IT company manager admits to hurting and abusing worker

[Callisto]

IT company manager admits to hurting and abusing worker

Lee Yew Nam admitted to four of six charges of hurting his employee. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Aug 18, 2015, 1:38 pm SGT
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

SINGAPORE - An information technology company manager whose assault on his employee went viral on YouTube and caused a public uproar pleaded guilty on Tuesday.

Lee Yew Nam, of Encore eServices, admitted to four of six charges of hurting Mr Calvin Chan Meng Hock, 31, at the Jurong Town Hall Road office.

The court heard that other than his wife, Lee did not have any permanent employees. He would hire interns from universities and polytechnics to do the work.

Mr Chan was paid $500 a month in 2010 as an intern for six months. After that, he continued to work in the company on the same pay.

Investigations revealed that Lee would sometimes physically assault Mr Chan for mistakes that he made at work, and would also scold him with vulgarities.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Ong said sometime in January 2013, Lee felt that Mr Chan had not arranged the software files in the computer neatly and slapped him.


The following month, he punched Mr Chan on the face a few times and pushed him, causing him to lose his balance and fall off the chair. He had felt that Mr Chan had not answered a customer's request correctly.

On May 14 that year, Lee reprimanded the victim for failing to comply with his instructions to delete some files in the database.

When the victim said he had forgotten, Lee grabbed his chin and pulled it back with force. Lee told him: "Look carefully again, go through the folders and delete all the files that need to be deleted. Remember not to do this again."

The next day, Lee questioned the victim about his work. Not satisfied with his explanation, Lee became increasingly agitated and started to shout at him.

Lee threw a punch at Mr Chan's head. Another intern at the time, Mr Amos Yeo, 25, asked Lee to calm down. But Lee continued to scold Mr Chan before slapping him three times on the face.

Mr Yeo had recorded a video of the incident with his mobile phone, and subsequently uploaded it on YouTube.

The case was adjourned to Sept 14.

The maximum punishment for causing hurt is two years' jail and a $5,000 fine.

 

[SFN3344T]

i remember this news from years ago, now then finally get charged?

 

[FishLeong]

Took so long.... Knn court so busy?

 

[Callisto]

IT company boss gets short detention order for hurting and abusing worker

Lee Yew Nam (above) had admitted to four charges of causing hurt to Mr Calvin Chan Meng Hock.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Apr 1, 2016, 3:04 pm SGT

Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

SINGAPORE - An IT company manager was sentenced on Friday (April 1) to a 10-day short detention order - a community sentence that carries no criminal record - for hurting and abusing his intern.

Lee Yew Nam, 45, had admitted to four charges of causing hurt to Mr Calvin Chan Meng Hock, now 32, at his Jurong Town Hall Road office in 2013. Two other charges were taken into consideration.

In proceedings before Friday, the court had heard in mitigation that Lee suffered from a major depressive disorder. However, expert witnesses agreed that the disorder is not an impulse control disorder and that Lee had control over how he reacts even in stressful situations.

District Judge Lim Tse Haw said he was prepared to accept that Lee was suffering from some form of depressive disorder. But he could not ignore the fact that what the manager of Encore E-Services had done was serious.

Lee Yew Nam admitted to four of six charges of hurting his employee.

The judge said: "As a responsible employer, he has a duty to have regard for the well-being and welfare of his employees.

"Instead, he subjected the victim to physical hurt and verbal abuse on numerous occasions from January to May of 2013."

He sentenced Lee to short detention order after finding insufficient cause to call for a mandatory treatment order report.

He agreed with the prosecution that employees, in particular those in the lower rank positions, are vulnerable and need to be protected from violence or abuse by employers.

He noted that the hurt caused and abuse inflicted in this case were not isolated. It started on one occasion sometime between July 2010 and January 2011, and continued on another five occasions in 2013.

Singapore office bully caught on video

The abuse came to light only when a fellow intern secretly recorded the incident on May 15, 2013, using his mobile phone. The video showed Lee punching Mr Chan.

The judge said: "A strong message must be conveyed to all employers that such brutish behaviour has no place in our civilised society.

"It must be made clear to all employers that an employee, no matter how low his position in the company is, is an important member of the company and not a punching bag, not even for stressed out employers."

Defence counsel Sunil Sudheesan and Diana Ngiam had said in mitigation that Lee suffered from major depressive disorder that contributed to his offending behaviour. Thus, treatment should have been the primary focus for him.

Lee, who was allowed to defer sentence until April 8, could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000 per charge.