From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Sex harassment case rocks UN
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 08:11:27 GMT

/** headlines: 635.0 **/
** Topic: UNITED NATIONS: Sex harassment case **
** Written 12:47 pm  Jan  7, 1993 by newsdesk in cdp:headlines **
/* Written  5:39 am  Jan  4, 1993 by hrcoord in igc:women.news */
/* ---------- "UNITED NATIONS: Sex harassment case" ---------- */
From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: UNITED NATIONS: Sex harassment case

/* Written 12:04 am  Dec 31, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in
igc:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: UNITED NATIONS: Sex harassment case may go before World
Court

new york, dec 28 (ips) -- the 15-member international court of
justice (icj) in the hague may be called upon to sit in judgement
over an alleged sexual harassment case that has rocked the united
nations.

the case pits a woman staffer, catherine claxton, a national of
the united states, against luis maria gomez of argentina, the
associate administrator of the world's largest multilateral grant
development assistance organization: the u.n. development
programme (undp) in new york.

characterized by charges and counter charges, the case is now on
appeal before the general assembly's committee on applications for
review of administrative tribunal judgements.

scheduled to meet in mid-january, the committee will decide
whether or not the case should go before the world court. if it
decides in favour, it will be the first time that a sexual
harassment dispute will travel all the way from new york to the
hague.

the two basic charges against gomez are that he sexually harassed
claxton when she worked for him and that he abused his authority
in not promoting her to a higher position which she claims she
rightfully deserved.

the u.n.'s administrative tribunal however, did not find gomez
guilty, and in a report released in june, concluded there was no
connection between the charges of sexual harassment and claxton's
non-promotion.

but a u.n. advisory panel on discrimination and other grievances
ruled in favour of claxton.

a leak of the panel's report to the newsmedia brought condemnation
by secretary-general boutros boutros-ghali.

a spokesman for boutros-ghali said: ''the secretary-general has
been informed that a confidential communication to the office of
human resources management from the panel on discrimination and
other grievances has been, in breach of confidence, widely
circulated and quoted in some press articles.''

implicitly supportive of gomez, the staement said: ''this
communication contains statements very damaging to the reputation
of a high united nations official whose name appears in the
communication.''

''none of those statements are proven,'' boutros-ghali said.

the secretary-general also said he has established his own inquiry
into the allegations against gomez. the inquiry is to be conducted
by justice mella carroll of the high court of ireland, who is also
a member of the administrative tribunal of the international
labour organization (ilo). (more/ips).

united nations: sex harassment case may go before world
court(2-e)

united nations: sex (2)

although neither claxton nor gomez are willing to talk on-the-
record because of u.n.secretariat regulations barring press
statements, the american news media have been showing a bias in
favor of claxton.

''the new york times'' dismissed in a single paragraph that some
u.n.employees argue that claxton's accusations against gomez ''are
fabrications intended to derail'' his career. but the newspaper
did not pursue this viewpoint any further.

one female undp employee, speaking on condition of anonymity,
complained to ips: ''i don't think any of the newspapers cared to
talk to some of the women staffers who worked for him for
years.''

last week a letter submitted to boutros-ghali carried the
signatures of nearly a thousand staffers who vouched for gomez's
character and integrity. a thousand more signatures, mostly from
the undp's 152 field offices, are expected next week.

the letter says that the ''unproven statements'' contained in the
memorandum by the panel on discrimination ''are potentially
damaging to mr. gomez and de facto affect his reputation.''

''we believe they reflect a profile which is at variance with our
knowledge of mr. gomez' professional integrity and dedication to
the organization, which he has demonstrated throughout his
prestigious career, initiated almost 30 years ago,'' the letter
adds.

the current speculation in the u.n. is that the whole exercise is
a ''power play'' by an ex-high ranking official and former boss of
claxton's who is pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

in its report of the case, the 'new york observer' said this
former official had moved claxton from a low-ranking post to a
higher-level position. quoting unnamed sources, the paper said
that claxton is now returning the favour.

''the real objective,'' one informed source told ips, ''is to
break the political will of the secretary-general by ruining the
career of one of his most efficient managers. ''it is nothing
short of intellectual terrorism,'' he added.

a female staffer, who had worked for gomez for over eight years,
said: ''i know he compliments a lot of women, but that's a
cultural thing. i have never known him to violate any rules or
procedures,'' she added. (end/ips/ot/td/ak/92).
** End of text from cdp:headlines **

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