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UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that the UNDT erred in fact and in law in its finding that the facts of misconduct were not established by clear and convincing evidence. UNAT held that a number of the factual findings made by UNDT were not supported by the evidence and were unreasonable. UNAT held that the UNDT should have limited itself to determining whether the Secretary-General was within his authority to impose disciplinary measures on Mr. Hossain, and that by speculating on the misconduct of another individual, the UNDT exceeded its competence. UNAT held...

UNAT considered an appeal by Ms. Modey-Ebi. UNAT noted that the issues in the appeal were entirely factual, most of which were resolved on the evidentiary record which in most respects established a pattern of misconduct justifying dismissal. UNAT noted that while some of the proven allegations against Ms. Modey-Ebi were less serious than others, cumulatively they revealed a pattern of unethical conduct indicating that Ms. Modey-Ebi was not suited for the senior position she held. Her behaviour revealed a lack of propriety and integrity and her behaviour was inconsistent with her duties under...

It was not disputed that the Applicant borrowed money from a Sales Manager working in a company doing business with MONUC. In the light of the applicable law and in particular the financial and procurement rules, the Tribunal found that misconduct had been properly established. Nonetheless, the Tribunal found a certain number of mitigating factors such as the fact that he repaid the loan in full and that it was a “one-off decision”. Therefore, the Tribunal took the view that the sanction was not proportionate.

The Tribunal held that since summary dismissal/termination may have been the possible outcome at the end of the disciplinary process, the Respondent had to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the daily casual worker (Mary) was transferred to MovCon as a result of the alleged sexual relationship between her and the Applicant. The Tribunal concluded that the facts upon which the disciplinary measure was based were not established and that the facts which were established did not legally amount to misconduct under the Regulations and Rules of the United Nations. Consequently, the...

The practice of placing reliance upon recordings in initial fact finding exercises and interview notes of appointed investigators in an effort to establish gross misconduct warranting summary dismissal before the Tribunal is grossly inadequate and cannot establish the facts in issue. An investigator must be committed to ascertaining the facts of the case through relevant inquiry involving the questioning of witnesses, forensic evidence where necessary and identification and collection of relevant documentary evidence. The investigator’s findings should be based on substantiated facts and...

Effect of the breach of due process rights: The Tribunal found that while the Applicant had been denied some of his due process rights at the investigation stage, this breach was cured by the subsequent court proceedings. Further, the Tribunal held that the sanction of summary dismissal was fully justified in view of: (i) the status of the Applicant in the procurement process of ECA; (ii) the fact that he contracted with United Nations vendors without disclosing that fact in clear terms; and (iii) the fact that he was engaged to some extent in the activities of two other companies without...

ReceivabilityThe placement of a staff member on administrative leave is within the discretion of the Secretary-General. It is an administrative decision for the purposes of art. 8.1 (c) of the Statute and within the well settled meaning of an administrative action as laid down in Andronov. The Tribunal cannot assume jurisdiction to determine the validity of an administrative decision unless it has been first referred to the Management Evaluation Unit pursuant to art.11.2 of the Staff Rules. In the absence of management evaluation of the decision to place the Applicant on administrative leave...

Duty to report receipt of overpayments - The Applicant failed in his duty to make the Organization aware of overpayments made to him, as provided for in section 2.4 of ST/AI/2009/1. The wordings of ST/AI/2009/1 create a duty for staff members not only to report the receipt of overpayments but also to take steps to ensure their recovery. In other words, it necessarily prohibits the unauthorised prevention of said recovery. Proportionality of disciplinary sanctions - Taking into account all the mitigating factors, the sanction of termination imposed by the Respondent was not proportionate to the...

The Tribunal concluded that: the investigation was carried out in accordance with the correct procedures; the facts were established by clear and convincing evidence; the facts established amounted to misconduct under the staff regulations and rules and that the sanction imposed was not excessive. Due process and procedural fairness: The Tribunal rejected the Applicant’s submission that the investigation into his actions should not have been commenced because there was no evidence of harm to the Organization. Pursuant to ST/AI/371/Amend.1, once there is reason to believe that a staff member...

The allegations of soliciting and receiving money from several UNMISS International Individual Contractors (IICs) were proven by clear and convincing evidence and that the established facts legally amounted to misconduct under the staff regulation 1.2(g) and staff rule 1.2(k) because in 2014 and 2015, the Applicant solicited and/or accepted monetary payments from the IICs knowing that these payments were being made because of assistance he provided or was believed to have provided in his position as a finance assistant with the Organization. In the absence of a request for management...