51ÁÔÆæ

UNAT held that the decision to separate the Applicant was arbitrary, discriminatory, constituted an abuse of authority, and was unlawful. UNAT held that UNDT was not obliged to set an in-lieu compensation amount, as the decision concerned a lateral transfer, not an appointment, promotion, or termination. UNAT upheld UNDT¡¯s finding that Ms. Koduru¡¯s testimony was not compelling enough to serve as a basis for an award of moral damages. UNAT rejected Ms. Koduru¡¯s request for costs. UNDT dismissed the appeal and the cross-appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.
Accountability referral: The UNAT...

There was no basis for inferring the non-renewal was due to irrelevant or improper considerations. Both the applicant and the DCD believed they were telling the truth; their different perspectives simply led them to a different understanding of what had been said. Outcome: The appeal dismissed.

The Tribunal is satisfied by the evidence tendered before it in respect of the Applicant¡¯s chronic absences. The Tribunal is not convinced that the reasons proffered by the Applicant to explain his unauthorized absences were beyond his control. The Tribunal considers that the Applicant was given ample opportunity to address this performance shortcoming. The Tribunal is satisfied, in consideration of the requirements of section 8.3 of ST/AI/2002/3, that the ICTR Administration had taken steps to rectify the situation in respect of the Applicant¡¯s chronic absenteeism.

The Tribunal finds that both appraisal processes are tainted with procedural flaws. The first performance appraisal did not result in new ratings being given by the rebuttal panel. The second performance appraisal was based in part on the earlier assessment and it did not give sufficient time to the Applicant to improve his performance. Though the Administration is not bound to apply administrative instruction ST/AI/2002/3 to evaluate the performance of 300 series staff members, once it has decided to apply the administrative instruction, the latter must be fully complied with. In the present...

When attempting to establish a pattern of retaliation with regard to past decisions, the question is one of the relevance of those decisions, not receivability. Whether or not the SGB on retaliation was in force at the time an act or decision took place, the act or decision can still be considered retaliatory and constitute serious misconduct. The burden on the respondent of proving ¡°by clear and convincing evidence¡± in respect of decisions made before the provision came into effect that ¡°it would have taken the same action absent the protected activity¡± (ST/SGB/2005/21) applies to decisions...

The Organization cannot with propriety resort to reliance on particular provisions in its Rules and Regulations which were arguably inconsistent with a representation merely because the Rules and Regulations are referred to as a whole in the Letter of Appointment. Not only was the respondent in breach of its contract with the applicant by deciding arbitrarily and capriciously not to renew his contract (as had been admitted) but it was in breach of the contract by not renewing it in accordance with the undertaking to do so if the applicant¡¯s performance was satisfactory. The applicant¡¯s...

The Tribunal found that the performance appraisal followed by the rebuttal process had been done in respect of the rules and procedures applicable to UNDP. Based on the documentary evidence, it was the view of the Tribunal that, as a matter of fact, the Management went out of his way to afford the Applicant with as much latitude as possible to comment and challenge the rating of ¡°partially met expectations¡±. With regards to the Applicant¡¯s allegations of harassment, retaliation and discrimination, the Tribunal found that both the UNDP Ethics Office and the UN Central Ethics Office followed the...

It results from ST/AI/2002/3 that the administration is entitled not to renew the FTA of a staff member whose performance was rated ¡°does not meet performance expectations¡±, on the mere grounds of the staff member¡¯s bad performance. It further results from ST/AI/2002/3 that in case the staff member¡¯s performance was rated ¡°partially meets performance expectations¡±, the administration is obliged to apply measures which allow the staff member to improve his/her performance, before it can decide on the non-renewal of the staff member¡¯s FTA on the basis of bad performance. In the present case, the...

No expectancy of renewal. Fixed-term contracts, such as the Applicant¡¯s in the present case, do not carry an expectancy of renewal, but a decision not to renew a contract may not be tainted by ulterior motives or extraneous considerations and reasons must be properly be supported by facts. Exception. While exceptions to the staff rules may be made, an exception would not be justified in the Applicant¡¯s case, because the Post that the Applicant¡¯s appointment was budgeted against had been filled by another staff member on a regular contract. Accordingly, with the Post no longer being vacant, the...

The Tribunal held that the presence of bad faith in some of the Respondent¡¯s actions concerning the Applicant stood out in bold relief. There was no doubt that the bad blood between the Applicant and her immediate supervisor created a ripple effect and alienated her from the Chief of ICTS. The testimony on why and how the recruitment process for VA 421846 had to be overhauled clearly reflected a blatant manipulation of the selection process set out in ST/AI/2006/3; a subversion and clear breach of United Nations Staff Rules. The Applicant did not make out a case with regard to her allegations...