American prosecutor to sue UN chief for sexual, racial discrimination

London, Aug.6 (ANI): An American lawyer has decided to sue UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, for sexual and racial discrimination after Ban repeatedly blocked his appointment to a key post.

American Robert Appleton is seeking a million dollars in damages and up to half-a-million dollars in lost wages and benefits for being denied a promotion on the grounds of gender and nationality, The Telegraph reports.

In a 76-page application to the United Nations Dispute Tribunal Appleton said that Ban rejected the recommended candidate for the post of permanent head of the investigation division in a breach of the UN Charter and General Assembly resolutions.

An internal hiring panel selected Appleton from among about 70 applicants as the sole qualified and suitable candidate to serve as permanent head of the investigation division within the UN's Office of Internal Services, or OIOS.

Ban, however, insisted that all senior-level appointments to be chosen from among a field of three qualified candidates that reflect a degree of geographical diversity and include at least one woman.

Last month, a leaked memo by Inga-Britt Ahlenius, the former head of the OIOS, revealed she had attempted to persuade Ban to appoint Appleton nine times.

Instead Catherine Pollard, the assistant secretary-general for human resources, ordered Miss Ahlenius to interview four more candidates.

Appleton further alleges that Michael Dudley, who is the division's current acting director, benefited from his wife's friendship with Pollard.

Appleton headed the white-collar fraud unit, known as the Procurement Task Force, that operated with great success from 2006 to 2008.

It found 20 significant corruption schemes, leading to several felony convictions and sanctions against dozens of U.N. vendors.

Farhan Haq, a UN spokesman, said that Ban's office could not comment on matters before the tribunal. (ANI)