Judgment No. 4418

• Organization: European Patent Organisation (EPO)
• Date: 07.07.2021
• Original: English
• Judges: Frydman, Barbagallo, Moore
• Full judgment text - Full judgment text (french)

Decision

The complaints are dismissed.

Summary

The complainants challenge the Administration’s failure to respect the statutory time limit for the submission of documents to the General Advisory Committee for the purposes of consultation prior to the adoption of a New Pension Scheme and a corresponding Salary Savings Plan for employees taking up their duties with the EPO on or after 1 January 2009.

Judgment keywords

Keywords

consultation; complaint dismissed

Consideration 3

Extract:

The two complaints are based on the same facts and raise the same questions of law. They are therefore joined so that one judgment can be rendered.

Keywords

joinder

Considerations 6-7 and 11

Extract:

There are numerous judgments of the Tribunal concerning the legal consequences of the failure of an organisation to consult with representative bodies before decisions are made by the organisation and what relief should be granted.

In recent cases concerning the EPO where failure to consult had been established, on some occasions decisions have been set aside or quashed (see, for example, Judgment 3522) but, on other occasions, they have not (see, for example, Judgment 4385).
[…]
In the present case, the Tribunal is not satisfied that the contentious October 2008 decisions should be quashed. The decisions were tainted only with a procedural flaw of lesser importance.

Reference(s)

ILOAT Judgment(s): 3522, 4385

Keywords

consultation; procedural flaw