2017-UNAT-758, Pedicelli
UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements
UNAT held that UNDT was correct to reject the Applicant’s claim that she had been downgraded on the basis that: the reclassification/renumbering exercise had a legitimate organizational objective; it was not a classification within the meaning of ST/AI/1998/9; and when the Appellant had submitted her post to proper classification, she was graded at the G-6 level, which was equivalent to her previous grade. UNAT found no error in UNDT’s decision that the Appellant failed to show that the alignment of her post to conform with the GCS had any detrimental impact on her salary or pensionable benefits. UNAT held that there was no merit in the claim that she had been de facto demoted. UNAT held that the Appellant failed to point to any error, in law or in fact, which would entitle it to reverse the UNDT judgment. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant challenged a reclassification/renumbering of posts under the new Global Classification Standard (GCS) for General Services (GS) posts, which she considered resulted in a de facto demotion. Following a previous appeal to UNAT in which the case was remanded back to UNDT, UNDT dismissed the application, concluding that the realignment exercise had a legitimate organizational objective and was not a classification exercise; and the Applicant failed to demonstrate that the alignment of her post to conform with the GCS had a detrimental impact on her salary or pension benefits.
Legal Principle(s)
The Secretary-General is duty-bound to implement decisions of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and such decisions are of a general application and are therefore not, in general, reviewable.