7 December 1998

Mr Patrick Reis-Ekelund

Re: preparation for meetings held in Paris on 13 November and in Vladimir (Russia) on 24 November

Dear Patrick

I wish to make several comments regarding your work and professional attitude with regards to the aforementioned meetings.

1. Meeting held in Paris on 13 November

The working documents prepared for this meeting did not conform to OIE practices nor did it meet OIE standards.

The documents in this file were not carefully prepared before photocopying. Pages in the fax copies received were out of order, and several tables were cut off (see, for example, the report from Armenia). In the case of the report from the Ukraine, the answers to questions 6 through 10 were missing. You should have asked the sender to re-send the document (or have those points translated from the Russian text).

All documents must be proof-read and cutting and pasting completed if necessary before photocopying.

2. Meeting held in Vladimir on 24 November

At the beginning of the week of 16 November, you were orally given instructions to prepare files in Russian and in English for the meeting on 24 November. I subsequently confirmed this in writing, specifying that it was your responsibility to complete the files by Friday, 20 November and that this task was to be considered a priority over your other duties.

On the day before the deadline, you had not yet begun compiling the files, even though the majority of the documents were ready. You therefore had to ask for the assistance of the receptionist in putting together the documents, to which I agreed.

You placed the photocopies on the receptionist’s desk without explaining what to do with them. You provided him with neither binders nor dividers. Your only parting words were that these were the documents for Gary’s meeting and that we should have secretaries to do such work.

The delegation of such a task to the receptionist in no way implies delegation of responsibility. The responsibility remains your until the final completion of the task assigned.

The meeting on 24 November was an OIE meeting held largely at the initiative of the OIE Regional Representation for Eastern Europe. Preparation was therefore clearly your responsibility. In no way did my participation in such a meeting discharge you of that responsibility.

In the context of preparation for such a meeting, you have certain secretarial tasks to fulfil which include photocopying documents, verifying that they are correctly presented and preparing working files. When such a task is assigned to you, you are expected to get it done.

Your absence on Friday 20 November denotes a complete lack of professionalism. Absence due to illness is of course a normal occurrence; however, you should have informed me directly. I expected you to show a certain concern for the work that you were not able to accomplish, especially if there was an imperative deadline, which was the case. I saw no such concern on your part.

Yours sincerely

Gary Sutherland
Deputy Head, Administrative
and Financial Department

CC: Mr Guy Jannot Dr Jean Blancou