UNAT held that the UNDT Judgment was inconsistent in finding parts of the application irreceivable but not addressing what was to happen to the balance of the claim which was receivable. UNAT held that to the extent that the UNDT held that some of the Appellant’s claims were not receivable as they were not filed within time after management evaluation, UNDT did not err in fact or law and UNAT upheld such conclusions. UNAT held that there were errors by UNDT in respect of which the appeal had to be allowed, which were: (1) the UNDT decision not to receive the application in respect of claims...
UN Secretariat
Ms. Pakkala filed an appeal. UNAT found that the decision to impose the administrative measures on Ms. Pakkala was a lawful and reasonable exercise of discretion.
The letter of the Director, DHR clearly set out the rationale for imposing the administrative measures, i.e. that the investigative process had surfaced a pattern of behavior exhibited by Ms. Pakkala over time which was cause for concern and justified the administrative measures. While the Director, DHR found the evidence of alleged harassment was not clear and convincing, in her opinion there were reasonable grounds to believe...
The only issue on appeal is whether the UNDT judgment’s orders on in-lieu compensation and compensation for moral harm are free of error. In the present case, the UNDT took into account the specific circumstances of the case, in particular the seniority of Mr. Yavuz, the type of appointment held, and the chance of renewal of the appointment in a position still required by the Administration and set an in-lieu compensation of three months. Mr. Yavuz complains that the UNDT should also have considered the nature of the irregularity and the seriousness of the breaches of his rights and the...
The UNDT found the non-renewal decision unlawful because the Secretary-General did not show that it was motivated by a lack of funds. Although the UNDT committed several errors of law, its main finding is not put into doubt by the Secretary-General’s appeal. Therefore, in this respect, the Secretary-General’s appeal cannot succeed. UNDT's finding that UN-Habitat silently accepted Mr. El-Awar's condition of reassignment is erroneous. A reassignment is an administrative decision, a unilateral act imposed on the staff member by the Administration. It is not a contract which can be bargained or...
The essential question for determination on appeal is whether the UNDT correctly held that the alleged misconduct of creating a hostile work environment and giving of gifts was proved in accordance with the standard of clear and convincing evidence. In other words, did the evidence establish the alleged misconduct to a high degree of probability? At its essence, therefore, this case involves strongly contested disputes of fact about whether AAC conducted himself in a manner that was abusive and created a hostile working environment. The Administration says he did. AAC strongly denies it. Thus...
As a preliminary matter, UNAT dismissed the appeals of two staff members who were not a party to the proceedings before the UNDT and had no standing. On the merits, UNAT held that there was a reviewable administrative decision within the meaning of Article 2(1)(a) of the UNDT Statute. UNAT held that the UNDT erred finding that the announcement by the USG/DGACM dated 8 April 2021 that the daily workload of translators would be increased to 5.8 pages and of self-revisers to 6.4 pages, was not an appealable administrative decision for the purpose of Article 2(1) of the UNDT Statute. UNAT held...
Mr. Beda appealed. As a preliminary matter, UNAT dismissed Mr. Beda's motion seeking leave to file a rejoinder on grounds that there was no probative value to the rejoinder Mr. Beda sought to file, and there was nothing new in the Administration's answer that would require him to have an opportunity to provide a rebuttal or rejoinder. Turning to the merits, UNAT found that the UNDT had applied the correct legal standard in its Judgment - whether the facts had been established by clear and convincing evidence - and properly assessed the evidence and credibility of witness testimony, making the...
UNAT held that the Appellant merely repeated arguments raised before UNDT regarding the evidence. UNAT accepted UNDT’s finding that there was clear and convincing evidence to establish the facts underlying the allegations of misconduct. UNAT held that UNDT applied the appropriate legal standard, namely clear and convincing evidence. UNAT held that UNDT heard the evidence of the complainant, other material witnesses, assessed the credibility and reliability of the testimony under oath before it, determined the probable facts and then rendered a decision as to whether the onus to establish the...
Mr. Lucchini and the Secretary-General disagreed on whether UNAT confirmed the UNDT’s award of compensation for moral damages, in addition to increasing the amount of in lieu compensation from 10 months to 24 months, or ordered payment of the increased amount of compensation in lieu (of two years’ net base salary) but did not include the original award of compensation for moral harm that had been ordered by the UNDT. Mr. Lucchini filed an application for interpretation seeking confirmation of his view that UNAT’s ruling increased the amount of in lieu compensation from 10 to 24 months’ net...
The Secretary-General sought interpretation, revision, and execution of Judgment No. 2021-UNAT-1118, on grounds that he was unable to effectuate the compensation awarded in the UNDT Judgment because Mr. Dieng refused to provide his banking details. UNAT held that the Judgment was clear, written in plain and unambiguous language, and it left no reasonable doubt as to what it meant. Thus, there was no need for clarification. UNAT further found that the Secretary-General had failed to argue that he had discovered a decisive fact which was unknown to the Appeals Tribunal at the time the Judgment...