Facts
On April 22, 1980, the Compensation Fund of the Swiss Society of Entrepreneurs granted Cosimo Negro a full disability pension for a couple, accompanied by supplementary pensions for children. This decision was based on two judgments of the Disability Insurance Commission of the Canton of Geneva, recognizing a degree of disability of 100% for his wife Anna-Rosaria Negro and 50% for Cosimo Negro.
Cosimo Negro appealed against this decision, considering that he could not cope with the necessary expenses with only a half pension. The Appeals Commission of the Canton of Geneva dismissed his appeal by judgment of September 2, 1980, while canceling the pension decision of April 22, 1980, without having given the interested party the opportunity to express an opinion on a possible "reformatio in peius".
Cosimo Negro filed an administrative law appeal with the Federal Insurance Court, concluding to the restoration of the decision granting him a full disability pension for a couple, or subsidiarily, to the granting of a full pension if it turns out that his disability is 66 2/3% or more.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court considered that the Appeals Commission had violated Cosimo Negro's right to be heard by not giving him the opportunity to express an opinion on the possibility of a "reformatio in peius", that is to say, a reform of the decision to his detriment.
Indeed, Article 85 paragraph 2 letter d of the Federal Old Age and Survivors' Insurance Act (LAVS), applicable by analogy in the field of disability insurance, provides that the judge may reform the contested decision to the detriment of the appellant, but that he must then give the parties the opportunity to express their opinion.
The Federal Insurance Court specified that the violation of the right to be…