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As part of a closing statement, the Applicant submitted new written evidence. The Tribunal rejected all new evidence as this evidence could have been submitted before the closing of the proceedings and no exceptional circumstances justified the late submission. The Applicant was not fully informed of all the evidence upon which the Administration would rely to impose the disciplinary sanction. However, he was nevertheless informed of the allegations against him and therefore the Tribunal proceeded to a de novo review of the facts and a judicial review of the remaining aspects of the case. It...

Section 3.2 of ST/SGB/2008/5 imposes a “duty” on the Administration “to take all appropriate measures” with a view to “promot[ing] a harmonious work environment, free of intimidation, hostility, offence and any form of prohibited conduct”, but very limited statutory guidance is otherwise provided in the provision on what such measures could be in practice. The only example, at least as relevant to the present case, appears to be that “complaints of prohibited conduct are promptly addressed in a fair and impartial manner”. A search of the Appeals Tribunal’s jurisprudence reveals that the...

It was uncontested that a) the Applicant should have filed his application by 4 September 2019 (Geneva time) and b) he only filed it on 5 September 2019. The Applicant’s Counsel argues that “technical difficulties” and an “internal oversight” prevented OSLA from timely filing the application. The Tribunal noted that the CCMS records showed that the application was filed on 5 September 2019 at 1.01 p.m. (Geneva time). Also, the screenshot of the “error message” provided by the Applicant did not have a timestamp or any other element proving that there was an effective attempt to timely file the...

The Tribunal, after hearing evidence and submissions but before reaching a determination on the merits of the case save for a finding of procedural error, decided that this was an appropriate case in which to invoke art. 10.4 of the UNDT Statute to seek the concurrence of the Secretary-General to remand the case for institution or correction of the required procedure. The Tribunal considered it appropriate to approach the Secretary-General directly and not through Counsel who represents the SecretaryGeneral as the Respondent in this case. The Tribunal considered that such an approach would: (i...

The Applicant was charged with having engaged in two acts of misconduct, namely: cheating and helping others cheat in the psychometric and English language tests of the Entry-Level Humanitarian Professional Programme (EHP). The Tribunal pronouncements are reflected following the different steps in the analysis of the contested decision. Have the facts on which the disciplinary measure was based been established? The Tribunal found that the investigation report clearly stated the facts and the alleged misconduct. It also provided substantial and critical assessment of the evidence presented to...

The Applicant was charged with having engaged in misconduct, namely: cheating and helping others cheat in the psychometric and English language tests of the Entry-Level Humanitarian Professional Programme (EHP). The Tribunal pronouncements are reflected following the different steps in the analysis of the contested decision. Have the facts on which the disciplinary measure was based been established? The Tribunal found that the investigation report clearly stated the facts and the alleged misconduct. It also provided substantial and critical assessment of the evidence presented to the...

1)Disciplinary sanction The Applicant failed to disclose that her husband had been employed by UNICEF vendors during the Applicant’s employment with UNICEF and these material facts on which the disciplinary measure was based have been sufficiently established and were not in dispute between the parties. The legal framework is sufficiently clear in determining that a conflict of interest may exist even where there is only the possibility that the staff member or the private business with which he or she may have association could benefit from such association. The Administration properly...

Preliminary matters Loss of Applicant’s professional emails (potential evidence): One of the Applicant’s main arguments was that allegedly exculpatory evidence in her case (emails from and to the Applicant) had been lost which affected her due process rights, thus rendering the investigation unfair and improper. The Tribunal found that the alleged email evidence was not destroyed wilfully. Rather, it was destroyed as a consequence of the negligence of a number of people. The Tribunal noted that the investigators have a very high duty to locate and preserve evidence. The investigators are also...

Merits: The evaluation criteria in the comparative review matrix on record, against which the suitability of job candidates was appraised, did not correspond to the mandatory and desirable/advantageous qualifications, and in light of these anomalies alone, the Respondent failed to minimally demonstrate that the Applicant received full and fair consideration. Considering that the documents on record do not include any specific analysis with supporting documentation as to how the selected male candidate’s qualifications were clearly superior vis-à-vis the Applicant, the Applicant has proved...

Even if the investigation had been completed and it has been decided not to inform the Applicant of its outcome, such decision would still need to be submitted for management evaluation. No matter what the situation is—if a decision has been made on providing the Applicant information on the OIOS investigation or not—the application is not receivable.