2015-UNAT-501

2015-UNAT-501, Andreyev

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General in which he appealed the order of the award of damages and averred that UNDT erred on questions of law and fact and exceeded its competence in awarding damages. UNAT held that the reasonable expectation of the duration of Mr Andreyev’s contract was one year and reduced the award of compensation in lieu of rescission. UNAT held that there was no evidence of harm to support the award for moral damages. UNAT granted the Secretary-General’s appeal, reduced the UNDT’s award of compensation in lieu of rescission to nine months’ net base salary, less any amount which had been paid as termination indemnity, and vacated the award for moral damages.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

Mr Andreyev contested the decision to terminate his appointment, due to retrenchment. UNDT found for Mr Andreyev and awarded compensation.

Legal Principle(s)

Any consideration of an award of damages for persons recruited on fixed-term contracts must take into account, among other things, the term of the contract and the remainder of the said term, if any, at the time of any alleged breach. Not every breach will give rise to an award of moral damages; this will necessarily depend on the nature of the evidence put forward before UNDT.

Outcome

Appeal granted in part

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The judgment summaries were generally prepared in English. They were translated into French and are being reviewed for accuracy of the translation.

Full Judgment

Applicants/Appellants

Andreyev

Entity

Case Number(s)

Tribunal

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