SMRT employee to face ‘disciplinary proceedings’ for holding secondary employment
An SMRT employee who moonlighted as a Grab driver sought over S$75,000 in damages for a car accident.
He ended up receiving less than half of the sum.
In addition, SMRT will also commence disciplinary actions against the man as he had taken on the side job without seeking approval from the transport operator.
SMRT employee had been rear-ended while driving for Grab in 2022
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the SMRT employee, Mr Ja’afar Abdul Samad, had stopped at a red light along Yishun Avenue 5 in the early hours of 19 Jan 2022.
Source: Google Maps. For illustration purposes only.
The defendant, Mr Lim Zhen Xiang, had stopped behind Mr Ja’afar, but accidentally released his car’s brake as he dozed off.
This resulted in Mr Lim’s car rolling forward into Mr Ja’afar’s vehicle in what the former called “a minor collision”.
Mr Ja’afar did not dispute the version of events presented by Mr Lim, nor the photos he provided.
Taking full responsibility for the accident, Mr Lim agreed to pay Mr Ja’afar S$972.88 for repair costs and S$420 for Mr Ja’afar’s loss of use of the vehicle.
Judge finds incident to be of ‘low impact’
Mr Ja’afar also sued for general damages:
- Pain and suffering and loss of amenities amounting to S$32,000
- Loss of earning capacity amounting to S$15,000
- Future medical expenses, treatments, and special damages amounting to S$28,000
In total, he had sued for S$75,000.
District Judge Georgina Lum accepted that the contact between vehicles was too light to have forced Mr Ja’afar forward in his seat. Neither could it have sent the vehicle surging forward.
Judge Lum also pointed out that photographs showed no obvious damage to both vehicles.
These factors, as well as others taken into consideration, pointed to the accident being “one of low impact”, reported CNA.
Though it could not be proved that Mr Ja’afar’s injuries were not degenerative, he was awarded S$5,500 for minor shoulder, neck, and back strain.
SMRT employee claimed injury adversely affected performance at work
Mr Ja’afar had claimed that his right shoulder injury had badly impacted his performance in both jobs.
Adding that he would be disadvantaged if he lost either job, he claimed for loss of earning capacity.
Judge Lum pointed out that Mr Ja’afar had accepted on the stand that he had suffered no loss of earning capacity or ability to work.
He had even testified that he had continued working both jobs, with no complaints from SMRT.
He was even given pay raises and bonuses as usual from the transport operator.
Mr Ja’afar sought S$28,000 for future medical expenses.
Judge Lum declined to award any, saying Mr Ja’afar had failed to show the necessity of future surgery, noting his condition had even improved.
S$340 was awarded for his transport expenses to a hospital and polyclinic.
During his period of medical leave after the accident, Mr Ja’afar was paid his basic salary. But he missed out on overtime and related allowances he would have normally earned.
He was awarded S$5,351.36 for the allowances missed, reflected in the differences in his payslips.
SMRT employee sought S$33.7K in lost Grab earnings
Judge Lum rejected the sum of S$33,742.15 Mr Ja’afar sought as loss of earnings as a Grab driver.
He sought to claim what he argued he would have earned from the 216 days he was on medical leave — he claimed he would have driven Grab for 185 out of the 216 days.
Claiming he would have driven six days a week, Mr Ja’afar used two weeks’ worth of Grab income statements to argue he would have earned about S$182.39 per day.
The judge argued he could not base his average income on a mere two weeks, given his six years of experience on the job.
In addition, the supposed daily income was far higher than the annual income he had previously declared to IRAS.
He had reportedly declared earning S$18,000 as a Grab driver over 2019, and as little as S$7,107 over 2020.
No income had been declared from his Grab work in 2021 — he claimed he had earned less than S$20,000 that year from it.
Judge Lum stated she did not believe that was true. She pointed out how consistently he had declared income below S$20,000 in previous years to IRAS.
The inconsistencies meant the court could not calculate his loss of earnings as a Grab driver.
Mr Ja’afar was awarded S$5,500 in general damages, with another S$6,703.59 in special damages.
SMRT employee to face disciplinary proceedings for moonlighting
On Wednesday (Oct 15) night, SMRT published a Facebook post acknowledging CNA’s report on the case.
The transport operator said its employees are not allowed to take on secondary employment without prior disclosure or formal approval from their supervisors.
As Mr Ja’afar had contravened these policies, SMRT said it will commence disciplinary proceedings against him and impose “appropriate disciplinary actions”.
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Featured image adapted by MS News and adapted from SMRT.
