Facts
I. worked in Switzerland as a seasonal gardener for T. from 1988 to 1991. In 1989, he was insured with the Collective Foundation LPP of Ticino Vita. In 1990, although he did not have a work permit, he continued to work for T. without being reported to the pension fund. In 1991, after a work accident, I. requested the payment of a disability pension, but the foundation refused on the grounds that he was not insured at the time of the accident.
I. then filed an action before the Insurance Tribunal of the Canton of Vaud, which dismissed his claim on the grounds that he did not have an employment contract of more than three months at the time of the accident. I. appealed against this judgment.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal upheld the appeal. It considered that, even if the parties had agreed that the employment relationship would be terminated in the event of a refusal of the work permit, this did not constitute a fixed-term contract of less than three months. In reality, it was a resolutory condition within the meaning of Art. 154 CO, which does not exclude compulsory insurance coverage.
Consequently, the Federal Tribunal ruled that I. met the conditions for compulsory insurance in 1991 and that…