X v Secretary-General of the OEEC (Decision No 21)

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Date: 07 June 1955
• Court: Appeals Board (Organization for European Economic Cooperation)

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

Decision No. 21.

International organization — Officials — Termination of contract — Grounds for termination.

The Facts.—Mrs. X. became unable to perform her duties satisfactorily, as a result of their increasingly technical character. On February 28, 1955, the Secretary-General informed her that her contract would be terminated, as from June 30, 1955. On April 7, 1955, she lodged an appeal against this decision.

Held: that the appeal must be allowed. The Staff Rules permitted termination of Mrs. X.'s contract only in the event of her post being abolished. Since her post had not been abolished, the decision was invalid.

The Board said: “Mrs. X. has duly deposited the security provided for by Rule 66 (d) of the Secretary-General's Rules of April 21, 1950, as amended on May 23, 1950, in application of the Organization's Staff Regulations.

“Mrs. X. took up her duties with O.E.E.C. on May 20, 1948. She was given a contract of indeterminate duration, as from January 1, 1950, and entrusted with the duties of an Administrator in the Agricultural Statistics Section of the Agriculture Division. This Section was transferred in March 1953 to the Statistics and National Accounts Division, and Mrs. X. was moved to that Division, once more to perform the duties of an Administrator.

“However, the claimant, a Bachelor of Arts, did not appear to possess the technical knowledge required of the highly specialized staff attached to this Division, and on May 3, 1954, she was transferred to the Energy Division, where she continued to work up to the date when she was informed that her contract would be terminated. During this period, Mrs. X. demonstrated her usual qualities of order and method, carrying out with enthusiasm and accuracy the tasks which were entrusted to her, but she was apparently overwhelmed by the difficulties of scientific work, which did not correspond to her university training.

“Acting in the interests of a rational organization of his officials' work, and considering it impossible to find work within the Organization which corresponded to Mrs. X.'s grade and qualifications, the Secretary-General decided, by a letter of February 28, 1955, to terminate Mrs. X.'s contract as from June 30, 1955, with four months' notice, as provided in Staff Rule 7.

“Staff Rule 7 lays down the cases in which contracts of indeterminate duration may be terminated. Apart from the special cases provided for in...