Facts
N. (born 1963) was employed as a research assistant at a federal authority in a 50% position and was insured for occupational pension benefits under the core plan of the Federal Pension Fund PUBLICA. Additionally, he was employed as a lecturer at University X. in a position of around 20% and as an associate professor at University Y. in a position of approximately 30%, in which he was also mandatorily insured for occupational pension benefits.
In September 2003, N. fell ill with an eye condition that led to a significant impairment of his vision. For health reasons, he had to give up his work at the federal authority in March 2005, but was able to continue the other two activities with the help of assistive devices and third-party support. The IV office in Bern awarded N. a quarter pension from the Disability Insurance as of March 1, 2006, with a degree of disability of 46%.
N. then requested PUBLICA to pay disability benefits. PUBLICA set the monthly disability pension at CHF 1,509.95 as of March 1, 2006, based on a degree of employment of 50%, a degree of disability of 50%, and an insured income of CHF 60,905. N. filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern, requesting that PUBLICA be obliged to pay him a full disability pension instead of a half pension as of March 1, 2006. The Administrative Court granted the claim.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed PUBLICA's appeal. It referred to its case law in BGE 129 V 132, according to which multiple mandatory insurance coverage is to be assumed in the case of several equally valuable gainful activities carried out in parallel. If one of these activities is given up due to disability, the pension fund of the employer with whom the employment relationship was…