51ÁÔÆæ

The Tribunal concluded that the application was generally not receivable because the Applicant was specifically challenging MEU¡¯s negative responses to her various requests for management evalution. This conclusion nothwithstanding, the Tribunal reviewed each of the Applicant¡¯s claims and concluded that they were not receivable because she: failed to identify an administrative decision within the meaning of art. 2.1(a) of the UNDT Statute in relation to her claim that there was a ¡°wall of silence¡± was estopped from re-litigating her claim in relation to the delay in releasing the results of...

Case No. UNDT/GVA/2015/129

Contingency of the Applicant¡¯s FTA: return of Mr. C. to post No. 501057

Under sec. 6.7 of ST/AI/2010/3, in cases of secondment, a lien against a specific post shall only be granted for up to two years, after which it shall be surrendered. No discretion is granted to the Administration for extending the lien beyond the two years. Quite distinctly, para. 7 of ST/AI/404 allows the Administration to extend the mission assignment beyond the two years period, and continue blocking a specific post in the parent department, provided there is a specific written agreement to...

The Applicant submitted that his initial ¡°informal¡± enquiries into a possible review of his retirement age only began in July 2016, and that his first formal query of the date was not until 13 August 2016. It was difficult to imagine why the Applicant never thought to query the applicable position, or seek to have the mandatory retirement age in respect of himself reviewed, until five months before he was actually due to retire. Indeed, the Applicant had not sought to even challenge any of the Respondent¡¯s submissions on receivability. While the Tribunal appreciated that a self-represented...

The Applicant failed 51ÁÔÆæ art. 8.1(d)(ii) of the UNDT Statute, because he did not file his application until more than one year after the 90-day statutory deadline. The Tribunal held that the application was time-barred due to the Applicant¡¯s failure to file his application within the established time limits. The Tribunal also held that the Applicant failed to articulate any exceptional circumstances justifying the delay.

The Tribunal found that the Applicant¡¯s separation was lawful. Insofar as the determination that the Applicant was fit to work on the date of his separation from service had been made through the statutory mechanisms specially designed to settle sick leave related matters, and in conformity with the established procedures, the Organization was not bound, under sec. 4.9 of ST/AI/2013/1, to further extend his contract, regardless of whether he still had a balance of sick leave days. The Tribunal also held that, while there was an excessive delay in notifying the Applicant of his separation, he...

Receivability before the UNCB. As follows from art. 12 read together with art. 14(b)(ii) of ST/AI/149/Rev.4, for a compensation claim for damage to be receivable before the UNCB, the relevant staff member is required (¡°shall¡±) to take the following mandatory and cumulative actions, setting forth in detail all relevant circumstances to UNCB: (a) to notify the United Nations authorities and the local police about the incident as soon as possible; (b) to submit all pertinent evidence; (c) in case the staff member holds valid personal insurance at the date of the incident, to take all the...

The Tribunal found that the Organization¡¯s inaction to resolve the failure to timely pay to the Applicant the amount due constituted an implied decision, which, in turn, was an appealable administrative decision subject to scrutiny, regarding the period of delay, even if the amount due had eventually been paid. The Tribunal ruled that the Applicant had a contractual right to receive her salary and to receive it in a timely manner. Technical problems following the deployment of a new ERP system are not a justification for a denial of such an entitlement. Therefore, the Tribunal awarded...

Receivability ratione materiae: The application is receivable ratione materiae if the applicant is contesting ¡°an administrative decision that is alleged to be in non-compliance with the terms of appointment or the contract of employment¡± (art. 2.1 of the Statute) and if the applicant previously submitted the contested administrative decision for management evaluation, where required (art. 8.1(c) of the Statute).

The Applicant was informed in February 2007 that his promotion must follow a competitive recruitment process. The contention that he should have been promoted to the G-5 level at the time could and should have been challenged when the Applicant received formal notification of his retroactive promotion in October/November 2007. He did not. He also did not challenge the Respondent¡¯s letter of 6 May 2015.

The UNDT found that the decision to deny the Applicant¡¯s request for advance home leave was unlawful and ordered the Respondent to correct the Applicant¡¯s personnel file to reflect the home leave points she accrued while working on temporary appointments, and to pay her material damages in the amount of USD1,543.04, in compensation of the price she paid for her flight ticket. Transition from a temporary to a fixed-term appointment: Sec. 1.2 of ST/AI/2010/4/Rev.1 indicates how the Organization shall proceed when granting a fixed-term appointment after a temporary appointment. However, it does...

Since the receivability of an application is a question of law, the Tribunal considers that it is appropriate to make use of art. 9 of its Rules of Procedure, and to decide on the application by way of summary judgment, without transmitting it to the Respondent. Upon taking up her functions as a Programme Management Officer at UNFCCC on 8 November 2012, the Applicant knew about her step in grade, as per her offer of appointment of 24 September 2012. Since the Applicant filed her request for management evaluation against the determination of her step upon recruitment with UNFCCC four years...

The Tribunal (a) granted the application in part, (b) rescinded the contested decision in part and replaced the excessive and unlawful disciplinary measure of dismissal with the lesser sanction of separation from service with termination indemnity; (c) ordered the judgment to be included in the Applicant¡¯s official status file and all references relating to the disciplinary sanction of dismissal to be removed from this file and to be replaced with the new sanction, namely separation from service with termination indemnity; and (d) in the event that the Respondent would decide not to rescind...

Filling of a vacancy by a lateral transfer: The choice of filling a post by lateral move¡ªwithout going through a fullfledged competitive selection process¡ªis provided for by sec. 2.5 of ST/AI/2010/3 and does not per se violate any of the superior rules prescribing the goal of ensuring the highest standards of efficiency, competency and integrity. Nevertheless, as any discretionary decision, such course of action must not be arbitrary, capricious, tainted by improper motives, based on erroneous or irrelevant considerations, procedurally flawed or resulting in a manifestly unreasonable outcome...

The Tribunal accepted the application in part. It awarded the Applicant one-month¡¯s net base salary for moral damages and two-months¡¯ net base salary for breach of her employment contract. The Tribunal found that the manner in which the Applicant was treated by the ESCWA management deserved compensation. The evidence showed that the Applicant was removed from her functions without prior notice. She was requested to turn over her security pass and leave the premises immediately. She was not allowed to enter the premises without authorization. In this regard, the Tribunal found that compensation...

The Tribunal dismissed the application on the merits.

It was not unreasonable to infer that on 3 July 2015, having gone through the rigors of a criminal judicial proceeding and having been acquitted of all charges, the Applicants became aware that there may have been breaches of the applicable rules governing their arrest and detention as United Nations staff members and the waiver of their immunities. The Applicants¡¯ causes of action in relation to the remedies for the alleged breaches of the procedures under A/63/331 and ST/AI/299 arose on 3 July 2015. Accordingly, pursuant to staff rule 11.2(c) the Applicants were, therefore, required to seek...

The Tribunal held that the Applicant¡¯s challenge in relation to the decision to cancel his administrative leave (¡°AL¡±) was without merit. The Tribunal reasoned that the evidence showed that the Applicant was placed on AL after UNOPS had received allegations of intimidation, harassment and other misconduct against him in the Sudan office. The Applicant did not contest the decision to place him on AL but only the decision informing him that his AL had not been extended and that no disciplinary action was being taken against him regarding the allegations. Accordingly, the decision not to extend...

The Applicant did not conduct herself with the ¡°honesty and truthfulness¡± that was expected of her. The Tribunal further found that the Applicant placed herself in a position in which her interests conflicted with those of the Organization.

The Applicant requests revision of UNDT/2017/012 on the grounds that the Tribunal did not consider his closing statement. The Tribunal concludes that there are no legal reasons for the Judgment to be revised. The Tribunal also notes that the reason invoked in the application for revision may be submitted as a ground of appeal, if any, before the United Nations Appeals Tribunal.

The failure to consider the Applicant¡¯s e-PAS reports and to address them especially in the context of the disparity between its ratings and those of the Applicant¡¯s reporting officers on the same competencies and within the same organization was a serious flaw in the selection process. UNDT was satisfied that the panel met its requirement of asking probing questions, even if the report reflected it as ¡°prompting¡± rather than ¡°probing.¡± The absence of an ex-officio member on the assessment/interview panel by itself could not vitiate the selection exercise. The Applicant¡¯s candidacy for the...