KUALA LUMPUR: An employee of a Malaysian business and current affairs radio station testified at the Industrial Court here today that he was informed about the sexual harassment occurrences at the station by the alleged victims.
Yee Wei Keat, who works for BFM 89.9, said the alleged victims informed him about it, and he read an anonymous letter detailing the sexual harassment incidents at the station which was circulated via email in late 2018.
Yee was testifying in the hearing of former BFM presenter Umapagan Ampikaipakan’s suit against BFM Media Sdn Bhd over unfair dismissal from the radio station.
During cross examination by the claimant's (Umapagan) counsel P. Jayasingam, Yee said an intern had told him that she received texts from the claimant late at night asking her “to do things”.
When asked how he knew whether the text was from Umapagan, the witness said he was informed so, adding that he did not witness any of the incidents but was informed about it by the alleged victims.
Yee also said he was relaying information that he heard to the investigators when asked if he had accused the claimant of sex-texting the victims.
"I informed the investigators of the incidents as part of a fact-finding mission by the team," he said.
Only the cross-examination part of the proceedings was held publicly while the rest of the proceeding was held in camera.
Yee had also refused to name the people who informed him about the sexual harassment incidents in the station, saying that it was a sensitive matter.
Counsel P. Thavaselvi also represented the claimant while counsels H. C. Yong and S. Sivagami appeared for BFM Media.
Hearing continues on March 19 before chairman of the Industrial Court K. Rajeswari.
In the suit, Umapagan is seeking reinstatement and compensation over unfair dismissal after he was alleged of sexually harassing colleagues in the office.
The radio station had on Jan 7 last year announced that it had sacked two employees following allegations of sexual harassment.
It started when a letter purportedly written by an employee at the station was widely circulated via email late 2018. The letter was later made public.
In the letter, the anonymous writer, among others, claimed that two of the company’s influential men had been texting women in the station and sexually harassing them.