UNAT affirmed the UNDT order denying revision. UNAT held that a change in law is not a “fact” contemplated by Article 12. 1 of the UNDT Statute. UNAT held that the issuance of new jurisprudence by UNAT is an issue of law, not of fact.
UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that it was satisfied that the sanction was not disproportionate and noted that the Secretary-General could have chosen to summarily dismiss Mr Nasrallah or to separate him without compensation and indemnities. UNAT held that, although no investigation was necessary as the facts were not contested, the Organisation committed an egregious error in taking almost two years to finalise the disciplinary proceedings. UNAT noted that this delay worked in Mr Nasrallah’s favour, permitting him to benefit from two years’ further service. UNAT...
UNAT held that the grounds for appeal were not substantiated. UNAT held that the alleged delay in the disposal of the case at the lower level did not have any impact on the outcome of the case and was partially tolerated by the Appellant. On the merits, UNAT upheld the UNDT’s reasonable decision to accept the opinions of the attending doctor at the hospital and the UNIFIL Chief Medical Officer concerning the approximate time of Mr McKay’s death being some hours prior to Mr McKay arriving at the hospital. UNAT held that it was correct to conclude, as UNDT did, that, regardless of any deficiency...
UNDT misapplied the law of mootness and erred in law in reaching the impugned Judgment, in that it omitted to follow an important passage in Kallon relating to the cautious approach in applying the law of mootness.
“Continuous service” occurs if a staff member under two or more consecutive contracts works without any break in employment. A break-in-service cannot be taken into account if the staff member continues to work and be paid. Not every break in employment will effect a discontinuity for the purpose of calculating entitlements. Based on its failures to follow its own internal procedures or its alleged mistakes, the Administration may not impose a break-in-service in order to deny a staff member benefits to which he would otherwise have been entitled. Outcome: Payment of relocation grant to the...
Section 8.9 of ST/AI/1999/3 applies only to holders of fixed-term appointments. It is therefore not relevant to the applicant’s case, as he held an indefinite appointment. Regarding the payments due, a clear distinction must be made between the termination indemnities, which are automatically due to the concerned staff member in the event of termination of his/her contract, as provided by the Staff Regulations and Rules, and the compensation package, which, in addition to that which is legally due, includes a certain amount that the administration chooses to give ex gratia; as such, it is...
The Applicant withdrew her application and therefore UNDT closed the proceedings.
Outcome: The respondent is to pay interest from the date the payment of the relocation grant became due, namely 4 May 2008, and until payment at the rate of 8 per cent per annum.
Compensation under Appendix D as opposed to liability for a breach of terms of appointment/contractual obligations: Appendix D to the Staff Rules sets a regime of objective responsibility in the event of death, injury or illness attributable to the performance of official duties on behalf of the United Nations, by which the Organization is to afford compensation regardless of whether it bears any fault in the matter. Where the compensation claimed by a staff member is compensation that relates to a violation of one of the terms of the staff member’s employment or is contractual in nature...
A review of other similar cases revealed that only one other staff member was separated for illegal possession/use of drugs, and that was a far more serious case. The sanction in the present case was disproportionate in the light of the comparators. UNDT endorsed Sow. Equality of treatment in the workplace is a core principle which must be applied by the Secretary-General when imposing disciplinary sanctions.
