6 Dec 2019
Leave to appeal was granted because the plaintiff's appeal raised a real issue with a reasonable prospect of success, specifically that the effect of Employment Ordinance s32 on the defendant's asserted equitable set-off had not been considered in the earlier judgment and warranted appellate consideration.
23 Jun 2017
The Court dismissed the appeal because the unpaid sum of HK$24,640 constituted an unlawful deduction under section 32 of the Employment Ordinance: the defendant failed to establish that any statutory exception or valid written consent/agency existed to authorize the deduction or that the common law principle of payment to a third party displaced the statutory, exhaustive regime; the Tribunal's factual findings on credibility and documentary inconsistencies were upheld and any failure to investigate documentary material was immaterial to the statutory conclusion that the deduction was unlawful.