Sex discrimination (189, 900,-666)

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Keywords: Sex discrimination
Total judgments found: 11

• Judgment 2706

  
  104th Session, 2008
  World Intellectual Property Organization
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 8

  Extract:

  The complainant, who was sexually harassed by her supervisor, wants the Tribunal to order that she be promoted. "[T]he Organization is of course right in saying that the compensation for her injuries should not take the form of being granted a higher grade. The advancement of an official naturally obeys its own logic related to the classification of the job done and the professional merit of the person in question, which has nothing to do with the logic behind compensation for injuries which may have been caused to this person by the international organisation employing him or her."

  Keywords:

  allowance; compensation; definition; difference; harassment; injury; organisation; organisation's duties; post classification; promotion; qualifications; request by a party; respect for dignity; sex discrimination; supervisor;
  

  Consideration 3

  Extract:

  The complainant having reported that she had been sexually harassed by her supervisor, the latter was verbally reprimanded. The Organization asserts that the complainant has failed to discharge the burden of proof with respect to her allegations of harassment. "[I]n imposing a disciplinary sanction on the complainant's supervisor on account of these acts of sexual harassment, the Organization necessarily acknowledged that they had occurred. Consequently, it cannot now dispute the merits of the complainant's accusations in this respect without completely contradicting itself and casting major doubts on whether its own decisions regarding its staff are taken in a responsible manner in such a sensitive area as that of discipline."

  Keywords:

  burden of proof; decision; disciplinary measure; harassment; lack of evidence; organisation's duties; reprimand; respect for dignity; sex discrimination; supervisor;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 2553

  
  101st Session, 2006
  International Atomic Energy Agency
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Considerations 5-6

  Extract:

  Harassment is described in IAEA staff notice SEC/NOT/1922 as follows:
  "Harassment is any conduct or comment made by a staff member or group of staff members on either a one-time or continuous basis that demeans, belittles or causes personal humiliation. It can take many different forms, including, for example: threatening comments, whether oral or written, or threatening physical behaviour; intimidation, blackmail or coercion; making deliberate insults related to a person's personal or professional competence; humiliating, degrading or making offensive or abusive personal remarks to someone; undermining or isolating people; or making it impossible for staff to do their job by, for example, withholding information."
  "This is a very broad definition, no doubt designedly so. It requires reasonable interpretation and application to the circumstances of each particular case. It contains both subjective and objective elements: did the alleged victim actually feel humiliated, offended or intimidated by the impugned conduct, and was such conduct, viewed objectively, of a nature reasonably to humiliate, offend or intimidate? Where the impugned conduct consists of words, although truth will not always constitute a complete defence, an inquiry as to whether such words may or may not reasonably be true is obviously relevant. Likewise, an inquiry as to whether the speaker's words can reasonably be seen as a reference to the performance of duties and are not merely gratuitous comments will be germane. Personal characteristics such as gender, race and ethnicity as well as the reasonableness of the sensitivities of the alleged victim, must also be weighed in considering both questions. Similarly, any previous history of relations between the alleged victim and the alleged offender may be relevant and, while a single injurious action may by itself be enough to constitute harassment, an otherwise apparently inoffensive comment may, with repetition, become a legitimate source of grievance.
  In the final analysis, the question as to whether any particular act or series of acts amounts to harassment is one of fact to be answered only after careful consideration of the above factors and an examination of all the surrounding circumstances."

  Reference(s)

  Organization rules reference: IAEA staff notice SEC/NOT/1922
  
  

  Keywords:

  breach; conduct; continuing breach; criteria; definition; difference; harassment; information note; interpretation; judicial review; moral injury; official; organisation's duties; purpose; qualifications; respect for dignity; sex discrimination; working relations; written rule;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 2392

  
  98th Session, 2005
  International Fund for Agricultural Development
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 9

  Extract:

  The complainant was not selected for a post. She considers that she should have been given the preference because she was an internal candidate and by reason of her gender. "It is well settled that [such] preferences [...] must be given effect to where the choice has to be made between candidates who are evenly matched. On the other hand, they have no role to play where there is a significant and relevant difference between the candidates."

  Keywords:

  appointment; candidate; competition; difference; internal candidate; post; refusal; sex discrimination;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 2193

  
  94th Session, 2003
  United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 12

  Extract:

  The complainant, who had entered into a civil solidarity contract (pacte civil de solidarité, hereinafter 'pacs') with his male partner, informed the administration that his partner was entirely dependent on him. The organisation replied that, under the rules currently applicable within the United Nations system, the pacs was not recognised as a formal marriage that could create an entitlement to any benefits or allowances for a dependent spouse. "The complainant submits that, since the Director-General is entitled to modify or create exceptions to the application of the Staff Rules, he could and ought to have made an exception in the present case or amended the disputed text in order to protect the rights of homosexuals. [...] However, irrespective of the validity of the arguments put forward in urging the Director-General to take individual choices into account in the context of a culture of tolerance compatible with changing moral beliefs, the Director-General cannot be compelled to resort to what is merely an option open to him under certain clearly defined circumstances, since exercising that option is entirely a matter of discretion."

  Keywords:

  amendment to the rules; contract; dependant; discretion; domestic law; equal treatment; exception; executive head; family allowance; marital status; same-sex marriage; sex discrimination; staff regulations and rules;
  

  Consideration 8

  Extract:

  The complainant, who had entered into a civil solidarity contract (pacte civil de solidarité, hereinafter 'pacs') with his male partner, informed the administration that his partner was entirely dependant on him. The organisation replied that, under the rules currently applicable within the United Nations system, the pacs was not recognised as a formal marriage that could create an entitlement to any benefits or allowances for a dependent spouse. The Tribunal shares the view that the organization "is not bound by contracts entered into under national laws".

  Keywords:

  contract; dependant; domestic law; family allowance; marital status; organisation's duties; same-sex marriage; sex discrimination;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 2004

  
  90th Session, 2001
  World Health Organization
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 20

  Extract:

  "The Tribunal wishes to emphasise that there is nothing wrong in having a policy aimed at gender parity. For too long women have been subjected to discrimination in appointments to senior posts which can be proved by statistics. But this policy cannot be achieved by setting quotas and by reverse discrimination, in other words, by the appointment for particular posts of women who are less qualified than men. This is contrary to [Staff] Regulation 4.3 which provides that selection shall be without regard to race, creed or sex'. The policy can be achieved by different means [...] but the bottom line must always be that the person best qualified should be appointed."

  Reference(s)

  Organization rules reference: WHO STAFF REGULATION 4.3
  
  

  Keywords:

  appointment; candidate; competition; equal treatment; priority; qualifications; remand; right; sex discrimination;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 1706

  
  84th Session, 1998
  United Nations Industrial Development Organization
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 16

  Extract:

  The complainant, placed on special leave without pay following an 'agreed termination' was a candidate in an internal competition. The Organization maintains that she was no longer a staff member at the moment of recruitment. "The Tribunal [...] holds that the 'agreed termination' did not in any way restrict her rights under the Staff Rules, while she remained a staff member, to preference over an outside male candidate in any future competition where qualifications were equal."

  Keywords:

  agreed termination; appointment; candidate; competition; internal candidate; priority; right; sex discrimination; special leave; staff regulations and rules; unpaid leave;
  

  Consideration 15

  Extract:

  "UNIDO's professed policy of increasing the number of women staff at all levels required at least that, other things being equal, it should give preference to applications from women; indeed encouraging women to apply was consistent only with their right to such preference."

  Keywords:

  candidate; competition; priority; right; sex discrimination;
  

  Consideration 17

  Extract:

  "As for the special panel set up to deal with allegations of discrimination, neither the Joint Appeals Board nor UNIDO cites any provision of the Staff Rules which compels recourse to that panel. The complainant's failure to put her grievance to it does not make her complaint irreceivable. Where a matter is otherwise within its jurisdiction the Tribunal can and will entertain related allegations of discrimination."

  Keywords:

  competence of tribunal; internal appeal; internal appeals body; internal remedies exhausted; priority; receivability of the complaint; right; sex discrimination; staff member's duties; staff regulations and rules; tribunal;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 1436

  
  79th Session, 1995
  International Telecommunication Union
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 7

  Extract:

  "However regrettable it may be that there are too few women in senior posts at the ITU - and for that matter in most international organisations - the Tribunal is satisfied that the complainant was not discriminated against. There was no breach of the General Assembly Resolution of 23 December 1992 [on women's contributions to the work of international organisations]: the Secretary-General could not have used his authority to get her name put on the short list."

  Keywords:

  applicable law; equal treatment; general assembly resolution; international civil service principles; promotion board; selection board; sex discrimination;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 1355

  
  77th Session, 1994
  Universal Postal Union
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 9

  Extract:

  "Any promotion wholly or even mainly based on considerations of sex would unquestionably be unlawful."

  Keywords:

  candidate; discretion; flaw; judicial review; promotion; sex discrimination;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 978

  
  66th Session, 1989
  United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 20

  Extract:

  "None of the interveners is barred by any lapse of time from claiming entitlement to the non-resident's allowance and to the other benefits. [...] Acquiescence is not a valid plea open to the organization and a woman staff member may at any time object to discriminatory treatment."

  Keywords:

  allowance; continuing breach; equal treatment; intervention; non-resident allowance; receivability of the complaint; sex discrimination; time bar;
  

  Summary

  Extract:

  UNESCO Staff Rule 031.14 (B) (III) formerly provided that "the non-resident's allowance shall not be paid, or shall cease to be paid, to a staff member [...] whose husband is a national of the country of the duty station" inasmuch as the word "husband" prevents the rule from applying to staff members whose wives are in the same situation, the provision is discriminatory and the impugned decision, which was based on the discriminatory provision, must therefore be quashed.

  Reference(s)

  Organization rules reference: FORMER UNESCO STAFF RULE 103.14(B)(III)
  
  

  Keywords:

  amendment to the rules; equal treatment; flaw; local status; marital status; non-local status; non-resident allowance; provision; sex discrimination; staff regulations and rules;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 168

  
  25th Session, 1970
  Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 2

  Extract:

  The complainant lost her non-local status, which was linked to nationality, through marriage. In contesting the validity of the newly applied rule, she alleges "sex discrimination, category discrimination [and] lack of agreement with the staff council [...] The Tribunal holds that, even if the allegation was well founded in fact, it would not affect the validity of [the rule] inasmuch as the Director-General by making the rule would not be exceeding the powers conferred upon him under [...] the general rules of the organization."

  Keywords:

  amendment to the rules; equal treatment; local status; marital status; nationality; non-local status; provision; sex discrimination; staff regulations and rules;
  

  
  
  

• Judgment 167

  
  25th Session, 1970
  Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  Extracts: EN, FR
  Full Judgment Text: EN, FR

  Consideration 2

  Extract:

  Vide Judgment 168, consideration 2.

  Reference(s)

  ILOAT Judgment(s): 168
  

  Keywords:

  amendment to the rules; equal treatment; local status; marital status; nationality; non-local status; provision; sex discrimination; staff regulations and rules;