Aug 17, 2010
Govt concedes breach of contract
But lawyers say ex-civil servant sacked in 1998 not entitled to
reinstatement and back pay
By Selina Lum
A 54-YEAR-OLD former civil servant, fighting her 1998
sacking, finally had her day in court yesterday – with the
Government conceding that it was in breach of its employment
contract.
But the State’s lawyers argued that Madam Linda Lai Swee
Lin is not entitled to what she wants – her reinstatement and back
pay effective from the date of her sacking.
Madam Lai was dismissed from her job as a senior officer
at the Land Office of the Law Ministry in December 1998.
Yesterday, Senior State Counsel Phua Wee Chuan said the
Government admitted that proper procedures were not followed
then.
This was because Madam Lai, who has a master’s degree in
law, was not informed in writing of any adverse report against her.
She had also not been told before her probation period ended in
November 1997 that it would be extended.
This went against the procedures found in government
instruction manuals that formed her employment contract.
But he pointed out that had proper procedures been
followed, the Government would have been entitled to terminate her
contract anyway, without giving any reason. She could have been
dismissed by being given either a month’s notice or a month’s
pay.
Counsel noted that since 2005, the Government had taken
steps to settle the dispute with Madam Lai, who rejected offers of
an amicable settlement. In March last year, an offer of six months
of her last-drawn salary was also turned down.
Madam Lai, now a housewife, has been fighting for a decade
with a series of legal actions to get back her job. In January
2000, she started proceedings against the Public Service
Commission, seeking judicial review of her dismissal, which she
claimed was because she exposed her superiors’ incompetence.
In 2001, the Court of Appeal ruled that the courts could
not intervene and it was a contractual dispute between her and her
employer – a decision Madam Lai yesterday criticised as
‘egregious’.
In 2004, she sued the Government for wrongful dismissal
and, after a string of legal moves, the suit was deemed
discontinued when she took no further action. But last year, the
Court of Appeal allowed her to resurrect the suit.
Yesterday, the State urged Justice Lai Siu Chiu to dismiss
Madam Lai’s suit on preliminary issues. Justice Lai, noting the
‘long journey’ taken by Madam Lai, gave her three days to hear the
merits of her case, reminding her that she would incur court fees
from the fourth.
Madam Lai also cross-examined her former superior Liew
Choon Boon. She blamed him for not telling her that she had got a
bad appraisal, but Mr Liew said he supervised her only for the
first six months and was not aware of the subsequent appraisal.
