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Staff rule 4.9(a) provides that inter-organization movements shall be governed by an inter-organization agreement, and UN Women agreed to release the Applicant on secondment in accordance with the Inter-Organization Agreement. Therefore, the terms and conditions of the Inter-Organization Agreement apply in this case. Under the Inter-Organization Agreement, the Applicant had the rights of employment upon her return from secondment, which means that she had the right and the obligation to resume work at UN Women upon return from her secondment. Such rights were not respected when she was forced...

A very basic tenet of due process in a disciplinary case is that each of the relevant facts and allegations of misconduct must be presented to the accused person in such manner that s/he can easily understand them and is thereby afforded a fair and just opportunity to defend herself/himself. If not, the Administration cannot subsequently sanction a staff member against the backdrop of any such fact and/or allegation (in line herewith, see ST/AI/2017/1 (Unsatisfactory conduct, investigations and the disciplinary process), in particular para. 8.3). Further, this is a matter of access to justice...

The Tribunal concluded that the Respondent had substantiated with clear and convincing evidence the factual basis of the contested decision. The mere fact that the Applicant had knowingly submitted unauthentic invoices and receipts to Cigna, that action consitituted a violation of staff regulation 1.2(b) and amounted to misconduct. The sanction letter dated 8 March 2019 demonstrated that the Administration had undertaken a proper consideration of the nature of the Applicant’s actions as well as the mitigating and aggravating factors of the case. Accordingly, the disciplinary measure of...

The Tribunal found that that there was clear and convincing evidence that the Applicant committed the misconduct complained of, and that the established facts qualified as misconduct under the Staff Regulations and Rules, further that the sanction was proportionate to the offence and was therefore lawful. The Tribunal also found that there were no due process violations in the investigation and in the disciplinary process leading up to the disciplinary sanction against the Applicant. The degree of sensitivity of the alleged misconduct did not constitute an exceptional circumstance warranting...

UNDT found that at the earliest, the deadline to request management evaluation started to run on 22 August 2019 and expired on 21 October 2019. UNDT held that the Applicant’s 18 October 2019 request for management evaluation was timely and that her application was receivable. UNDT further held that the decision to pay the Applicant’s repatriation grant at the single rate was in accordance with the UNDP Policy as well as Annex IV to the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and was lawful. UNDT rejected the application in its entirety.

Whether the Applicant’s performance was managed or evaluated in a fair and objective manner The Tribunal notes that the Applicant has adduced evidence of possible bias and lack of objectivity in the evaluation of his performance by the FRO and the SRO… Even assuming that the FRO and the SRO evaluated the Applicant’s performance in a fair and an objective manner, they certainly failed to “proactively assist” the Applicant to remedy his performance shortcomings in accordance with section 10.1 of ST/AI/2010/5. Moreover, the undisputed interpersonal issues between the Applicant and his FRO have...

UNDT found that the Applicant did not contest the non-renewal of her fixed-term appointment, and held that the application was admissible as the Applicant properly requested management evaluation of the decision related to her non-selection. UNDT noted that the recruitment process was conducted in accordance with the UNDP’s Recruitment and Selection Policy. UNDT held that the Applicant was given full consideration in the selection process, and that her experience in the United Nations as well as her status as a staff member of the RCO in Turkey was properly recorded in the corporate panel...

UNDT denied the Applicant’s motion in which he sought the disclosure of an extensive amount of additional documents, as it was filed after the end of the collection of evidence and after the submissions of closing statements. UNDT held that the contested non-renewal decision was unlawful because the provided reason for it, namely lack of funding, was not based on correct facts. It was therefore not necessary for UNDT to examine whether the decision was tainted by ulterior motives, as also argued by the Applicant. UNDT held that the most appropriate remedy for the Applicant would be rescission...

The Tribunal found that the contested decision was not based on improper motives as had been alleged by the Applicant. Rather, UNDP had acted farily and transparently. Thus the Tribunal held that there was no illegality, irrationality and unfairness in the impugned decision.

UNDT held that the Applicant had no authority to demand a performance guarantee from an NGO Coordinator and that the Applicant’s intention was not to keep a performance guarantee, but rather to obtain a bribe from the NGO Coordinator. UNDT held that it was not convinced of the probative value of the alleged handwritten note which the Applicant claimed was evidence of his intention to request a performance guarantee. On the issue of the Applicant returning the alleged performance guarantee, UNDT held that the real intention of the Applicant and the Senior Programme Assistant was to avoid the...

UNDT preliminarily decided not to admit the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Coordinator’s testimony into evidence, holding that it was not required because the case record already contained relevant evidence in relation to the facts in which he had been involved. UNDT held that the evidence showed that neither the Applicant nor the Senior Programme Officer were involved in the implementation of the project. In fact, a Senior Reintegration Officer had overall responsibility for it as he requested an operational advance and, consequently, was personally responsible for the funds. UNDT...

Non-selection The job responsibilities of the post the Applicant applied for and the post occupied by her spouse, who both report to the same supervisor, are closely related. The Organization reasonably determined that the appointment of the Applicant to the post would create an actual or possible conflict of interest due to her marriage to her spouse. The decision was also procedurally compliant since, contrary to the Applicant’s argument, the decision did not require a prior review by the Compliance Review Body and the hiring manager. The decision was not irrational or arbitrary just because...

Whether the application is receivable The Tribunal considers that the issues concerning the eligibility of SPA and the timeliness of its request are questions for the merits and have no bearing on receivability. Thus, the core receivability issue before the Tribunal is whether the contested decision falls within the scope of art. 2.1(a) of its Statute. The Tribunal is of the view that the contested decision fulfils the test of Andronov. It has been “shown to adversely affect the rights or expectations of the staff member” (see Michaud 2017-UNAT-761, para. 50), and thus has a direct legal...

The Respondent’s argument that the Applicant did not request management evaluation of the contested decision within 60 days was rooted in the erroneous belief that the MOU, which expressly states that it constituted notice that the Applicant’s appointment would not be renewed beyond 29 February 2020 and that she would be separated as a result, related to the Applicants general right to be reabsorbed into MINUSMA. The right to a general lien is intrinsic to a secondment, meaning that it is inalienable and so the Applicant could not have contracted herself out of it. The notice of separation and...

Although the Organization’s payment of the Applicant’s final entitlements into the wrong bank account was a serious irregularity, the Tribunal concluded that the irregularity did not obliterate the fact that the Organization discharged its final payment obligation toward the Applicant because the payment was made into the Applicant’s account on record. This mistake did not cause financial damage to the Applicant but rather resulted in a reduction of his personal liabilities. Further, the Applicant had had several opportunities to authorize the return of the funds to the Organization, and thus...

While the schedule set for the written assessment was probably inconvenient for the Applicant. However, he did not even attempt to provide a reason, neither when he was notified of the assessment’s schedule nor in his application, why it was not possible for him to take the test. He simply asked for the test to be rescheduled to coincide with the working hours at his location. The reason provided by the Administration for not being able to accommodate different schedules, namely the avoidance of leaks, is fair and reasonable.Therefore, the Applicant’s decision not to participate in the...

The established facts qualified as misconduct under the Staff Regulations and Rules. There was evidence that the totality of the circumstances, including mitigating factors such as the Applicant’s long service with the Organization and her admission, albeit only after the Organization’s discovery of her fraud, were considered in keeping with set principles. There was basis for the assertion that the practice of the Secretary-General in disciplinary matters shows that measures at the stricter end of the spectrum have normally been imposed by the Organization in cases involving falsification of...

The Applicant’s appointment rested with the Human Resources Section and not the DMS, the mere recommendation by the latter of extension of the contract did not constitute a firm commitment for the Organization under the applicable jurisprudence, nor did the extension of his ground pass, which is a mere organizational permission. Therefore, the Tribunal finds that the Applicant did not have a legitimate expectation of renewal of his fixed-term appointment. The Applicant’s post was among those whose unique function was to be abolished in the affected unit and therefore, deemed to be a “dry cut”...

The contested decision fell within the Administration’s margin of appreciation and was a reasonable exercise of discretion. Under the applicable legal framework, the Applicant is not entitled to force the Administration to investigate her complaint. To the contrary, the responsible official is provided with a discretion to initiate or not to initiate an investigation under the applicable legal framework. The decisionmaker reasonably decided not to investigate the Applicant’s complaint in light of the alleged harasser’s resignation. The decision was also procedurally compliant as the...

The Applicant, as the aggrieved individual, was entitled to be informed of the outcome of the investigation and the action taken pursuant to sec. 5.18(c) of ST/SGB/2008/5. Section 5.18(c) of ST/SGB/2008/5 cannot be read as providing a mere right to be informed of the outcome of the investigation and of the action taken, but must be interpreted as providing a right to the aggrieved staff member that a disciplinary process be started unless exceptional circumstances arise. In the present case, the person to be disciplined was no longer a staff member, and the parties disagreed on whether the...