Dismissal of the Appeal against Reduction of Monetary Benefits by the SUVA

Facts

Arnold Müller suffered an accident on May 2, 1976, for which the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA) acknowledged its obligation to provide benefits in a decision dated November 22, 1976, but reduced the monetary benefits by 50% due to a predisposition in accordance with Art. 91 KUVG. The decision was communicated to the insured's representative, the Swiss Observer, on November 23, 1976.

On May 24, 1977, the law firm X. filed an appeal on behalf of Arnold Müller with the Administrative Court of the Canton of Lucerne against the reduction decision. However, the Administrative Court dismissed the appeal on July 8, 1977 due to tardiness.

Arnold Müller timely filed an administrative court appeal against this decision and requested the annulment of the lower court's decision and remand for a substantive assessment.

Considerations

The Federal Insurance Court concluded that the lower court's inference from Art. 20 para. 1 VwVG went beyond the wording of the law and found no support anywhere. There were no indications that the federal legislator intended to establish a regulatory framework deviating from the norms of the rest of…