Judgement?
I received the letter last week. I was appointed to be one of the panel members in a Domestic Inquiry (D.I) hearing, which was scheduled to be conducted today. The letter came just a week after I attended the Industrial Relation (I.R) course.
Obviously, this was my first time being a panel member in a D.I hearing. I was more nervous than a virgin on her wedding night. Worse, because a virgin already knows what to expect on her wedding night, loooong before she get married, but I don't.
OK, that was quite a naughty metaphor, but, it applies.
The appointment letter only stated the date, time and location of the D.I. No specifics or anything about the case to be heard, except for one statement - "The details of the case will be presented to you during the session."
The only thing I was certain of, is that the accused will be a non-executive staff. The rule says that the panel members must be at least one grade higher than the accused. My personal grade is an entry-level executive, so, it figures.
And there I was this morning... inside the pre-arranged room. Nervous.
There was a familiar gentleman in a complete suit, who later became the Chairman of the hearing. There was another guy, whom I've seen somewhere before, who was another panel member. The gentleman is actually a general manager and that guy is an executive handling I.R cases in one of our Company's subsidiaries.
The general manager is undeniably very experienced in this sort of activities.
The other guy; well, this was only his third time being a panel member in a D.I hearing. Most of the time, he is the presenting officer (P.O) - at least in seven cases before this.
And then, there was me... the nervous virgin.
All parties arrived on schedule.
I was surprised when I realised that the P.O for this case was actually the facilitator of the D.I topic during my I.R course two weeks ago. Regardless, I believe I don't know her well enough to be bias towards the Company in this D.I hearing.
The accused is a technician, who has been working for the Company for the past 20 years. He was accompanied by a representative from the worker's union.
The charge was basically abuse of position by soliciting cash from a contractor. Of course, in actual, the charge was specific i.e. how much money, when, how and who, but you know I couldn't disclose that information here.
So, the hearing began. The P.O read the charge and the accused denied the allegation. The P.O brought four witnesses, while the accused seemed unsure on what was going on except that he kept denying every claims thrown against him.
The atmosphere was tensed. I was shaking, I think more than the accused or anyone else inside the room. It seemed like someone might lose his or her temper and start punching the other party at any point of time. One witness almost cried. The P.O seemed to almost lose her cool. The union's rep barged in a few times though he shouldn't be saying anything to the panel. Irrelevant stories came out here and there from the accused and the witnesses - both saying the other bad.
I was sweating. I was trying very hard to focus on the evidents and facts of the case while scribbling now and then whenever I heard something from either party which I believe should be considered in coming to a conclusion later. I nervously asked a few questions to clarify a few things. Once in a while, I glimpsed at the Chairman. Surprisingly, his facial expression showed only boredom, if any. Obviously, he is so used to this kind of situations.
Slightly less than four hours later, the accused finally made his closing statement which ended the D.I hearing. The panel members now have to make the conclusion - guilty or not guilty.
Whatever the conclusion is, two things were on the line - the accused's job and the Company's reputation. Now I know why those civil court judges deserve to receive their 'Datuk' and 'Tan Sri' title from the King. I can actually feel that burden of making a fair judgement based on the facts, evidents and arguement present.
Of course, you realize that I'm exageratting, don't you?
Nevertheless, I'm thankful that the conclusion was done collectively with the Chairman and the other panel member. We agreed unanimously on the verdict of the case.
No, I can't tell you. Sorry.
p/s: The mating season comes again! Six wedding invitations - six different locations across Peninsular Malaysia, from Penang to JB, all on the same date. To whomever getting married this Saturday, congratulations and welcome to the club!
And yes, English class is back again...
