Judgment No. 3881

• Organization: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Date: 28.06.2017
• Original: English
• Judges: Barbagallo, Hansen, Rawlins
• Full judgment text - Full judgment text (french)

Decision

1. The FAO shall pay to the complainant moral damages in the amount of 5,000 euros.
2. The FAO shall also pay the complainant costs in the amount of 400 euros.
3. All other claims are dismissed.

Summary

The complainant challenges the decision not to grant him sick leave after his dismissal for misconduct.

Judgment keywords

Keywords

complaint allowed; termination of employment; misconduct; sick leave

Consideration 9

Extract:

[T]he complainant’s confidentiality was breached when, without his consent, the certificate [...], which mentioned the nature of his incapacity, was disclosed to the Appeals Committee with the FAO’s reply in the internal appeal proceedings. The information it contained was then specifically repeated in the Appeals Committee’s report to the Director-General. As a result, the Tribunal finds that the FAO breached the complainant’s right to privacy when confidential medical information concerning the nature of his incapacity was passed to third parties. This aspect of the complaint is therefore well founded and the complainant will be awarded [...] moral damages in the circumstances.

Keywords

moral injury; confidential evidence; medical certificate; right to privacy