Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT Held or Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT Pronouncements
The Tribunal found that the Applicant had not met the requisite standard to rebut the presumption that the restructuring was genuine and therefore a valid reason for not renewing her FTA.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant, a former staff member of the United Nations Office for Project Services (¡°Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµOPS¡±), filed an application contesting the decision on the abolishment of her post and the non-renewal of her fixed-term appointment ("FTA").
Legal Principle(s)
A restructuring exercise which may result in loss of employment for staff members falls within the Secretary-General¡¯s discretionary authority (see, for instance, Loeber 2018-Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT-844). The Appeals Tribunal has affirmed that the Tribunals will not interfere with a genuine organizational restructuring exercise even though it may have resulted in the loss of employment of staff (see, for instance, Matadi et al 2015-Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT-592) and the restructuring may have been unwise (see, for instance, Collins 2020-Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT-1021). There is, however, a duty for the Administration to act fairly, justly, and transparently in dealing with staff members during a restructuring exercise (see Abdeljalil 2019-Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT-960).