Maintenance of the right to a disability pension from the occupational pension scheme despite the termination of the disability insurance pension

Facts

A., born in 1958, was employed by the canton of Zurich until June 30, 2001 and was therefore insured for occupational pension benefits with the Pension Fund of the State Personnel (BVK). In October 2000, A. suffered an accident. Effective from October 2001, he received a full disability insurance pension, confirmed in two review procedures in 2003 and 2006. In a new review procedure, the IV office of the canton of Zurich obtained an interdisciplinary expert report from the Römerhof Medical Center (MZR) on May 2, 2012. By decision of December 17, 2012, the IV office withdrew the decision of July 19, 2002 and terminated the pension benefits as of February 2013. The Social Insurance Court of the canton of Zurich rejected the appeal against this decision. In its judgment 9C_33/2014 of March 26, 2014, the Federal Supreme Court annulled the decision of October 31, 2013 and the decision of December 17, 2012, considering that the conditions for the termination of the pension were not met. By decision of June 4, 2014, the IV office confirmed the entitlement to a full disability pension. Based on the decision of the IV office of July 19, 2002 and its confirmation of October 24, 2006, the BVK acknowledged the insured's entitlement to a full disability pension from October 1, 2001 (subject to reduction due to overcompensation) by letter of May 22, 2007. On January 28, 2013, it informed A. that it would terminate the pension at the end of February 2013, referring to the IV office's decision of December 17, 2012. It maintained this position in its letter of July 28, 2014.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court considers that, even within the framework of the more extensive occupational pension scheme, the termination of the disability pension is not possible without valid reason. In the absence of a contrary regulatory provision, the pension fund must adjust the pension according to the rules applicable to the disability insurance, as is the case in the field of mandatory occupational pension provision.

Although the pension fund initially…