X v Secretary-General of the OEEC (Decision No 12)

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Appeals Board (Organization for European Economic Cooperation)
• Date: 19 February 1952

Appeals Board of the Organization for European Economic Co-operation.

Decision No. 12.

International organization — Officials — Proper law of the contract of employment — Express exclusion of application of Staff Rules — Applicability of French law — Notice of dismissal — Defamation — Damages.

The Facts.—On February 6, 1950, Miss X. entered into a contract of employment with the Organization as a sales assistant in a store run by the Organization. Her contract expressly excluded the application of the Staff Rules. After goods had been found missing from the store, she was on November 30, 1951, given a week's notice of dismissal, in accordance with the terms of her contract. On January 7, 1952, she lodged an appeal, claiming that her dismissal was unjustified.

Held: that the appeal must be allowed in part. By virtue of the nature of her duties and the terms of her contract, Miss X.'s contract was governed by French law. Her dismissal was valid, but the period of notice was less than that required by French law, and she was therefore entitled to damages in lieu of notice. Moreover, the circumstances in which her dismissal had occurred, coupled with the unhelpful character of the testimonial given her by the Organization, had had an adverse effect on her reputation, for which damages were due.

The Board said: “Miss X. entered the Organization's service under a temporary contract of appointment on February 6, 1950, as an employee in the Sales Store, without being assimilated to the officials, properly so-called, of the Organization. In fact, Article V stipulates that ‘the present contract shall not entail the application of the Organization's Staff Rules of April 17, 1948, or of the rules laid down for their implementation’. However, it provides that ‘nevertheless, individual disputes arising out of its performance shall be submitted to the Board provided for by Article 19 of the said Rules’, now repealed but replaced by Rule 65 of the new Staff Rules published on December 30, 1950.

“However, by the terms of that Rule, the Appeals Board may only exercise jurisdiction over appeals lodged by ‘members or former members of the staff or by their duly qualified representatives (ayants droit)’. But a Resolution, passed by the Council of the Organization on Feburary 11, 1952, spelled out the rules governing the functioning of the Board, by deciding that ‘the Organization's employees who are not subject to the Staff Regulations shall be regarded as members of the...