51ÁÔÆæ

• The Respondent¡¯s motion for summary judgment was granted.
• The application was dismissed in its entirety as not receivable.

The Tribunal held:

a. The evidence demonstrated that the Applicant was not credible, particularly in his denial of misconduct during the incident in the Complainant¡¯s container.

b. The facts upon which the disciplinary measure was based had been established by clear and convincing evidence.

c. The established facts about the Applicant¡¯s behaviour in the Complainant¡¯s container room that evening amounted to misconduct.

d. The disciplinary sanction imposed on the Applicant was proportionate.

e. The Applicant's due process rights were not violated during the UNHCR Inspector General¡¯s Office ...

The Appeals Tribunal found that Ms. Prodanovic had met the criteria for a continuing appointment and that under the applicable legal framework, the award of a continuing appointment was not subject to the Secretary-General's discretion. The UNDT therefore correctly held that the decision not to grant her a continuing appointment was unlawful.

The Appeals Tribunal however found that the granting of a continuing appointment was not an "appointment" for the purpose of Article 10(5)(a) of the UNDT Statute, and that the UNDT had erred in awarding in-lieu compensation.

The Appeals Tribunal...

The Appeals Tribunal found that the UNDT correctly concluded that the Administration¡¯s stated reason for the non-renewal was supported by the facts, i.e. the expiration of a grant that funded Mr. Musambai's appointment. Furthermore, the UNDT correctly held that, once the Administration substantiated the reason it gave for the exercise of its discretion, the burden shifted to Mr. Musambai to demonstrate that the decision was unreasonable, unfair, procedurally irregular, or tainted by improper motive.

Turning to Mr. Musambai¡¯s argument that other staff members continued receiving salaries...

The UNAT held that the UNDT committed no error in its conduct of the hearing.In this regard, the UNAT observed that UNICEF Uganda was requested to provide a suitable venue from which the UNDT Judge could conduct the hearing solely for connectivity reasons, and that the Secretary-General¡¯s counsel participated from the United Kingdom and was therefore, contrary to the former staff member¡¯s contention, not in proximity to the Judge.It further found that the fact that the Judge did not keep her camera on at all times during the hearing did not demonstrate that she was not appropriately...

The Appeals Tribunal found that the mobility allowance serves as an incentive to encourage movement of staff members to field duty stations in accordance with the Organization¡¯s needs and it is not, as the UNDT found, designed to cover the actual costs of relocation and living in a particular duty station. However, UNISFA, did conduct, as instructed, a new recruitment exercise which allowed Mr. Oppal to compete again. The Appeals Tribunal concluded that since Mr. Oppal did not apply for the re-advertised position thereby choosing to give up the opportunity to receive the mobility incentive...

The staff member based in Geneva applied for the post in Suva, Fiji, and was offered the temporary appointment as a result. After many rounds of communications regarding the date of reporting for duty, the Administration informed him that his suggested date was not acceptable, and it was proceeding to contact the next candidate.

The UNAT noted that the offer of appointment had specified that it was ¡°for an initial period effective as soon as possible to 31 December 2024¡±. The UNAT found that by unconditionally accepting the offer of appointment, the staff member was in a quasi-contractual...

The UNAT found that in the absence of an express mandate in the legal framework that a continuing appointment can be extended or a staff member be re-instated for the purpose of utilizing sick leave, Mr. Iacovino¡¯s entitlement to sick leave ceased on the date specified in his termination letter, 31 December 2023. The UNAT recognized that pursuant to ST/AI/2005/3, staff on fixed-term appointments may be granted an extension to utilize an entitlement to sick leave, but there is no analogous rule applicable to staff serving on a continuing appointment, much less to staff whose appointments have...

The Appeals Tribunal considered that Mr. Egenhoff had failed to disclose his conflict of interest, he had failed to recuse himself from the procurement exercise, and he had repeatedly shared confidential information with AH. This conduct was intentional; it occurred over a prolonged period and was not in the interest of the United Nations. Moreover, Mr. Egenhoff was in a position of significant responsibility and as such, he was supposed to be a role model for the staff members he supervised. Considering other factors, Mr. Egenhoff had no prior disciplinary record, and there was no evidence of...

The Appeals Tribunal held that the UNDT correctly found that the decision to recover a portion of Mr. Kulga¡¯s Home Leave lump sum was lawful.

As to the costs awarded against Mr. Kulga, the Appeals Tribunal found that the UNDT erred in finding Mr. Kulga¡¯s application to be frivolous as it was not unreasonable for Mr. Kulga to consider that a further challenge to the UNDT could assist him, especially after his management evaluation challenge had been partially successful. In addition, the UNDT¡¯s finding that Mr. Kulga repeatedly lied to the Administration over six months in seeking to obtain...