Chee Hoe & Associates

We are pleased to announce that our team, led by our Partner, Chee Hoe, Deyvinah and Chris Low has successfully argued and secured a landmark victory before the Court of Appeal in Mayland Supreme Sdn. Bhd. v Beh Li Wan & 22 Ors (and 9 other related appeals).

The Court of Appeal's decision establishes critical legal boundaries concerning the Minister's powers under Section 38C of the COVID-19 Temporary Measures Act (Act A1641) and Section 35 of Act 829.

Broad grounds can be downloaded from the link below:

STRATA AND HOUSING CASE UPDATES: COVID-19 EOT IS PRESERVED (Court of Appeal) - Chee Hoe & Associates A.Brief Facts

𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲’𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭? ✈️

We are pleased to share a landmark decision from the Court of Appeal in the case of our client, a former co-pilot with AirAsia.

The court's unanimous ruling clarifies a critical boundary in employment law:

The separate legal entity principle. The court held that a subsidiary cannot justify retrenchment based on the consolidated losses of its parent company without standalone financial proof of its own hardship.

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬:
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: A subsidiary’s financial health must be assessed on its own merits.

𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞: The court rightly noted that taking medical leave is a safety imperative—especially for pilots—not a performance failure to be used as a basis for dismissal.

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: Disregarding the "last-in, first-out" (LIFO) principle and failing to explore alternatives like retraining or unpaid leave demonstrates a lack of industrial fairness.

Justice for the employee was delayed, but ultimately not denied. Congratulations to the team, LAI CHEE HOE 赖志豪, Deyvinah Ganesalingam and Low Yen Hau, for their hard work on this case.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/04/14/ex-airasia-pilot-wins-final-appeal-over-wrongful-dismissal

airasia.th

CHA wishes that the light of Ramadan guide you through the year ahead :)