Shares in Top Glove dropped 13 cents or 5.7% to $2.15 on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) as at 9.57am after a Reuters report revealed that the company fired an employee for sharing photos of fellow employees crowding into one of its factories in May.
The company’s shares similarly dropped to RM6.40 ($2.11) at around 9.55am on Bursa Malaysia.
The last time shares in Top Glove closed below this level on the SGX was on Sept 10, at $2.13.
The report, which was published on Dec 13, stated that a Top Glove employee sent the photos to a workers’ rights campaigner in his native Nepal. The campaigner subsequently sent the photos to Top Glove and the Malaysian government without revealing the photographer’s identity.
See: Top Glove's share price falls on factory closure news; buys back more shares
On Sept 23, Top Glove sent the employee a letter to terminate his employment for sharing the photos. According to a letter seen by Reuters, the company managed to identify him through the CCTV coverage of workers entering the factory.
On Nov 23, Top Glove announced that it will be temporarily closing 28 of its factories as 2,453 of its workers tested positive for Covid-19.
The company also told Reuters that it had resolved the matter with the employee “amicably”. It, however, declined to comment further on the issues raised, along with a complaint from the workers’ rights campaigner, Andy Hall.
As at 11.17am, shares in Top Glove are trading 10 cents lower or 4.4% down at $2.18.
