HOMECROWD SDN BHD Kevin Chew Tze Kenn

HOMECROWD SDN BHD Kevin Chew Tze Kenn

On the balance of probabilities the Defendant breached express contractual confidentiality obligations (Appendix II read with the Consultancy Agreement) and fiduciary duties by permitting unauthorised third‑party access to and revoking access from Plaintiff's GitLab repository and by committing files consistent with a Trojan/Backdoor under the Defendant's account; these breaches caused reliance losses which the Plaintiff proved with factual evidence and RM147,427.16 was awarded accordingly.

Citation
WA-12BCY-1-05/2024 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Parties
Appellant / Plaintiff: Homecrowd Sdn. Bhd.; Respondent / Defendant: Kevin Chew Tze Kenn
Court
High Court
Jurisdiction
Malaysia
Judgment Date
3 March 2025
Case Number
WA-12BCY-1-05/2024 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Appeal to the High Court From Sessions Court Decision
Outcome
Appeal allowed
Legal Topics
Breach of Contract, Confidential Information, Fiduciary Duty, Malware/trojan in Software Repository, Reliance Damages
Source Language
Malay/English
Contract Law Employment Law Confidential Information / Trade Secrets Fiduciary Duties Cybersecurity / Data Protection Breach of Contract Confidential Information Fiduciary Duty +2 more

Case Brief

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Parties

Homecrowd Sdn. Bhd.

Appellant / Plaintiff

Kevin Chew Tze Kenn

Respondent / Defendant

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal / Appeal to the High Court From Sessions Court Decision

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the Defendant breached the Consultancy Agreement and Appendix II by permitting unauthorised third‑party access to the Plaintiff's GitLab repository
  2. 2 Whether the Defendant owed and breached fiduciary duties to the Plaintiff
  3. 3 Whether a Trojan/Backdoor was intentionally embedded by the Defendant into the Plaintiff's repository

Ratio Decidendi

On the balance of probabilities the Defendant breached express contractual confidentiality obligations (Appendix II read with the Consultancy Agreement) and fiduciary duties by permitting unauthorised third‑party access to and revoking access from Plaintiff's GitLab repository and by committing files consistent with a Trojan/Backdoor under the Defendant's account; these breaches caused reliance losses which the Plaintiff proved with factual evidence and RM147,427.16 was awarded accordingly.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed

Orders

  • Judgment of the Sessions Court set aside
  • Appeal allowed with costs