51ÁÔÆæ

UNAT affirmed UNDT¡¯s rescission of the decision to maintain the classification, reaffirming the right of staff members to request reclassification when the duties and responsibilities of their posts changed substantially as a result of restructuring within their office. However, UNAT reversed UNDT¡¯s order to remand the case to the Administration, stating that a second remand was unviable and unfair having regard to the fact that the protracted classification review process was mainly due to the reluctance and failure of management to follow their own rules, regulations and administrative...

UNAT considered an appeal by the staff member and an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT upheld both UNDT¡¯s finding that the decision to close the investigation was improper as well as UNDT¡¯s refusal to order rescission of that decision on account of the subject of the investigation having separated from the Organisation. UNAT, however, vacated UNDT¡¯s moral damages award on the grounds that the staff member did not present any evidence, apart from his own unsworn testimony to support the claim. UNAT held that ¡°generally speaking, the testimony of an applicant alone without corroboration by...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General limited to contesting the award by UNDT of three months¡¯ net base salary as compensation for damage to Ms Haroun¡¯s career prospects. UNAT held that UNDT committed an error in law by awarding compensation for damage to career prospects on the basis of Ms Haroun¡¯s separation from service. UNAT noted that the separation from service was the sole ground for awarding compensation for damage to career prospects but that there was no evidence on the record with respect to the exact reasons for separating Ms Haroun from service and the circumstances...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law when it held that the amendment to Article 10(5)(b) of the UNDT Statute, which requires harm to be supported by evidence for the award of damages, was not applicable because Ms Tsoneva had filed her application before the amendment entered into force on the basis that an award of damages takes place at the time the award is made. UNAT noted that applying the amended statutory provision was not the retroactive application of law but rather, it was applying existing law. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law by not...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law when it held that the amendment to Article 10(5)(b) of the UNDT Statute, which required harm to be supported by evidence for the award of damages, was not applicable because Ms Tsoneva had filed her application before the amendment entered into force, on the basis that an award of damages takes place at the time the award is made. UNAT held that applying the amended statutory provision is not the retroactive application of law but rather, it is applying existing law. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law by not...

On the amount of compensation in lieu of rescission, UNAT held that UNDT correctly applied Article 10(5) of the UNDT Statute. UNAT held that there was no fault with the UNDT¡¯s award of compensation of USD 2,000, noting that UNDT considered the chances of success as well as the difference of net base salary between the one Mr. Krioutchkov received at his current grade and step and his potential income as of the relevant date, limited the projection of the difference in salary to two years. UNAT held that absent any error of law or manifestly unreasonable factual findings UNAT would not...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held the UNDT correctly determined that Mr Fasanella was affecting an administrative decision that produced direct legal consequences affecting his employment. UNAT held that there was no merit to the complaint that UNDT erred in law and exceeded its jurisdiction by considering matters beyond the scope of Mr Fasanella¡¯s request for management evaluation and the Management Evaluation Unit¡¯s response, on the basis that it was the role of UNDT to adequately interpret and comprehend the application and that UNDT had the inherent power to...

UNAT considered the receivability of the appeal, whether there was a procedural irregularity, and whether the Appellant was entitled to moral damages. UNAT held that the appeal was receivable because it was filed in a timely fashion, according to Articles 7 and 29 of the RoP. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law in finding that the Administration failed to properly notify the Appellant of her non-selection because she knew about her non-selection early enough to timely challenge the decision. UNAT found that UNDT erred in law and exceeded its competence in awarding the Appellant compensation as...

UNAT held that UNDT erroneously awarded the Appellant moral damages because she did not produce any corroborating evidence to support the contention that harm had occurred. However, UNAT held that the award for moral damages would stand since the Secretary-General had not appealed the UNDT judgment. UNAT held that there is no corroborating evidence to support the Appellant¡¯s claim for damages to ¡°restore her professional, physical and emotional suffering¡± and for ¡°irregularities and ignorance. ¡± The appeal could not succeed on those claims. UNAT also held that a referral for accountability is...

UNAT rejected the Appellant¡¯s request for an oral hearing. UNAT held that UNRWA DT did not commit an error of procedure such as to affect the decision of the case by failing to order the Agency to allow the participation of the Appellant representative in the oral hearing or by failing to accommodate the latter¡¯s employment situation. UNAT held that UNRWA DT did not err on a question of fact, resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision when it determined that the Head of Education Department (H/ED) had not received the Appellant¡¯s request for SLWOP and, consequently, that there had not...