Judgment_paragraph 80 · DQ and Others v European Parliament (T-730/18)

80As regards the conduct of the appointing authority after the submission of the request for assistance, on 24 January 2014, it must be borne in mind that where a request for assistance within the meaning of Article 24 of the Staff Regulations is made to the appointing authority or, as the case may be, the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment, pursuant to Article 90(1) of the Staff Regulations, that authority must, by virtue of the duty to provide assistance and when it is faced with an incident which is incompatible with the good order and tranquillity of the service, intervene with all the necessary vigour and respond with the rapidity and solicitude required by the circumstances of the case so as to ascertain the facts and, having done so, to take the appropriate action in full knowledge of the matter. To that end, it is sufficient that the official or other staff member who is seeking the protection of his or her institution provide prima facie evidence that the attacks of which he or she claims to have been the victim actually took place. Where such evidence is provided, the institution concerned is under an obligation to take the necessary measures, in particular to conduct an administrative inquiry, with the cooperation of the complainant, to determine the facts which gave rise to the complaint (judgments of 26 January 1989, Koutchoumoff v Commission, 224/87, EU:C:1989:38, paragraphs 15 and 16, and of 25 October 2007, Lo Giudice v Commission, T‑154/05, EU:T:2007:322, paragraph 136; see, also, judgment of 24 April 2017, HF v Parliament, T‑570/16, EU:T:2017:283, paragraph 46 and the case-law cited) and, in the light of the outcome of the inquiry, to adopt the necessary measures, such as the opening of disciplinary proceedings against the person concerned – as was done in the present case – where the administration concludes, on completion of the administrative inquiry, that psychological harassment has taken place.