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UNAT held that concern about a high-level manager’s poor performance was not an improper motive or basis for the decision not to renew a fixed-term appointment. UNAT noted that it was well within the discretion of UNDT to determine the amount of compensation for moral damages to award a staff member for procedural violations in light of the unique circumstances of each case. UNAT held that the cases cited by the Appellant as examples of higher awards were neither applicable nor persuasive. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in awarding moral damages of USD 25,000. UNAT held there was no merit in...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that, at the time UNICEF sought to make the correction from termination to non-renewal, the staff member was already separated from service, and it was, therefore, too late to reverse the decision. UNAT affirmed UNDT’s finding that the staff member’s separation from service was termination on grounds of alleged unsatisfactory performance and that the Administration’s decision to reverse the decision was untimely and ineffective. UNAT held that there was no reason to reverse UNDT’s finding that the staff member had been deprived of a...

UNAT held that the UNDT’s finding regarding the application of ST/AI/2002/3, namely that as the provisions of the UNFPA Separation Policy contravened the ones in ST/AI/2002/3, the latter should apply, was an error of law and fact as ST/AI/2002/3 was not applicable to UNFPA. UNAT rejected UNDT’s finding that the timing of the decision to terminate the Appellant’s permanent contract for unsatisfactory service meant that a new procedure should have been initiated based on the new period of reference. UNAT held that it would be unreasonable to require the Administration to restart the termination...

UNAT dismissed the Appellant’s request for an oral hearing prior to consideration of the appeal. UNAT also rejected the Appellant's claim that UNRWA DT was biased in ordering that the five applications be consolidated into a single judgment. With respect to the appeal itself, UNAT held that the appeal of the decisions denying disability benefits and finding the non-payment of termination claim not receivable, had no legal basis. Regarding the Appellant’s challenge to the Commissioner-General’s decision to render the findings of the medical board moot and not to pay him a disability benefit...

UNAT held that the UNDT’s determination that the decision to terminate the appointment was unlawful on account of the repeated non-compliance with ST/AI/2010/5 was formalistic. While obviously a work plan should be finalized at the beginning of a cycle, UNDT held that there was nothing in ST/AI/2010/5 that held any failure to generate a work plan at the commencement of a cycle to be a procedural flaw resulting axiomatically in any subsequent decision to terminate an appointment being unlawful. Likewise, there is no such consequence for not holding a midpoint review in a timely manner. UNAT...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT erred in reopening a matter that had already been the subject of a final judgment of UNAT. UNAT considered that UNDT exceeded its competence and erred in law by making its own determination of Mr Sarwar’s harassment complaint, emphasising that the role of the Tribunal is not to substitute its own decision for that of the Administration. UNAT held that UNDT erred when it rescinded the contested decision to close the matter underlying the Appellant’s formal complaint, and when it ruled that there was no need for a new...

UNAT held that the Appellant had demonstrated no exceptional circumstances which would justify UNAT exercising its discretion to file additional pleadings. UNAT held that an application before UNDT without a prior request for management evaluation can only be receivable if the contested administrative decision has been taken pursuant to advise from a technical body, or if the administrative decision has been taken at Headquarters in New York to impose a disciplinary or non-disciplinary measure pursuant to Staff Rule 10.2 following the completion of a disciplinary process. UNAT held that the...

With respect to the Appellant’s appeal as it pertained to his 2016 performance evaluation and OTI, UNAT held that UNRWA DT did not err on a question of law or fact resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision, nor did it commit an error in procedure such as to affect the outcome of the case. UNAT held that the issue of the e-PERs of the other staff members was not raised before UNRWA DT and, therefore, was not receivable. UNAT held that the reopening of the 2016 e-PER did not affect the overall performance evaluation, which was maintained as “fully meets” expectations, and therefore this...

UNAT held that, although no performance evaluation process was legally required for termination, an appropriate procedure should have been followed. UNAT held that UNRWA failed to indicate that the contract would be terminated before its expiration date if the staff member did not improve his performance, and the lack of fair warning rendered the decision to terminate unlawfully. UNAT granted the appeal in part, rescinded the termination decision, and ordered reinstatement, with an in-lieu compensation of two months’ net base salary.

The Applicant did not respond to a case management order. She was therefore no longer interested in the pursuit and outcome of the proceedings which were deemed to have been abandoned. The matter was dismissed for want of prosecution.