during former president Barack Obama’s tenure is reportedly seeking to implement policies that will see better conditions for American workers. – The Vibes, March 7, 2021
