Facts
The complainant, [A.] , fell on her left shoulder while skiing on 4 March 2017. The ÖKK Kranken- und Unfallversicherungen AG (ÖKK) closed the case on 15 December 2017 and discontinued its benefits under accident insurance as of 5 April 2017. [A.] filed a complaint on 1 February 2018, which the Insurance Court of the Canton of St. Gallen did not consider due to late filing. [A.] is filing a complaint in public law matters with the request to repeal the contested decision and to refer the matter back for material consideration of the complaint.
ÖKK requested dismissal of the complaint. The Federal Office of Public Health waived its statement.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the decision not to proceed due to late filing by the lower court was consistent with federal law. It was about determining at what point the decision to appeal of 15 December 2017 could be considered delivered to the then legal representative of the complainant, Fortuna Rechtsschutz-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft AG (Fortuna).
The cantonal court had correctly stated the provisions on the start of the deadline, the suspension of deadlines and the preservation of deadlines for written submissions by handing them over to the Swiss Post on the last day of the deadline. ÖKK had sent the decision to appeal on 15 December 2017 by "A-Post Plus" to Fortuna. Fortuna belonged to Generali (Schweiz) Holding AG, which had agreed on a comprehensive postal service with Swiss Post Solutions AG.
The Federal Court recognized that…