UNDT/2012/173, Mathias
The application was withdrawn by the Applicant in light of the amicable resolution of the matter.
The application was withdrawn by the Applicant in light of the amicable resolution of the matter.
The application was withdrawn by the Applicant in light of the amicable resolution of the matter.
The application is not receivable as it was not submitted to the Management Evaluation Unit (“MEU”) within the sixty calendar days time limit in staff rule 11.2(c). The Tribunal notes that the Applicant’s request for management evaluation was limited to requesting the payment of certain benefits as a result of the non-renewal of her contract and did not, as per the submission to the UNDT, contest the actual non-renewal of her contract.The Applicant did not contest the findings of the OAI report before the MEU prior to submitting them to the UNDT. These claims are therefore not properly before...
The Tribunal held that the Administration did not have sufficient evidence of Mr. Koutang’s level of engagement in outside activities to justify a finding that he had engaged in an outside occupation or employment. Thus, there were no reasonable grounds to sustain a finding of conflict of interest. While Mr. Koutang had installed a private router in his office there was no breach of security and no willful misconduct. Mr. Koutang had no ulterior motive or malicious intent in installing the router. It was at most an error of judgment with no proven adverse effects on the Country Office. The...
The fact that the attempt to defraud the medical claims system was not successful did not diminish the Applicant’s liability in having made a false claim, as such; his actions destroyed the faith of the Organization in the Applicant which was necessary for continuing employment relationship. Proportionality: Although comparison between other similar cases can be referred to, they should be treated with caution as every case turns on its own facts. In determining whether to lessen the imposed sanction, the Tribunal will consider mitigating circumstance that had not been previously considered....
The Applicant was engaged in an unauthorized outside activity. The Applicant’s unauthorized outside activity whilst providing her personal financial gain, did not result in an actual conflict of interest as defined by the applicable rule. The investigators had an obligation, in accordance with the universal principles of natural justice, to inform the Applicant of her right to the assistance of Counsel during investigations. The doctrine of proportionality is applicable in this case to reduce the Applicant’s summary dismissal to a written censure in line with the Secretary- General’s practice...
Challenging the valididty of a medical certificate: When a staff member submits a medical certificate to justify his or her absence or the failure to fulfill a professional obligation, and where the Administration questions the validity of the medical certificate, it must have the staff member examined by the Organization’s medical service or, in the event of further dispute, by a medical commission.Outcome: Judgment in favour of applicant in full (both financial compensation and rescission ordered)
The Tribunal held that whether an Applicant should be given reasons for the non-renewal of his or her fixed-term contract, even though fixed-term contracts carry no expectation of renewal, should be analyzed on a case by case basis. The Tribunal cited Obdeijn UNDT/2011/032 which stated that “even though a staff member does not have a right to an automatic renewal of a fixed-term contract, a decision not to renew such a contract may not be taken for improper motives, and the Tribunal is required to consider whether the motives were proper or whether countervailing circumstances existed in the...
Calculation of compensation. The Tribunal will determine the amount of income the Applicant is likely to have earned but for the impugned decision (pecuniary damages) and the extent of the non-pecuniary harm caused to by the decision to terminate her. Pecuniary damages. It is necessary to consider her fitness to return to work; the likely duration of the contract she could reasonably have expected to have been given; and the amount of work she would likely have been able to perform in view of her disability during the hypothetical contract period. Duration of a hypothetical contract period. It...
Waiver of management evaluation deadline: The Tribunal held that the Respondent effectively waived the deadline for management evaluation and gave the Applicant the discretionary authority to decide when to litigate her matter by engaging her on the merits of her claims, even though her request for management evaluation was approximately 6 weeks late, and by suspending her request for management evaluation “until further notice” with an undertaking that she could request for resumption of the formal process “at any stage in the future”, should the issue not be resolved to her satisfaction.