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The UNAT expressed serious concern about the lack of a sufficient record of reasons supporting the choice of the selected candidate over the staff member at the time of the contested decision.

The UNAT found that gender and geographical considerations were unevenly applied in the selection exercise, positively assessing the British male while ignoring or discounting that the staff member was an Indian female. Contrary to Staff Regulation 4.4, in which the fullest regard should be given to internal candidates, the UNAT found that her UN experience was used to disadvantage her. The UNAT also...

The UNAT rejected Mr. Salon’s argument that the prior UNAT Judgment made incorrect findings of fact regarding the dates that he made requests for management evaluation or filed complaints. The UNAT held that Mr. Salon was not seeking clarification of the UNAT Judgment but was rather attempting to relitigate his case, which is not an appropriate use of the UNAT Statute’s provisions for an application for interpretation.

The UNAT found that there was no ambiguity in its Judgment and there was no basis for the application for interpretation. The meaning and scope of the UNAT Judgment was clear...

The UNAT held that the UNRWA DT did not err in finding that there was clear and convincing evidence to support that the applicant had engaged in abuse of authority by intimidating a staff member to file a false complaint of sexual harassment against another staff member. The UNRWA DT weighed the conflicting testimonies and assessed the credibility of the witnesses and found that she had a motive to solicit the false complaint.

The UNAT held that the UNRWA DT did not err in declining to review the other misconduct allegations against her, given that the abuse of authority allegation was the...

The UNAT held that even though the Commissioner-General had mistakenly reimbursed the fine to Mr. El-Haj after the issuance of the UNRWA DT Judgment, since the fine was subsequently reimposed, the appeal was not moot.

The UNAT held that in order to find that a staff member’s conduct was “serious misconduct” so as to warrant a more serious sanction, the Commissioner-General had to provide reasons for this determination. In this case, the Commissioner-General provided no reasons, and the UNAT rejected the Commissioner-General’s argument that reasons were not necessary because it was manifestly...

The UNAT noted that the staff member had filed his appeal of the UNRWA DT Judgment on his application for execution before the UNAT Judgment in the underlying case was issued and the Commissioner-General had an opportunity to address the UNAT Judgment before submitting the answer to the present appeal. The UNAT found that given these circumstances, it was in the interest of procedural fairness to allow the staff member to submit additional pleadings 20 days from the issuance of the Order and not exceeding five pages. The UNAT granted the motion for additional pleadings.

The UNAT found that the presented reasons for an extension did not qualify as exceptional circumstances and did not necessitate an extension in the interest of justice. The UNAT denied the motion for an extension of the time limit to file the appeal.

The UNAT found that the present motion was distinguishable from a typical motion for withdrawal of an appeal: the non-moving party objects to the withdrawal as a revised appeal would enable the Secretary-General to address arguments included in the answer and, second, the Secretary-General still deems it necessary to pursue an appeal. The UNAT held that its reiteration in a recent case that appeals on the merits and relief should be considered together had not been new and was an insufficient basis on which to request the filing of a revised appeal. The UNAT found, however, that when the UNDT...

The UNAT found that the Secretary-General’s request that it suspend the time limit for filing the answer until the motion for summary judgment was decided was moot because the Secretary-General had already filed the answer. The UNAT observed that the timing of the Secretary-General’s request for a suspension of the time limit had been most impractical as the staff member would not have the opportunity to comment on the motion for summary judgment. The UNAT nonetheless found that, given that the pleadings were complete, it was most practicable to decide this appeal during its regular session as...

The UNAT, by the rationale applicable to appeals and specific claims, allowed the staff member to withdraw the earlier motion without justification. The UNAT granted the motion to withdraw the motion to increase the page limit of the appeal brief.

The UNAT noted with concern that the JAB had been dismantled temporarily without prior warning given to ISA staff members and with no reasons provided by the Administration; it was also alarming that the Administration had dismantled the JAB with no successor in place, denying the staff members access to justice in the interim. The UNAT found that there were no judgments or decisions from the JAB against which the UNAT could evaluate the requested relief. The UNAT held that the motions had become moot as the JAB had since been reconstituted and a panel to consider the requests for suspension...