The employer is not entitled to appeal against a decision of the AI Office to refuse a disability pension

Facts

The case concerns an employee, D., born in 1944 and employed by the Swiss Federal Railways (SFR). D. applied for a disability pension on 9 October 2000. The AI Office of the canton of Aargau rejected his application on 20 June 2003. The SFR appealed against this decision, which was rejected by the AI Office. The SFR then appealed to the Cantonal Social Insurance Court of Aargau, which annulled the decision of the AI Office and referred the case for further investigation.

The Federal Social Insurance Court was seized by the AI Office, which requests the annulment of the decision of the Cantonal Social Insurance Court of Aargau. The SFR requests the rejection of the appeal, while the Federal Office for Social Insurance (FOSI) requests the admission of the appeal.

Considerations

The Federal Social Insurance Court examined the question of whether the SFR is entitled to appeal against the decision of the AI Office to refuse a disability pension. It considered that the entitlement to appeal must be judged in the same manner as in the first-instance appeal procedure under Art. 59 GSSLA, in accordance with the practice of Art. 103 let. a FJA.

The Court then examined the entitlement of third parties, in particular the employer, and considered that the employer is not entitled to appeal against a decision of the AI Office to refuse a disability pension simply because the award of a pension would have the effect of reducing its obligation to pay salary or enabling it to demand payment to a third party.

The Court also considered that the decision of the AI Office to refuse a disability pension does not affect the rights…