Judgment No. 3238
Decision
1.The decision of the Director of the CDE of 26 March 2010 and those of 2 December 2009 terminating the complainants' appointments are set aside.
2. The complainants shall be reinstated in the Centre to the full extent possible as from 4 December 2009, with all the legal consequences that this entails.
3. If the Centre considers that such reinstatement is impossible, it shall pay the complainants material damages and the interest thereupon calculated as indicated in consideration 20 of the judgment.
4. At all events, the Centre shall pay each complainant moral damages in the amount of 7,500 euros.
5. It shall also pay each of them 2,000 euros in costs.
6. The complainants' remaining claims are dismissed, as is the Centre's counterclaim.
Summary
The complainants challenge the decision to terminate their appointments due to the abolition of their posts following a restructuring.
Judgment keywords
Keywords
complaint allowed; decision quashed; abolition of post; termination of employment
Considerations 19-20
Extract:
In view of the nature and length of the complainants’ appointments, the Tribunal will order the CDE to reinstate them in the Centre, to the full extent possible, as from the date on which their dismissal took effect, [...] with all the legal consequences that this entails.
However, if the CDE considers, in view of its staff complement and budgetary resources, that it cannot actually reinstate the complainants, it shall have to pay them material damages for their unlawful removal from their posts. In this connection, the complainants have no grounds for claiming the payment of all the emoluments which they would have received until they reached retirement age because, although their contracts were concluded for an indefinite period of time, they did not guarantee them an appointment with the Centre until the end of their careers, having regard to the latter’s very difficult financial situation.
Keywords
reinstatement; material damages
Consideration 7
Extract:
Precedent has it that in order to achieve greater efficiency or to make budgetary savings international organisations may undertake restructuring entailing the redefinition of posts and staff reductions (see, for example, Judgments 2156, under 8, or 2510, under 10). However, each and every individual decision adopted in the context of such restructuring must respect all the pertinent legal rules and in particular the fundamental rights of the staff concerned (see, for example, Judgments 1614, under 3, or 2907, under 13).
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 1614, 2156, 2510, 2907
Keywords
organisation's duties; reorganisation
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