Termination (of appointment)

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that the sanction imposed on Mr Cobarrubias was not unreasonable, absurd or disproportionate. UNAT held that it was a reasonable exercise of the Administration’s broad discretion in disciplinary matters, with which it would not lightly interfere. UNAT held that UNDT erred in finding the sanction disproportionate and in substituting its opinion for that of the Administration. UNAT vacated the UNDT judgment.

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General in which he appealed the order of the award of damages and averred that UNDT erred on questions of law and fact and exceeded its competence in awarding damages. UNAT held that the reasonable expectation of the duration of Mr Andreyev’s contract was one year and reduced the award of compensation in lieu of rescission. UNAT held that there was no evidence of harm to support the award for moral damages. UNAT granted the Secretary-General’s appeal, reduced the UNDT’s award of compensation in lieu of rescission to nine months’ net base salary, less...

UNAT dismissed the Appellant’s request for an oral hearing prior to consideration of the appeal. UNAT also rejected the Appellant's claim that UNRWA DT was biased in ordering that the five applications be consolidated into a single judgment. With respect to the appeal itself, UNAT held that the appeal of the decisions denying disability benefits and finding the non-payment of termination claim not receivable, had no legal basis. Regarding the Appellant’s challenge to the Commissioner-General’s decision to render the findings of the medical board moot and not to pay him a disability benefit...

UNAT considered both of the Appellant’s cases in their judgment. UNAT held that it was not persuaded that UNRWA DT erred in deciding that the decision to close the cases arising from the Appellant’s complaints was lawful. UNAT noted that UNRWA DT’s decision was justified based on careful consideration of the Appellant’s arguments and evidence gathered during the investigation. However, UNAT held that the characterization of the decision to terminate the Appellant’s fixed-term appointment as a disciplinary measure tainted the process to such a significant degree that it rendered the decision...

UNAT considered the Secretary-General's appeal. UNAT found that it was uncontested that the Respondent had a fixed-term appointment and emphasized that there is no expectancy of renewal of fixed-term appointments. UNAT held that the Respondent could not rely on general statements to assume that her contract would be renewed and that she was even encouraged to apply for positions that would be published in the coming weeks. UNAT also found that there was no illegality or abuse in the decision to abolish the Respondent’s post and to not renew her fixed-term appointment. UNAT held that UNDT...

UNAT held that UNDT had properly reviewed the contested decision in accordance with the applicable law. UNAT held that there was no error in UNDT’s conclusion that the Appellant’s G-6 post, funded through government contributions, no longer exist on the 1st of August 2013, the day after the expiration of her appointment. UNAT held that the reason provided for the non-extension of appointment was supported by the evidence. UNAT agreed with UNDT’s finding that there was no evidence provided to support the allegation that the contested decision was ill-motivated. UNAT dismissed the appeal the...

UNAT held that, since the Appellant had not made an application to the UNRWA Internal Justice Committee on the issue of the recusal and conflict of interest, it would not permit the issue to be raised for the first time on appeal. UNAT held that the Appellant had failed to establish in his appeal that it was unreasonable for UNRWA DT to conclude that there was no evidence of bias in the decision to abolish his post. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNRWA DT judgment.

UNAT considered the appeal by the UNRWA Commissioner-General. UNAT confirmed the findings and conclusions of the UNRWA DT judgment under appeal about the illegality of the closure of the investigation into the staff member’s complaints. UNAT held that UNRWA DT had thoroughly conducted the judicial review of the challenged administrative decision. UNAT held that UNRWA DT had conducted a legitimate exercise when it drew its conclusions from the investigation report. UNAT held that the irregularities, such as the failure to address the specific harassment complaint, several examples of abuse of...

On the decision to postpone the separation on medical grounds, UNAT noted that a staff member had a right to be compensated for a service-incurred injury. UNAT found that UNRWA DT erred in law in determining the decision to postpone the Appellant’s separation on medical grounds until the end of the disciplinary process was lawful. Noting that the Appellant did not provide any evidence in support of his claim of psychological suffering (or harm), UNAT did not award moral compensation. On the issue of the SLWOP, given the nature and seriousness of the allegations against the Appellant, UNRWA DT...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General which was limited to the UNDT’s award of compensation in lieu of rescission, which he claimed was excessive. UNAT held that since the Secretary-General did not contest Ms Sarrouh’s claim for compensation before UNDT, he could not raise the issue on appeal. UNAT held that UNDT’s award of in-lieu compensation was based on the uncontested evidence before it and as such, its findings were not unreasonable and it did not commit any error in its assessment of the compensation award. UNAT held that in the absence of any error of law or manifestly...