Federal Court reserves judgment on when firms can join dismissal cases

The Federal Court has reserved judgment on the criteria for incorporating companies into Industrial Court proceedings concerning workers' dismissals. Twenty-one workers who were retrenched by Hub Shipping and EM Shipping in 2015 filed a case, which was allowed by the Industrial Court to substitute Hubline as the parent company and to join a related company, Highline Shipping. However, the Court of Appeal later overturned the Industrial Court's decision.

Lawyer Muhendaran Suppiah, representing the workers, argued that the Court of Appeal had misapplied the test, which requires only a reasonable nexus between a proposed party and the dispute. He pointed out that evidence of common ownership, directors, and shared company resources should not negate the possibility of responsibility. Hub Shipping's winding-up in 2016 further weakened the connection between Hubline and the workers' dismissals.

Hubline and Highline's legal representatives disagreed, stating they had correctly applied the test, which requires evidence of a legal and factual connection between the proposed joinee and the dispute. They argued that corporate group membership alone does not establish such a nexus and that the workers' own documents identified their employers. Hub Shipping's winding-up, they claimed, does not create a sufficient nexus for potential liability.

A bench of three judges, led by Justice Rhodzariah Bujang, reserved the judgment without providing a specific reason.