Facts
V., born in 1961, received a full disability pension plus a supplementary pension for his wife and two child pensions from February 1, 1998 onwards. In 2002, he returned to his home country of Portugal. The review procedure initiated in July 2005 resulted in the IV-Office awarding him a full pension from April 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008, and a three-quarter pension from July 1, 2008 onwards. The AXA Occupational Pension Foundation continued to pay disability benefits, but from July 1, 2008 it took into account an "income reasonably expected to be earned" of CHF 22,344 per year, which led to a 30.39% reduction in benefits. V. filed a lawsuit against this calculation.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that for residence abroad, the income reasonably expected to be earned must still be determined based on the Swiss labor market, as is the case for the presumed lost earnings. This applies to the standard case of continued employment in Switzerland without health impairment. Otherwise, it would be contrary to the constitutional objective of occupational pensions and the purpose of equal treatment of disabled persons to base the reasonable income on the…