U.S. court dismissed a female employee of sexual harassment case in the United Nations

As women from around the world gathered at the United Nations this week to discuss gender equality, a US court threw out a case involving sexual harassment of a UN woman employee because her bosses refused to lift the diplomatic immunity of the alleged high-ranking perpetrator.The embarrassing timing of the judgment by the US appeals court in New York prompted one women's rights group to challenge the UN's claims at this week's conference to be an equal opportunity employer, at least when it comes to dealing with complaints of sexual harassment.Mr Ban's office, noting the appeals ruling, stated: “At this stage of the proceedings it would not be appropriate for the secretariat to comment further on the matter.”

“The UN system doesn't work,” he said. “Immunity is not necessary in such cases. It may be justified in places where there's no functioning legal system – but not in New York or Geneva.