Judgment 630
54th Session, 1984
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
The complainant was not given any work. The organisation refers to her frequent absences on sick leave. "If the complainant was ill the ILO was under a duty to grant her rights under the Staff Regulations."
Keywords:
applicable law; illness; organisation's duties; refusal to assign work; sick leave; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 620
53rd Session, 1984
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
The complainant suffers from angina pectoris; he did not receive regular medical examinations. The organization's breach of its duty deprived him of an opportunity to take precautions against an illness which has impaired his work capacity. The complainant is entitled to damages. "The award cannot be the full amount which would have been due had [the illness] been attributable beyond peradventure to the performance of official duties. But the FAO is liable in damages for injury the complainant may have suffered."
Keywords:
illness; injury; material damages; medical examination; organisation's duties; service-incurred;
Consideration 2
Extract:
The organization holds that the complainant need only to have asked for an examination to have had one. As a rule, every provision of the Regulations is intended to be put into effect, with the exception of those stated not to be binding. "There is no reason to suppose that the FAO was free to disregard [the provision on regular medical examinations]. In fact, in giving officials of the age of 55 or more a right to an examination every six months, the rule implies that the FAO is under a duty to have staff in other age groups examined."
Keywords:
illness; medical examination; organisation's duties; service-incurred;
Judgment 528
49th Session, 1982
European Organization for Nuclear Research
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
"Though the existence of such a risk [noise levels] is, in the Tribunal's view, a material point, it does not suffice to establish that the complainant's disability was service-incurred".
Keywords:
elements; evidence; illness; service-incurred; working conditions;
Consideration 5
Extract:
The specialists "do no more than concede the likelihood of a causal link between the complainant's impairment and the discharge of his duties." The Internal Appeals Board summed up in cautious wording that "is not such as to allow the Tribunal to declare that the conditions in the [material rules] are fulfilled in the complainant's case. The presumptions in his favour are, with regard to all the points at issue, neither sufficiently precise nor sufficiently concordant".
Keywords:
evidence; illness; lack of evidence; presumption of innocence; service-incurred;
Consideration 3
Extract:
"Although the complainant took over eleven years to file a claim, it will not be declared time-barred in the absence of an express time limit. The time bar extinguishes obligations, and its existence will not be presumed: it must be expressly prescribed. [...] The sole consequence of the delay in lodging the claim is that proof is more difficult; but the matter is one of fact, not of law."
Keywords:
complaint; illness; invalidity; no provision; receivability of the complaint; service-incurred; time bar; time limit;
Consideration 4
Extract:
"It is for the employer to make proper arrangements for a comprehensive check-up of the applicant for employment. To expect him to prove that he is in perfect health would be to require him to disprove the existence of any impairment, and that is simply not feasible. [...] The burden is [however] on [the complainant] to satisfy the Tribunal with positive proof, that his impairment was service-incurred."
Keywords:
appointment; burden of proof; complainant; illness; medical examination; medical fitness; organisation; service-incurred;
Judgment 502
48th Session, 1982
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
The complainant suffers from illnesses which, he alleges, are due to his duties in the organization. Before appealing to the Tribunal, he should have exhausted the internal remedies and appealed to the Advisory Committee; that step was left out and the complaint is therefore not receivable. The complainant is still entitled to put his claims forward at the administrative level. For that purpose the parties need only designate the members of the Medical Board provided for in the Rules.
Keywords:
absence of final decision; case sent back to organisation; illness; internal remedies exhausted; medical board; receivability of the complaint; service-incurred;
Judgment 487
48th Session, 1982
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
"Neither the Regulations nor the Rules state what provisions apply when absence from duty which is claimed as sick leave is not authorised ex post facto. In particular the conditions for applying [a rule] which relates to unauthorised absence and prescribed disciplinary action, are not fulfilled. Accordingly, a case in which sick leave is not authorised ex post facto need not be assimilated to one of ordinary unauthorised absence."
Keywords:
illness; unauthorised absence;
Consideration 3
Extract:
The complainant's absence from duty for which the organization's medical officer thought the application of sick leave unjustified was set against annual leave; the complainant contends that it was in fact a disciplinary measure tainted with abuse of authority. "In the circumstances of this case the application of the [material rule] by analogy and the consequent exclusion of [another rule] which would have entailed disciplinary action [...] constitutes no abuse of authority, since that authority was not exercised for any unlawful purpose."
Keywords:
abuse of power; analogy; annual leave; enforcement; illness; misuse of authority; provision; refusal; sick leave; unauthorised absence;
Judgment 479
47th Session, 1982
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 8
Extract:
The complainant draws an invalidity pension for an illness contracted when on a mission as a consultant. The rules provide for a bigger pension if a dependant's allowance had been payable. "A dependant's allowance would not have been payable to the complainant. His contract did not provide for one in addition to his salary or fee. [A] staff rule [...] excludes from the staff members entitled to a dependant's allowance short-term staff and consultants." The claim for an increase was rightly rejected.
Keywords:
allowance; contract; dependant; disability benefit; external collaborator; illness; service-incurred; short-term;
Consideration 10
Extract:
"By the inclusion of the word 'function' ['organe' in the French version] in the [material provision] it is obviously intended that the loss of the use of a limb or member shall be treated in the same way as the actual loss. Whether it means more than this is open to question. Unless it does, it will not apply to persons like the complainant who are incapacitated by disease." The organization chose to apply another provision by analogy.
Keywords:
illness; incapacity; interpretation; invalidity; provision; service-incurred; staff regulations and rules;
Summary
Extract:
The complainant became disabled following a disease contracted during a one-month mission. The complainant receives an invalidity pension. His incapacity was assessed by the Tribunal at 100 per cent. The amount of the pension must be redetermined. The deductions made of a university retirement pension were unwarranted they must be reimbursed, with the amounts being indexed against inflation and with interest [2 per cent]; costs.
Keywords:
amount; disability benefit; illness; incapacity; invalidity; rate; reckoning; refund; service-incurred;
Judgment 362
41st Session, 1978
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"Under Article II of its Statute the Tribunal is open to any official [...] who is in dispute with the organisation concerning the compensation provided for in cases of invalidity, injury or disease incurred by him in the course of his employment."
Reference(s)
ILOAT reference: ARTICLE II OF THE STATUTE
Keywords:
competence of tribunal; illness; iloat statute; invalidity; professional accident; service-incurred;
Judgment 264
35th Session, 1975
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The complainant is right in claiming from the organisation "reimbursement of the difference between the amount to which she is entitled in respect of her husband and the amount to which her husband is entitled as an employee" of the Railway Corporation. The material provision is applicable, according to the general principles of existing law, even in the absence of express provision, irrespective of the sex of the official. If the official is a woman her husband should benefit from the sickness insurance if he does not himself benefit in his own right from a more favourable or equally favourable scheme.
Keywords:
amount; dependant; difference; health insurance; illness; insurance; medical expenses; right; supplementary coverage;
Considerations
Extract:
Under the applicable provision "an official's spouse is included among those who may be regarded as a staff member's dependant and as such is covered by sickness insurance. Such an interpretation of [the provision] reflects the actual situation of the spouses, who owe each other a duty of mutual assistance and who, when both are in gainful employment, may be regarded as mutually dependent."
Keywords:
definition; dependant; health insurance; illness; insurance;
Judgment 250
34th Session, 1975
Universal Postal Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
A clause in the complainant's contract provides for compensation in the event of "illness". It is unclear whether the term applies to all cases of illness or only to cases of illness which were due to performance of duties. Under the second interpretation, the person concerned would be entitled to full compensation for the prejudice suffered and its direct consequences, for example disability. "Without settling that question, and assuming in the complainant's favour that the second interpretation is correct", the Tribunal notes that the illness was not related to the performance of his duties.
Keywords:
compensation; condition; contract; illness; injury; interpretation; provision; service-incurred;
Considerations
Extract:
It appears from the evidence "that the complainant's duties, however demanding and difficult they may have been, did not as such require him regularly to work longer hours than might reasonably have been expected of a staff member in his position." The illness is thus not directly related to his duties "by reason of the particularly demanding nature thereof."
Keywords:
cause; illness; service-incurred; working conditions;
Considerations
Extract:
Assuming that the terms of appointment entitling the complainant to compensation cover only cases of illness which are the direct result of his duties, by reason of the particularly demanding nature thereof, "the complainant would be entitled, quite apart from the terms of his appointment and in accordance with the general principles of liability in public law, to full compensation for any prejudice suffered by him and its direct consequences, including, for example, chronic or temporary disability."
Keywords:
compensation; general principle; illness; injury; invalidity; liability; right; service-incurred;
Considerations
Extract:
The illness which the complainant suffered during his appointment with the organisation left no mark on him and it did not prevent him from resuming normal work in his national administration nor from obtaining high-level responsibilities. Since the organisation met all expenses incurred by reason of his illness, the complainant suffered no other prejudice thereby and cannot properly claim compensation for disability from which he does not in fact suffer.
Keywords:
consequence; health insurance; illness; invalidity; lack of injury; medical expenses;
Judgment 235
32nd Session, 1974
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The Tribunal's decision is subject to the specific circumstances of each case. It "is not to be taken as laying it down that death in a country to which an official is assigned and which lacks ordinary medical facilities can never be attributed to the performance of official duties."
Keywords:
cause; death; duty station; evidence; field; illness; service-incurred;
Judgment 189
28th Session, 1972
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"Whether the complainant did all that [could reasonably be expected of him] to comply with his obligations [under the rule respecting the submission of periodic reports in the event of illness] is open to doubt." The organization had offered to credit the complainant with four days' pay described as "special leave"; the complainant wanted "sick leave pay". The offer was sensible and reasonable and "the making of it left the claim without substance unless it could be said that some question of principle was involved. In the opinion of the Tribunal there is no such question."
Keywords:
cause of action; illness; lack of injury; no cause of action; offer; organisation; refusal; sick leave; special leave; staff member's duties;
Judgment 157
24th Session, 1970
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
On return from a mission, the complainant was ill. The organisation extended his contract for as long as the sick leave to which he was entitled under his contract. With the expiry of that contract, there was no longer any legal connection between the official and the organisation, which "could no longer lawfully grant him further sick leave or continue to bear his medical expenses." The organisation was bound by no provision nor any general principle of law to grant the complainant monetary compensation.
Keywords:
contract; extension of contract; fixed-term; health insurance; illness; medical expenses; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties; project personnel; service-incurred; sick leave;
Judgment 131
21st Session, 1969
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"The inquiry requested by the complainant in regard to the persons who cast doubt on his state of mental health would be justified only if it would help to establish facts relevant to the disposal of the complaint."
Keywords:
complainant; condition; illness; inquiry; investigation; refusal; request by a party; submissions; tribunal;
Judgment 112
18th Session, 1967
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 8
Extract:
Even if the complainant's illness had arisen from his employment, it "would still not be due to complainant's working conditions, i.e. a state of affairs for which the organization was responsible. On the contrary, it would be the result of measures taken in respect of complainant as a consequence of his own work which the Director-General was justified in considering unsatisfactory. In other words, it would be attributable to the failings of the complainant himself, and he alone would therefore have to bear the consequences of the damage to his health."
Keywords:
cause; condition; definition; illness; service-incurred; termination of employment;
Judgment 110
17th Session, 1967
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
The complainant's disorders "cannot be regarded as attributable to the performance of his official duties. It is established that the complainant had previously exhausted his rights to sick leave on full pay" and the decisions to grant him sick leave on half pay "did nothing but correctly apply the provisions of [the Staff Regulations]".
Keywords:
illness; right; sick leave;
Judgment 88
15th Session, 1965
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
"It is not inconceivable that an official might be so deeply affected by the termination of his appointment as to fall ill and to become incapacitated for work for a certain length of time. In the present case, however, the complainant could in any event have expected the termination of his appointment [at the end of the probationary period] and [...] failing quite exceptional circumstances, he had no grounds for maintaining that his dismissal led to the deterioration of his health and to incapacity for work after that date."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 69
Keywords:
cause; illness; incapacity; injury; probationary period; termination of employment;
Judgment 79
13th Session, 1964
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The acts criticised show that "the complainant was guilty of serious misconduct; moreover, even if they had concerned only his private life - which is not the case - these acts were of a nature to compromise the organization's reputation and thus legally to warrant summary dismissal [...] under the terms laid down" in the relevant provision. The fact that the complainant "was ill at the time and that special sick leave for officials is normally provided for [...] constitutes no obstacle to the enforcement of the said provision by the Director-General."
Keywords:
conduct; disciplinary measure; illness; organisation's reputation; outside activity; serious misconduct; summary dismissal; termination of employment;
