The Industrial Court has ordered Perak FC Sdn Bhd to pay RM1.04 million in compensation to former head coach Lim Teong Kim for unfair dismissal.
Court chairman D Paramalingam said the sum was calculated based on the remaining 16 months of Lim’s fixed two-year contract, which was terminated prematurely on May 24, 2023, just eight months into his tenure.
As claimant, Lim will receive RM1,040,000, based on his agreed monthly salary of RM65,000.
“There can be no reinstatement under the circumstances as the said contract had come to an end by effluxion of time,” Paramalingam said in a 60-page award released this week.
He said Perak FC’s decision to terminate Lim’s contract in mid-season over the team’s poor performance was premature, unjustified, and driven by commercial concerns.
Paramalingam also found that the company’s finances had been impacted by Perak FC’s “dwindling fortunes” even before Lim’s appointment.
“When the company appointed Lim, they were well aware that it was going to be a long and arduous task of restoring glory to Perak football. They sacked him even before he could fully produce the results,” he said.
Paramalingam said the management had “nitpicked” on Lim’s efforts to instil discipline in his players.
He also ruled that the allegations of misconduct levelled against Lim were not serious enough to warrant termination.
“A final warning was given and Lim was instructed to issue a public apology to the media,” he said, noting that the claimant duly complied with the directive.
“However, the company revisited the same issues raised as grounds for termination.”
This was despite the termination letter citing only the team’s unsatisfactory performance as grounds for dismissal.
“This is quite entirely separate and distinct from the company’s earlier allegations that the claimant had misconducted himself in front of the press and supporters,” the award read.
Paramalingam said the company’s actions in revisiting the misconduct allegations amounted to double punishment.
“The company’s action of imposing double punishment ought to be struck down as being inequitable and unconscionable,” he said.
Paramalingam also noted that the company had made unrealistic demands on the claimant despite setting aside a limited budget for the team’s rebuilding phase.
Tensions escalated when some members of the team’s management orchestrated a players’ mutiny by secretly gathering complaints against Lim at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on April 11, 2023.
“Some of the management team members had elicited a list of complaints from the players with the sole intention of getting negative feedback against Lim,” the award read, adding that this was done to drive the claimant out of Perak FC.
“That is what the company chose to do when they could no longer find any fault with Lim after he heeded their final warning,” he said.
Lim, 61, a former professional footballer, was capped 60 times by the national team between 1982 and 1996.
He has had over two decades of coaching experience, including a long stint with the youth team at Bayern Munich that ran from 2000 to 2012.
He also served as director of Malaysia’s National Football Development Programme and coached the national U-16 team.
Lim was represented by lawyers Edward Andrew Saw and Jerry Low, while Weera Premananda appeared for Perak FC.
