Entrepreneur Wins Lawsuit Against Actress, Awarded RM250,000 In Damages

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- The High Court here ordered an actress, Rafidah Ibrahim, to pay RM250,000 to an entrepreneur and his company over her allegations that they refused to pay her for her work three years ago.

High Court Judge Dr John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan Lee said Datuk Haris Embong, 47, and his company Arisprop Holdings Sdn Bhd, had successfully proven their lawsuit against Rafidah, 38.

In his judgment, Lee said the court found the defendant's second post on social media defamatory as the words she used exposed the plaintiffs to hatred, contempt, or ridicule.

"The court found that the post implied that the company had taken advantage of the defendant (Rafidah) by refusing to pay her for her work, during which time she was the company's marketing head.

"The defendant's statements gave readers the impression that the company was unethical, exploiting or using someone's services without payment, lacking integrity, and that the company's business was not righteous," he said. 

Lee said the defendant used words that demeaned the plaintiffs' dignity in the public's eyes and encouraged readers to distance themselves from them.

Additionally, Lee stated that the court found the defendant's first social media post, alleging that the plaintiffs were unethical, lacking integrity, and despicable, was not defamatory, although the words she used could be interpreted as having defamatory implications.

"The court found that the first plaintiff (Haris) failed to prove that the defendant was referring to him in the post. Therefore, the first plaintiff failed to establish all the elements of defamation for that post," he said.

The judge then ordered Rafidah to pay RM100,000 in damages to the first plaintiff and RM150,000 to the second plaintiff (Arisprop Holdings), as well as RM30,000 in legal costs to both.

The court also issued an injunction to prevent the actress, whether through herself, her staff, or agents, from publishing or causing the publication of defamatory statements against the plaintiffs.

The court also dismissed the counterclaim filed by Rafidah against the plaintiffs, which sought RM4,000 for unpaid wages for August 2021 and RM3,550 for facilities costs agreed on in her appointment contract.

Lawyers Joycelyn Goh and Foo Hong Chuen, who appeared for the plaintiffs, and Noorhafidzah Abd Rahim, who represented Rafidah, attended the proceedings.

Meanwhile, Haris told reporters that the public had vilified him and his company, and they were in a state of 'darkness' as people viewed his business with suspicion due to the allegations.

"Initially, I did not want to take action against her and tried to contact her to remove the posts but she told me to speak to her lawyer," he added.

Noorhafidzah said they would file an appeal against the decision soon.

In the lawsuit filed in October 2021, Haris claimed that Rafidah, who is also a social media influencer, posted the two statements on her Facebook on Sept 21, 2021, and Oct 18, 2021.

-- BERNAMA