Facts
[S.], born in 1961, suffered a work accident on November 20, 1991 while working for company Y AG. The Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA) paid him a supplementary annuity starting July 1, 1995, calculated based on a disability rate of 80% and an insured annual salary of CHF 75,975. [S.] contested this decision, requesting that the annuity be adjusted for the increase in the cost of living. The Insurance Court of the Canton of St. Gallen partially upheld the appeal and referred the case back to SUVA to recalculate the supplementary annuity taking into account the regulatory provision on adjustment to inflation that entered into force on January 1, 1997. SUVA appealed against this decision, arguing that the new regulation on adjustment to inflation does not apply to the present case.Considerations
According to case law, the right to a supplementary annuity arises upon the first coordination of the accident insurance annuity with the disability insurance or old-age and survivors' insurance annuity. Art. 31(2) of the Ordinance on Accident Insurance (OLAA), introduced on January 1, 1997, provides that the insured salary used as the basis for calculating the supplementary annuity is increased by the percentage of the cost-of-living allowance in effect at the time of this first coordination.
The transitional provision of the Ordinance of December 9, 1996 specifies that the old law applies to supplementary annuities set before the entry into force of the amendment. The Federal Insurance Court considers that this transitional provision is intended solely for the initial determination of the supplementary annuity and not for subsequent adjustments. Thus, the new regulation on adjustment to inflation applies…