51ÁÔÆæ

Tribunal¡¯s review of eligibility for benefits: The Secretary-General has no discretion to grant or deny a benefit provided for in the Staff Regulations and Rules and is bound, in this respect, by the applicable rules. Accordingly, when the matter before the Tribunal concerns the refusal to grant a benefit, the Tribunal may only examine whether the staff member was eligible for, or entitled to, such benefit, without taking into account the grounds for refusal provided by the Administration. The fact that other staff members in the same situation may have been granted the disputed benefit is...

The Tribunal noted that the Respondent was challenging the receivability of the application based on two notifications to the Applicant i.e. the email of 22 March 2010 and the letter of 21 October 2010. With regard to the email of 22 March 2010, the Tribunal held that the email was a mere request or a piece of advice to the Applicant with regard to the permanent residency policy, and not an administrative decision. The Administration was merely advising or requesting further information from the Applicant in order to be in a position to process and presumably finalise the two year appointment...

This is particularly the case in employment within the United Nations which is highly valued. Once out of the system the prospect of returning to a comparable post within the United Nations is significantly reduced. The damage to career opportunities and the consequential effect on one¡¯s life chances cannot adequately be compensated by money. Although the Applicant¡¯s suspension of action did not specify a date until which the requested suspension of action should be applied, the UNDT granted it but limited it in time, per art. 13 of the Rules of Procedure of the Dispute Tribunal, to the...

As consistently held by UNAT, the Dispute Tribunal has no jurisdiction to waive deadlines for management evaluation or administrative review. Time limits prescribed for administrative review (and management evaluation under the new system), which could be waived under the previous system, cannot be waived under article 8.3 of the Statute of the Dispute Tribunal, due to a specific prohibition in this respect contained in article 8.3.

Obligation to take action under ST/SGB/2008/5: The Administration¡¯s obligation to take prompt and concrete action under section 5.3 of ST/SGB/2008/5 is not limited to formal complaints or reports but also extends to ¡°allegations¡± of prohibited conduct. Scope of application of ST/SGB/2008/5: Comments made in the context of a staff member¡¯s performance appraisal could in some circumstances fall under ST/SGB/2008/5. For example, harsh criticism unsupported by examples or the use of offensive language could constitute improper conduct that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause...

The non-renewal of the Applicant¡¯s appointment was predicated on her harassment complaint of 12 April 2012 against her supervisor. The Tribunal finds and holds that the three elements for a grant of an order for suspension of action have been established in this case.

The Tribunal held that the Applicant had failed to request a review under former staff rule 111.2(a) and, given Jennings, the Tribunal could not waive the time limit even if it wished to. In any event the Application was well out of time, the strict rule being that an application shall not be receivable if it is filed more than three years after the applicant¡¯s receipt of the contested administrative decision, as per article 8.4 of the Statute.

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 found that there was not clear and convincing proof that the documents were fake and therefore that count failed. However, as regards the other charges, the Applicant had not denied the violations, rather he had indicated that his superior, the Country Representative, was to blame for giving instructions to the Applicant which were in breach of the rules. The Tribunal considered that the responsibility of an Operations Manager when dealing, in particular, with procurement matters, was such that he could not rely on instructions given from above. Therefore, his liability in respect...

The UNDT found that the non-renewal appeared to be based on a mission-wide retrenchment exercise and that it appeared that the Applicant served in an occupational group and against a functional title impacted by the downsizing of MINUSTAH. The UNDT found that there was no evidence before it to indicate that the panel responsible for carrying out a comparative review of the affected staff members erred in applying the agreed evaluation criteria when assessing the Applicant and other staff members in the related category.Outcome: The application for suspension of action was rejected.