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Judgment No. 361

Decision

1. THE CLAIM FOR AN ORDER REQUIRING THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO OFFER THE COMPLAINANT A NEW POST IS DISMISSED.
2. THE CLAIM FOR AN ORDER REQUIRING THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO PROVIDE THE COMPLAINANT WITH A TRUE EXPLANATION IN WRITING IS DISMISSED.
3. THE COMPLAINANT IS AWARDED 30,000 SWISS FRANCS AS COMPENSATION FOR MORAL AND PROFESSIONAL PREJUDICE.
4. THE COMPLAINANT IS AWARDED 2,000 SWISS FRANCS AS PARTIAL REIMBURSEMENT OF HIS COSTS.

Consideration 1

Extract:

"In a special application annexed to the rejoinder and made under Article 14 of the Rules of court the complainant has indicated the names and descriptions of 16 witnesses whom he desires to reply in writing to the questions he has framed; he has divided these names into three categories. The Tribunal refuses the application [...] for the reasons which will appear [in paragraphs 26 and 31 of the judgment] and [...] because the questions framed are not relevant to any issue which the Tribunal has to decide."

Reference(s)

ILOAT reference: ARTICLE 14 OF THE RULES

Keywords

tribunal; testimony; refusal

Consideration 9

Extract:

Vide Judgment 367, consideration 16.

Reference(s)

ILOAT Judgment(s): 367

Keywords

moral injury; organisation's duties; working relations

Consideration 40

Extract:

To find moral prejudice in the manner of execution of the impugned decisions, none of which has been invalidated, "is to take a very exceptional course and one which can be taken [...] only in circumstances in which grave injury of a kind likely to impair a staff member's career has been left unredressed."

Keywords

injury; moral injury; professional injury; exception; damages

Consideration 29

Extract:

"[I]f an unexplained decision is also apparently inexplicable, silence will provide a foundation for an inference that there must have been at work in the decision making some element, such as prejudice or a conclusion falsely drawn, which would require the Tribunal to interfere with the discretion. The Tribunal considers that an unexplained decision to remove the complainant after 12 days from an assignment that was clearly intended to last until the new appointment might well justify such an inference [...]."

Keywords

decision; duty to substantiate decision; grounds; assignment; flaw; bias

Consideration 9

Extract:

Vide Judgment 367, consideration 16.

Reference(s)

ILOAT Judgment(s): 367

Keywords

professional injury; organisation's duties; respect for dignity; staff member's duties; supervisor; organisation's reputation

Consideration 42

Extract:

"The Tribunal concludes that the injury done to the complainant's feelings and reputation is so grave as to amount to a breach of obligation which calls for compensation. There must also be considered under this head the failure of the organisation to do all that is practicable to see that a staff member is given work and responsibility appropriate to his grade." [The complainant was summarily relieved of his duties as acting director of his division and left idle.]

Keywords

moral injury; professional injury; organisation's duties; refusal to assign work

Considerations 43-44

Extract:

The Director-General's decisions are valid, but not the manner in which they were implemented. The administration could have made it clear that the complainant was a victim of the reorganisation and was not to blame. Its silence made the situation even more distressing. "Accordingly, the claim for compensation for moral damage is allowed. Since money is to be the only form of redress, the amount must be sufficient to mark the gravity of the injury."

Keywords

decision; grounds; injury; moral injury; professional injury; transfer; reorganisation

Consideration 39

Extract:

To be rehabilitated the complainant would have had to be given a post with responsibilities at least equal to those which he had at the time of the events. "This is not necessarily to question the validity of the Director-General's decision [...]. The Director-General must exercise his power of appointment to pick the right man and would normally be precluded from using it as a way of making amends." But if he had been able to offer the complainant a distinct promotion, thus demonstrating his confidence in him, some of the prejudice complained of would have been removed.

Keywords

professional injury; assignment; discretion

Consideration 9

Extract:

"The Tribunal is not likely to concern itself with cases other than those of grave injury which has been left unredressed. But where such injury has occurred it is not the decision to take the action that is relevant - in substance it may be correct or incorrect - but the decision as to the form in which it should be taken and as to how it shall be executed."

Keywords

injury; moral injury; professional injury



 
Last updated: 19.08.2020 ^ top