UNDT/2014/021, Portillo-Moya

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

The parties agreed that the facts were not contested and that the issue for the Tribunal’s consideration was whether the disciplinary measure of separation from service with compensation in lieu of notice and without termination indemnities was proportionate to the Applicant’s conduct. Taking the mitigation circumstances into consideration, the UNDT found that the sanction was not proportionate to the facts and substituted it for the lesser sanction of separation from service with termination indemnities. The Tribunal agrees with the facts that the Applicant’s conduct was improper and that she created and offensive and intimidating work environment and that she did not respect certain WFP rules regarding the processing and distribution of goods as well as WFP’s financial obligations. The Tribunal further finds that she was made aware of problems related to her behavior and that she did not address them. The Tribunal considers that WFP did not give sufficient weight and did not fully consider the mitigating circumstance and it therefore accepts the Applicant’s contention that the entire context in which the misconduct occurred was not correctly evaluated by the decision-maker in determining the applicable disciplinary sanction..

Decision Contested or Judgment Appealed

The Applicant contests her separation from service without termination indemnity following an investigation into a written complaint that she had breached the World Food Programme’s (“WFP”) rules regarding harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of the authority as well as financial and transport rules.

Legal Principle(s)

N/A

Outcome
Judgment entered for Applicant in full or in part
Outcome Extra Text

Only financial compensation

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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.

Applicants/ Appellants
Portillo-Moya
Entity
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Tribunal
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Date of Judgment
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