Ex-exec ordered to pay company nearly RM120,000 for contract, data breach

Free Malaysia Today

24-04-2025

The High Court in George Town, Penang, ordered former senior marketing executive Ng Siew Phei to pay FP Stencil Sdn Bhd RM99,000 in damages, RM19,950 for hiring a forensic IT expert, and RM50,000 in costs.
PETALING JAYA : A former senior marketing executive was ordered by the High Court in George Town, Penang, to pay almost RM120,000 in damages to her former employer, a company involved in making computer chips, for breach of her employment contract.
Justice Anand Ponnudurai said FP Stencil Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of public-listed Foundpac Group Bhd, had proven that Ng Siew Phei had violated her contract and had engaged in some unlawful interference.
'The court is of the view that a sum of 18 months' salary as a global sum would be appropriate under all the circumstances,' he said in his broad oral grounds of judgment to allow the company's suit.
Eighteen months of Ng's salary of RM5,500 amounted to RM99,000.
The court also ordered Ng to pay FP Stencil RM19,950, being the amount incurred by the company to engage a forensic IT expert.
Ng, 43, was also ordered to pay the firm RM50,000 in costs.
The company had sued Ng on multiple grounds, including breaches of her employment contract, confidentiality, fiduciary duties and fidelity, unlawful interference with its business, as well as alleged misconduct committed before and/or during the termination of her employment.
Ng joined the company as a sales executive on Nov 1, 2013, but tendered her resignation with immediate effect on Aug 6, 2021, paying her employer RM11,000 in lieu of serving the notice period.
She joined a competitor, Ocular Stencil Sdn Bhd, on the same day.
On Aug 9, 2021, the company discovered a mass deletion of documents and emails from her work computer. There were also missing files in the shared work network accessed from the computer.
The plaintiff's human resources team also found that the mobile phone SIM card returned by Ng was scratched and had become non-functional.
The only documents left on Ng's desk were old and outdated purchase orders, which were insufficient for her successor to carry out her duties.
The company said that despite repeated requests and reminders, Ng had neglected or refused to do a proper handover of work and to return all the plaintiff's confidential information.
In late September 2023, the company, represented by Leonard Yeoh together with Chen Mei Yan and Sharon Teo of Tay & Partners, commenced its suit.
Counsel Beh Hong Shien and Khor Cindy acted for Ng.