����AV

The Administration has established that there is clear and convincing evidence that the Applicant engaged in a conflict of interest in procurement processes and that he misused UNDP property.

Under relevant rules and regulations, the Applicant clearly had an obligation to disclose fully and accurately his personal connection with Prime Options and St. Paul’s, which were grounds to support a conflict of interest, and to recuse himself from any involvement in the procurement processes involving those two vendors. However, neither did the Applicant disclose the actual or possible conflicts of...

With respect to the Secretary-General's appeal of the UNDT finding that misconduct under Count 2 was not established, the UNAT held that the UNDT did not err in fact, resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision. Messages sent by the staff member to his neighbour were suggestions and statements to a person who was not a witness at the time. The staff member was not under and did not suspect he would likely be under an investigation at the time he sent the messages. The neighbour found them appropriate and did not feel “influenced” by them.

The UNAT also denied the Secretary-General’s...

The UNAT held that the staff member’s argument that the UNDT applied the incorrect standard of proof is unsubstantiated, as the main facts of the case were undisputed by both parties. She had admitted having used UN Womens’ UPS account to send two private shipments abroad, without mentioning any prior authorization. The aggravating and mitigating elements reviewed by the UNDT were by nature peripheral to the sanction imposed. The UNAT found that even if it was not appropriate for the Administration to use a prior act of possible misconduct as an aggravating factor (as it was not previously...

The UNAT upheld the UNDT’s conclusions that (1) four of the six incidents underlying the hostile work environment charge against the appellant were not established, but that two incidents were; and (2) appellant had unlawfully interfered with a recruitment exercise which also created a hostile work environment. The UNAT rejected appellant’s contention that because the UNDT considered that certain actions were not harassment, that they could not constitute misconduct. Whereas certain comments by the appellant about the gender composition of the senior management team, or a failure by appellant...

The UNAT held that the Dispute Tribunal correctly reasoned that under the UNFPA Disciplinary Framework, the assessment of the facts of misconduct is not exclusive to OAIS, but that the Director of the Department of Human Resources (Director/DHR) must also analyze the evidence, and such analysis could lead DHR to a different conclusion than that of OAIS. Accordingly, in this case, the UNAT found that the UNFPA Administration had the authority or locus standi to proceed with a disciplinary process even in the absence of a finding of misconduct by OAIS. The UNAT further held that the UNFPA...

The Tribunal found that there were severe failures in affording the Applicant due process during the investigation. After first interviewing her as a non-subject, SIU later decided that she would be a subject of the investigation but did not then afford her the due process entitlements under section 10 of ST/AI/2017/1. While there was procedural unfairness to the Applicant, inefficiency and a lack of reporting transparency; there was no due process failing on the part of the decision-maker since her decision expressly considered not only the SIU investigation report but also the Applicant’s...

There is no evidence of collusion or bias against the Applicant. On the contrary, several congruent testimonies corroborated the complainants’ statements and confirmed the allegations of bullying and harassment against the Applicant. The Applicant failed to substantiate his arguments against the complaint and the complainants. The facts are established by a preponderance of evidence and constitute misconduct.
Bearing in mind the nature of the facts attributed to the Applicant, it is not unreasonable that he be obliged to attend mandatory training to improve his managerial and communication’s...

It was crucial for the Tribunal to examine the relationship between the Applicant and the alleged victim of his behaviour. There was clear evidence of constant financial support to the complainant/victim. The Applicant built a relationship of trust with the complainant/victimthe where she was able to rely on him for support and was comfortable to meet with him outside of the UNFPA Malawi Country Office. The victim was placed in a very vulnerable position. The abuse by the Applicant was not an isolated episode, as the Applicant is accused also for sexual assault and harassment in different...

Whether the facts on which the disciplinary measures were based have been established There is evidence that the Applicant improperly interfered with the recruitment exercise for the position of LSA Sulaymaniyah. Also, the Applicant does not dispute the fact that he did not report potential misconduct on the part of his supervisor. Accordingly, the Administration has established to the requisite standard of proof the facts on which the disciplinary measures were based. Whether the established facts legally amount to misconduct The Administration correctly determined that:

a. By moving Mr. D...

On the due process prong, the Tribunal concluded that the process leading to the imposition of the disciplinary measure was carried out in compliance with the UNDP Legal Framework for Addressing non-compliance with United Nations Standards of Conduct and the UNDP Office of Audit and Investigation Guidelines. Accordingly, the Tribunal held that the Applicant’s due process rights were guaranteed. On whether the facts were established by clear and convincing evidence, the Tribunal noted that the Applicant did not deny or even challenge the fact that the Respondent had proved that she had: i...