{
  "id": 11555691,
  "title": "High Court rules payroll agent not liable in wrongful dismissal claim",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/high-court-rules-payroll-agent-not-liable-in-wrongful-dismissal-claim",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-02T23:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/10/03/high-court-rules-payroll-agent-not-liable-in-wrongful-dismissal-claim"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Kuala Lumpur High Court recently dismissed a wrongful dismissal claim brought by Chin Siang Tean against Great Pyramid Sdn Bhd, with costs amounting to RM5,000. The ruling, handed down by Justice Alice Loke, affirms an earlier decision made by the Industrial Court. Loke ruled that Great Pyramid Sdn Bhd, the local recruitment agency, was not Chin's employer and therefore had no authority over her dismissal. The court found that Chin's actual employer was GenScript Biotech Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company. Justice Loke stated that the recruitment agency merely acted as a payroll agent, with no supervisory or disciplinary authority. She confirmed that there was no employer-employee relationship between Chin and Great Pyramid. Chin had initially accepted an offer letter from GenScript and another from Great Pyramid, but signed an employment contract only with the latter. She claimed she was directly under GenScript's control, despite the termination letter being issued by Great Pyramid. The employment contract did not specify that Great Pyramid was merely a payroll vendor. Great Pyramid argued that GenScript was the real employer, while they were a payroll service provider. The court granted Chin a one-month period to file an appeal to the Court of Appeal, following the decision date. Both sides were represented by lawyers Bhavanash Sharma for Great Pyramid and Yeo Jie Hu for Chin.",
  "summary": "Justice Alice Loke rules the company merely acted as a local payroll agent and had no supervisory or disciplinary authority.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "High Court rules payroll agent not liable in wrongful dismissal claim",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/high-court-rules-payroll-agent-not-liable-in-wrongful-dismissal-claim-11557239",
        "published": "2026-10-02T23:30:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}