KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has set Nov 24 to decide on an application by the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) to strike out a defamation suit against it by Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank).
High Court judge Justice V.T. Singham set the date when the case was called up yesterday.
NUBE is applying to strike out the suit on grounds that it has absolute immunity as a trade union.
It also contends it could not be sued for defamation.
In its suit filed on April 22, which named NUBE and its general-secretary J. Solomon as defendants, Maybank claimed that in February or March this year, Solomon, acting on his own behalf and the union, had published and/or caused to be published articles containing defamatory statements of the plaintiff on the website, www.nube.org.my.
It claimed the statements meant that the plaintiff had conducted its affairs in a dishonest manner by seeking to use funds for the sole benefit of its senior management at the expense of, and in total disregard for, its employees.
In the court papers filed for the application, NUBE contended that the statements were related to an on-going trade dispute between the bank and the union related to alleged lack of, or insufficient, performance bonus for the bank's lower-level staff.
The dispute has been going on since 2009.
However, the defendants stated, the plaintiff had denied the existence of a trade dispute.
NUBE lead counsel Alex De Silva said Maybank lawyers want to file further submissions over the application.
He argued Section 22(1) of the Trade Unions Act 1959 gave NUBE and Solomon absolute immunity against the defamation claim.
He applied to the court to use its discretion to strike out the action on the grounds it was a plain and obvious claim to be dismissed.
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