Judgment No. 4636
Decision
The complaint is dismissed.
Summary
The complainant contests the extension of his sick leave following the expiry of his maximum period of sick leave and the failure to recognise that he suffered from invalidity which was attributable to the performance of official duties.
Judgment keywords
Keywords
receivability of the complaint; step in the procedure; internal remedies not exhausted; complaint dismissed
Considerations 4-5
Extract:
[T]he EPO raises receivability as a threshold issue. It submits that the complaint is premature and therefore irreceivable, because the medical procedure for determining whether a member of staff meets the definition of invalidity involves a series of steps and findings which lead to a final decision; such steps or findings do not constitute a decision, much less a final decision; they may be attacked as part of a challenge to the final decision but cannot be the subject of a complaint to the Tribunal. […]
What the complainant identifies as the impugned decision in this case was merely a “step in a process”, which may simply have the appearance of a decision (see, for example, Judgment 3860, consideration 6). It cannot be considered as a final decision for the purposes of Article VII of the Statute of the Tribunal, because it was taken precisely in order for the Medical Committee to obtain additional information before making a determination as to whether the complainant was suffering from invalidity.
Reference(s)
Jugement(s) TAOIT: 3860
Keywords
medical board; invalidity; step in the procedure
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