UNDT/2025/029, Christian Castelli
Regarding claim 1, the Tribunal held that based on the evidence on record, the Applicant did not provide any evidence that could prove any form of misconduct against the OIOS or UNIFIL officials who handled his complaint. Accordingly, claim 1 was rejected.
For claim 2, the Tribunal noted that, upon his request, via emails dated 22 August 2024 and 31 October 2024, the OIOS provided the Applicant with an explanation for the closure of his Complaint without investigation. Therefore, claim 2 was found to be moot.
Claim 3 was found not receivable. The Tribunal held that the outcome of a management evaluation request was not an administrative decision under art. 2(1)(a) of its Statute. Accordingly, the Tribunal found that it lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate this claim.
In light of the foregoing, the application was rejected in its entirety.
The Applicant filed three claims:
a. (a) Failure by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (“OIOS”) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (“UNIFIL”), Chief, Conduct and Discipline Office to properly review his complaint against his First Reporting Officer for unreasonable refusal of a requested flexible working arrangement(“FWA”) (claim 1);
b. (b) Refusal by OIOS to give him specific reasons for the closure of his complaint without investigation (claim 2); and
c. (c) The decision of the Management Advice and Evaluation Section on his management evaluation request for the foregoing decisions (claim 3).
Both a failure by OIOS to properly review a staff member's complaint of unreasonable refusal of FWA, and a refusal by OIOS to provide a staff member specific reasons for closing his complaint without investigation have an effect on a staff member's work relatoinship, given that such decisions could have negatively affected a staff member's contractual employment rights.
It remains very difficult to see an abuse of disretion in the denial/delay of FWA without providing a basis, where no right to FWA is envisaged.
The lack of a staff member's right to Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) excludes any abuse in the manager's failure to give or to promptly give a reasoning for the refusal of its concession.