2021-UNAT-1175

2021-UNAT-1175, Bhaskar Palit

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

As a preliminary matter, UNAT denied the Appellant’s request for an oral hearing. UNAT held that the Appellant failed to discharge his burden of showing that the UNDT Judgment was defective or identifying grounds for appeal. In addition, UNAT held there was no basis for vacating the UNDT Judgment. UNAT held that the Appellant did not specifically contest the UNDT’s findings on receivability and that receivability was not therefore an issue before it. UNAT held that even if receivability was an issue before it, there was nothing provided by the Appellant to suggest that UNDT erred in its findings on receivability. UNAT held that UNDT did not err by finding that the Appellant had not discharged his burden to demonstrate that his non-selection was tainted by improper motive, bias, or abuse of authority. Noting that the Appellant was given the opportunity to participate in a corrected selection process, UNAT held that, by failing to participate in the necessary recruitment procedures without reasonable excuse, the Appellant was estopped from contesting the procedures and the selection outcome. UNAT held that, given UNDT did not make any errors of law or fact in its Judgment, UNAT was precluded from awarding the remedies requested by the Appellant, including any award for costs. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT Judgment.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

The Appellant contested the decision to separate him from service upon the abolishment of his post and his non-selection for the post of Fundraising Officer. UNDT dismissed his application.

Legal Principle(s)

It is not sufficient in an appeal for an appellant simply to set out how they disagree with the UNDT outcome or attempt to have the matter retried. The burden of proving improper motives, such as abuse of authority, discrimination, retaliation, or harassment, rests with the person making the allegation. The purpose of management evaluation is to afford the Administration the opportunity to correct any errors in an administrative decision so that judicial review of the administrative decision is not necessary. By failing to participate in a corrected recruitment procedure without reasonable excuse, an appellant may be estopped from contesting the procedures and the selection outcome. Compensation cannot be awarded when no illegality has been established; it cannot be granted when there is no breach of the staff member’s rights or administrative wrongdoing in need of repair.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed on merits

Outcome Extra Text

N/A

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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

Bhaskar Palit

Entity

Case Number(s)

Tribunal

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