Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ

Receivability

After considering the evidence on record, the Tribunal found that the challenge to the decision to abolish the Applicant¡¯s post and terminate his continuing appointment was not receivable. It held that the only matter before it was the decision not to extend the Applicant¡¯s employment to cover his sick leave, but instead to terminate his appointment and separate him while he was on certified sick leave.

Merits

First, the Tribunal assessed whether the Applicant was on certified sick leave at the time of his separation on 31 December 2023.

Although sick leave was not formally recorded...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT erred in finding that the Administration had not proven by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Ammar made the Facebook post because the Inspector General¡¯s Office (IGO) inappropriately discounted the possibility that Mr. Ammar¡¯s Facebook account had been hacked. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the Administration met its burden of establishing that it was highly probable that Mr. Ammar posted the Comment and thus publicly expressed support for an honour killing. The Administration produced uncontradicted evidence that the comment came from Mr. Ammar¡¯s Facebook account and he...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT noted that as per ISA¡¯s Staff Rule the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT has the competence to ¡°order an interim measure to provide temporary relief to either party to prevent irreparable harm and to maintain consistency with the decision taken at the first instance level¡±. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT also has jurisdiction to order interim measures in appropriate cases arising out of an ISA dispute as is the case in Mr. Hall¡¯s Motion.

However, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that Mr. Hall had failed to demonstrate that relief by way of interim measures was necessary to prevent irreparable harm and to maintain consistency with the JAB¡¯s decision. Mr...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT noted that the staff member had applied for vacancies of different posts, at different times, with different selection processes, and had not been selected for different reasons. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had correctly decided that each of these decisions was separate and there was no evidence that they were related. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that she had not met her burden of showing that the impugned Judgment was defective.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the application in respect of the post in Pretoria was clearly out of time and in respect of the post in Nairobi premature and, as such, not receivable...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT correctly determined that the non-selection decision was superseded and rendered moot by the Administration's subsequent rescission of the decision, which ended the selection process without anyone being selected for the position. It concluded that, from that moment, the non-selection decision ceased to have any legal effect and was no longer a live issue on which the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had jurisdiction to pass judgment on.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT further affirmed that it was entirely within the Administration¡¯s authority to rescind the non-selection decision given the procedural irregularities...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT noted that the staff member had filed numerous and confusing claims and applications that had been the subject of various reviews by the Management Evaluation Unit, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT, all of which essentially attempted to ensure that the Administration continued to pay her benefits for medical reasons after expiration of her fixed-term appointment.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that her submissions failed to identify in precise terms a specific administrative decision capable of being reviewed. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the so-called non-decisions or incomplete decisions identified by her were not...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT erred when it found Ms. Fakhouri¡¯s application was receivable.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that despite being a staff member, the decision with which Ms. Fakhouri took issue was one which related to the terms of a potential contract not as a staff member but as an independent contractor and therefore the contested decision was not one that was appealable. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT emphasized that Article 2(1)(a) of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT Statute makes clear that appeals can be brought against administrative decisions where such decisions relate to the staff member¡¯s terms of appointment. But the...

The disciplinary decision was based on two allegations: first, that the staff member committed a physical assault during a domestic dispute; and second, that the staff member failed to immediately report an arrest and criminal proceedings to the Secretary?General, contrary to staff rule 1.5(d). Regarding the assault allegation, the Tribunal found the evidence sufficient and compelling. It relied on contemporaneous police records, a judicial order of protection identifying the staff member as the aggressor, photographic evidence of injury, consistent sworn statements obtained during the...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that Article 9(4) of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT Statute regarding the nature of the judicial review that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT conducts in disciplinary cases did not apply to the instant case as it was adopted after the hearing was held. The parties presented their evidence, including a chronology of agreed facts as well as live testimony, and made their respective post-hearing submissions, under a legal framework where Article 9(4) was not operative and it would be inappropriate, and a denial of due process, to apply a new evidentiary framework at the point of decision, ex post facto.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the procedures applied to fill the Position sought by the staff member were consistent with the applicable rules. Although the OCHA advertised the Position without any pre-determined restriction to rostered candidates, and received some 151 applications, it ultimately decided to select a rostered candidate, thereby excluding the staff member and many others from consideration. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the Administration was well within its prerogative to do so, as the plain reading of Section 9.5 of Administrative Instruction ST/AI/2010/3/Rev.1 (Staff selection system) grants...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that Mr. Slayyeh did not file a proper appeal of the impugned Judgment but rather was bringing a new claim for compensation that had not been submitted to the Dispute Tribunal. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that he could not introduce on appeal an issue not previously presented to the first instance tribunal as it is a violation of the due process rights of the other party and does not comply with the two-tier system of administration of justice.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the remedies available under Article 10(5) of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT Statute allow the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT to rescind the contested decision or order...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the Fund reasonably chose a 30-year timeframe for its statistical analysis to determine whether there were ¡°aberrant results¡± in terms of pensions received by beneficiaries who had chosen Slovakia as their country of residence. Similarly, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the conclusions drawn by the Fund from the analysis were properly reached, highlighting that the graph showed a wide disparity between resident beneficiaries who separated from 1993 to 2007 and those who separated afterwards, a disparity solely due to differences in separation dates.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the suspension...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT noted that the staff member had been notified of the reclassification of the post he encumbered by e-mail without comments on the basis for the decision. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT also noted that he had not been promoted to the reclassified post before separation from service.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had correctly determined that the staff member knew or reasonably should have known by the date he received notification of the reclassification or, at the very latest, by the date the vacancy of the reclassified post was advertised in Inspira, that his post had been reclassified and that he had not...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that none of the reasons provided by Mr. Hejab, considered individually or collectively, were convincing enough to consider his case exceptional, so as to warrant the award of higher compensation than set by Article 10(5) of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT Statute.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that it is not unusual for an older staff member, particularly one who is close to retirement, to have difficulty in finding another job. Likewise, although there are difficult economic conditions where he lives, this is also not the type of factor that warrants compensation in excess of the statutory norm.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT was of the view that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT¡¯s analysis of the applicable legal framework governing the education grant, specifically the costs admissible for reimbursement, had been erroneous and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had exceeded its jurisdiction when it found the promulgation of the amended administrative instruction unlawful. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had failed to provide the reasons, facts and law on which it had based its Judgment.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the fees which were clearly intended to cover extra-curricular activities or general non-academic services, and were not intended to cover administrative...

The Tribunal rescinded the decision not to select the Applicant for Job Opening # 214053 due to unlawful bias, with an alternative to pay Applicant two years of the difference in pay between his current position and the would have been new post, had he been selected in the challenged process.

Persuant toArticle 10.8 of the Dispute Tribunal Statute the Respondent¡¯s counsel is referred to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for possible action to enforce accountability for his false statement and related misconduct in these proceedings, and to his national bar authority for such...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT noted that the Agency¡¯s job classification tool had been used to reclassify the staff members¡¯ posts. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT had not erred when it had decided the case in the absence of the full document of the International Civil Service Commission¡¯s ¡°Master Standard for Classification¡±. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT agreed with the Commissioner-General that the Classification Reports were relevant and sufficient for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT¡¯s determinations.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that notwithstanding the various anomalies in the reclassification process, the staff members had failed to show anything specific that...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had not erred in finding that it had been proven by clear and convincing evidence that the staff member had engaged in harassment and abuse of authority, used her office for personal reasons to prejudice the position of a colleague, disclosed sensitive information, failed to report the possible misconduct of others, used a personal e-mail address contrary to the applicable provisions, and exchanged inappropriate messages about colleagues.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that regardless of whether she had been a whistleblower engaged in a protected activity, there was no evidence that...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF had conducted the selection process in a manner fully consistent with its administrative legal framework, including having provided detailed reasons for considering the staff member unsuitable for the post. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that his candidature had received full and fair consideration, and he had not shown through clear and convincing evidence that he had been denied a fair chance of selection. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT noted that there was no evidence of bias or ill-motive against him.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT was of the view that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF¡¯s failure to notify the staff member of the non-selection...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that there was clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Hunt, in coordination with colleagues, was covertly communicating with a news media reporter on the Investment Fund transaction, the approval process, and the former Representative of the Secretary-General (RSG)¡¯s role and had thereby leaked information to the reporter.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that Mr. Hunt failed to prove that his action of reporting possible misconduct within Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵJSPF to outside sources was a protected activity under the Secretary-General¡¯s Bulletin on protection against retaliation. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT agreed with the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT¡¯s...