The Tribunal found that the Administration had imposed a harsher sanction on the Applicant than was necessary. The sanction was found to be disproportionate and manifestly abusive in relation to the circumstances faced by the Applicant. Consequently, the Tribunal ordered the Respondent to replace the original disciplinary sanction for another one with less gravity, namely-separation from service with compensation in lieu of notice and without termination indemnity.
The Tribunal found that the Respondent had shown and the Applicant had not disputed through clear and convincing evidence that all relevant regulations, rules, administrative issuances and policies were complied with in considering the Applicant’s medical entitlements. There was no administrative decision carrying direct legal consequences on the Applicant’s terms of appointment or contract of appointment to adjudicate on, since subsequent to filing the application on 24 September 2018, the Applicant’s claim were fully satisfied in November 2019. The Respondent having rescinded its decision...
The Tribunal noted that there was no evidence that UNOPS Administration approved the Applicant’s sick leave. Therefore, given that the Applicant was separated from service effective 31 March 2018 and that no sick leave beyond that date had been approved by the UNOPS Administration, the Tribunal found that there was no sick leave to “terminate or retract” as claimed by the Applicant. Having said the above, the Tribunal found that the effective content of the challenged decision communicated to the Applicant on 5 April 2018 concerned the non-extension of her fixed-term appointment for the sole...
The legal issue for determination in the present case is whether UNOPS was under an obligation to extend a fixed-term appointment for the sole purpose of allowing a staff member to utilize his or her sick leave entitlement. The answer is negative, as the Tribunal found that there was no evidence in the case file to conclude that the legal framework of UNOPS included such obligation. Neither Staff rule 6.2(a) nor UNOPS Operational Directive OD.PCG.2017.01 on Human Resources, Ethics and Culture (in effect as of 15 August 2017) contain any obligation for the Administration to extend a staff...
The Tribunal found the Respondent’s explanation for extending the Applicant’s FTA for one month plausible. It thus held that the impugned decision was not unlawful.
The Applicant’s appointment was not renewed due to her own requests to leave prior to the end of her four-year rotation in that position. The record shows that the Applicant was well aware of the reasons for the non-renewal of her position and would have understood the contents of the notification letter related directly to her requests to Director and Deputy Director to leave her position. The record clearly demonstrates that the Applicant’s post was advertised due to her request to leave UNDP Guyana prior to the end of her four-year rotation. The Applicant cites no impropriety in the...
The Tribunal held that the Applicant had successfully rebutted the presumption of regularity and proved with clear and convincing evidence that his non-selection was based on improper motive.
The Tribunal noted that in accordance with ST/AI/2018/1, eligibility of international staff members for education grant in respect of their children is to be determined by inter alia the conditions that: a) the child is in full-time attendance at an educational institution at the primary level or above, and b) the child is five years of age or older at the beginning of the academic year, or the child reaches the age of five within three months of the beginning of the school year. The Tribunal found that UNICEF correctly considered that at both periods for which the Applicant applied for...
The application in respect of the alleged non-compliance with the second agreement is premature, and as such not receivable, because the Applicant has not followed the mandatory dispute resolution process contained in said settlement agreement concluded in July 2017. The Applicant’s multiples and generic complaints that the Organization has failed to follow its own rules and procedures, and her assertions regarding the conduct of her current and former reporting officers at UNGSC do not constitute administrative decisions under Article 2(1)(a) of the Tribunal’s Statute. The Tribunal DECIDES to...
Article 13 of the applicable Appendix D requires the ABCC to make its determination “on the basis of reports obtained from a qualified medical practitioner or practitioners”. The scope of the ABCC’s discretion in exercising its powers is also not unlimited under the jurisprudence of the Appeals Tribunal (see Sanwidi as quoted above). As convincingly explained by the Applicant’s psychologist, PTSD differs from many other types of diseases and illnesses because the symptoms of PTSD do not manifest themselves at the same time as the event(s) that caused it—PTSD is per definition a post traumatic...
