The Application was granted in part.
The Tribunal rescinded the disciplinary measure of separation from service imposed on the Applicant, and ordered reinstatement or, in the alternative, compensation in lieu, calculated at two (2) year’s net base salary.
In all other respects, the Respondent’s decision is AFFIRMED and the Applicant’s prayers refused.
Receivability
The Applicant alleged that she was required to work during July and August 2022, before the beginning of her appointment, on the assurances that she would be compensated for the said period. However, she did not receive such compensation.
First, the Tribunal noted that the Applicant was not a staff member in July and August 2022, when she claims that she was required to work as her appointment with UNDP only started on 1 September 2022. Therefore, the Applicant had no standing to contest such a decision at the time.
Second, even considering that the Applicant could have contested...
The Tribunal reviewed the evidence on record and the reasons provided by the Respondent for not selecting the Applicant and concluded that based on the information provided by the Applicant, the Respondent’s decision not to select him cannot be faulted as being unfair. The Applicant did not have the CIPS level 2 certification that was a mandatory requirement for the position, and he did not prove that he had two years of progressive experience in procurement management.
Furthermore, the Applicant’s suggestion in his submissions that the selection panel ought not to have relied only on his...
The UNAT noted that the UNDT had not erred when it established that the staff member had improperly used his employer-issued laptop to access sexually-explicit websites and engaged in multiple instances of unauthorized outside activities. The UNAT held that he had not obtained approval to continue being the majority shareholder and director of a company.
The UNAT was of the view that the UNDT had not erred when it found that the staff member’s activity constituted misconduct. The UNAT found that his contributions to the overall running of the business were material. The UNAT agreed with the...
The Tribunal held:
a. Any postponement in issuing the Applicant's separation information to the Pension Fund could be justified only to a reasonable timeframe; the indefinite protraction of an investigation would violate a staff member’s contractual rights to have his final entitlement paid and also the right to a timely definition of any eventual disciplinary process against him/her.
b. The prolonged duration of the investigation did not warrant the withholding of the Applicant's final payment and pension for such a long time, considering the ordinary function for the said entitlements in...
Considering the lack of any direct evidence before the Tribunal as the alleged victim declined to provide witness testimony, it found that the Respondent had not managed to prove with clear and convincing evidence, or even with the preponderance of evidence, the factual allegations leading to the USG/DMSPC’s conclusion that the Applicant had sexually harassed her. In the same vein, the Respondent also failed to demonstrate that the Applicant created a hostile work environment for her.
Whereas the Applicant’s actions and behavior were not up to the standard to be expected of a supervisor...
The UNAT held that, Mr. Lago’s reliance on additional evidence without filing a motion, was inadmissible.
The UNAT confirmed that, there was no evidence that a specific request for an occupational health evaluation, made by Mr. Lago, in an individual capacity to an appropriate official, was refused or ignored. Additionally, Mr. Lago’s requests mirrored his persistent attempts to challenge a perceived wrong, which on its own cannot be perceived as an implied administrative decision.
The UNAT concluded that, in the absence of any evidence of a clear request capable of giving rise to an...
The UNAT held that, since Mr. Nigam based his interlocutory appeal on alleged errors of fact and law by the UNDT Judge President, with no allegation of the UNDT acting extra-jurisdictionally or similarly in excess of its jurisdiction, he must wait to exercise his right of appeal until a final decision has been made.
The UNAT concluded that an earlier UNDT Judgment contained neither any indication of bias by Judge Belle against Mr. Nigam, nor any criticism beyond what a reasonably informed observer might expect from a partly erroneous judgment and its subsequent appellate review.
The UNAT...
The Tribunal finds that the application is not receivable ratione materiae because the Applicant, by his own admission, failed to request management evaluation of the contested decisions.
The UNAT specified that the sole issue was whether the applicant, a former staff member, had presented a new and decisive fact that was unknown to him and the Appeals Tribunal when the prior UNAT Judgment was decided, and that this fact would have materially impacted the outcome of that Judgment.
The UNAT reviewed the documents submitted by the former staff member and concluded that they were all known to him prior to the issuance of the UNAT Judgment. The former staff member essentially repeated or added to the same arguments he made in his original appeal, and the UNAT had already...
