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With respect to the Appellant’s first claim, UNAT agreed with UNDT’s decision and noted that it is well-settled jurisprudence that an international Organisation necessarily has the power to restructure some or all of its departments or units, including the abolition of posts, the creation of new posts and the redeployment of staff. To that end, UNAT will not interfere with a genuine Organisational restructuring even though it may have resulted in the loss of employment of staff. UNAT agreed with UNDT in that the decision to abolish Appellant’s post was not receivable ratione materiae. UNAT...

UNAT held that UNDT did not err that, in the circumstances of the complaints made and the importance of the Appellant’s role in a difficult duty station, the Respondent was entitled to place the Appellant on Special Leave with Pay while it investigated the allegations against him. UNAT held that UNDT ought not to have relied upon Morsy (judgment No. 2013-UNAT-298), Assale (judgment No. 2015-UNAT-534), and Sarwar (judgment No. 2017-UNAT-757) as it did. UNAT noted that in the Appellant’s case, not only was there a performance-related justification required to be established but no proper...

UNAT held that the case was fully and fairly considered by UNDT. UNAT found no error of law or fact in the UNDT decision. UNAT held that UNDT thoroughly considered the material facts of the case at issue and found that the qualification the Appellant had attained was not the equivalent of the required first-level university degree. UNAT held that there was no error of fact resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision. UNAT held that the UNDT conclusions were consistent with the evidence and that the Appellant did not put forward any persuasive grounds to warrant interference by UNAT. UNAT...

UNAT held that the decision to separate the Applicant was arbitrary, discriminatory, constituted an abuse of authority, and was unlawful.  UNAT held that UNDT was not obliged to set an in-lieu compensation amount, as the decision concerned a lateral transfer, not an appointment, promotion, or termination. UNAT upheld UNDT’s finding that Ms. Koduru’s testimony was not compelling enough to serve as a basis for an award of moral damages. UNAT rejected Ms. Koduru’s request for costs. UNDT dismissed the appeal and the cross-appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.
Accountability referral: The UNAT...

UNAT held that the Appellant did not produce sufficient evidence to support her allegations of bias, discrimination, and/or improper motives. UNAT held that it had examined all of the grounds raised in the appeal and held that there was no evidence that the Administration did not act fairly, justly, and transparently throughout the restructuring process. UNAT held that the Appellant failed to establish any error in law or fact to support her case for a reversal of the UNDT judgment. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.

The Secretary-General appealed UNDT’s finding that the contested decisions to abolish Ms Nouinou’s post, the consequent decision not to renew her two-year fixed-term appointment, and the refusal to re-assign her for two months under a zero-dollar incumbency, where she had been selected for a short-term position, were unlawful. UNAT held that UNDT made a grave error in law in terms of the basic legal position, which defined the subject of the litigation before it and the appeal. UNAT held that there was no administrative decision to terminate Ms Nouinou’s contract prior to its expiration and...

UNAT held that UNDT did not err in the amount of compensation it awarded, having considered all relevant circumstances, including the mitigating factor of the Appellant securing new employment. UNAT held that UNDT did not commit an error of law or make manifestly unreasonable factual findings in its award of financial damages. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in law, and followed binding UNAT precedent, by refusing to award moral damages based solely on the Appellant’s testimony. UNAT noted that the Appellant had had the opportunity before UNDT to apply to adduce the relevant evidence but had...

UNAT considered an appeal by Ms. Patkar. UNAT dismissed the Appellant's argument that the UNDT erred in fact, law or failed to exercise its jurisdiction in concluding that the Appellant had not been granted sick leave that was then terminated or retracted. The MSD email to the Appellant concerned an evaluation of her fitness to work based on the medical report she had submitted and there was no evidence that the UNOPS Administration had approved such leave. UNAT further held that that the Appellant’s entitlement to sick leave did not outlive the expiration of the fixed-term appointment as...

UNAT first agreed with the UNDT that the abolition of post was not a reviewable administrative decision. Second, UNAT ruled there was no evidence of improper motives regarding the non-renewal of the staff member’s appointment. The staff member’s main contention on appeal was that his post should have been subject to a Comparative Review Process (CRP) instead of being identified as a “dry cut.” A “dry cut” happens when a post is unique and can therefore be abolished without a comparative review. The staff member claims his post should have undergone a CRP because there were other P-5 political...

UNAT held that the Appellant did not meet the burden of showing that the UNDT Judgment was defective on the grounds outlined in Article 2(1) of the UNAT Statute. UNAT held that UNDT fully and fairly considered the Appellant’s allegations and there was no error of law or fact in the UNDT Judgment. UNAT held that there was no evidence that the Appellant’s gender or status of being on maternity leave factored into the decision not to renew her contract. UNAT held that the reasons proffered by the Administration for not renewing the Appellant’s fixed-term appointment, namely the lack of funding...