Facts
M., who has been widowed since January 10, 1995, received a regular widower's pension from the Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHV) starting in January 1997. In February 2009, the municipal administration informed M. that he had remarried on June 15, 2001. Consequently, the Compensation Fund of the Canton of Zurich issued a decision on April 14, 2009 to retroactively revoke the widower's pension as of July 2001 and demanded the repayment of the unlawfully received pension benefits amounting to CHF 20,192 from May 2004. M. submitted a request for waiver of the reclamation, which the Compensation Fund rejected due to the lack of good faith.
The Social Insurance Court of the Canton of Zurich upheld M.'s appeal against the objection decision, affirmed the good faith, and referred the matter back to the Compensation Fund to examine the further prerequisite of undue hardship for a waiver.
The Compensation Fund filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court, requesting the reversal of the lower court's decision.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court stated that the prerequisite of good faith is not already given by the mere lack of knowledge of the legal defect. The benefit recipient must not only have acted without malicious intent, but also without gross negligence.
Since M. was unable to provide evidence of a timely notification of the…