Calculation of the cost-of-living adjustment on the supplementary pension and not on the basic pension of the accident insurance

Facts

S.C., born on March 24, 1963, was employed by T. AG and was compulsorily insured against occupational and non-occupational accidents with the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA). On May 4, 1987, he suffered a serious injury to his right hand by getting it caught in a carding machine, resulting in the complete or partial amputation of several fingers. SUVA covered the cost of treatment and paid a daily allowance. On February 4, 1991, it informed the insured that no further medical treatment was necessary and that the daily allowances would be discontinued at the end of March 1991. By decision of April 25, 1991, it granted him, as of April 1, 1991, a disability pension due to a loss of earning capacity of 75% until the end of March 1993 and 50% from April 1, 1993, based on an insured annual salary of CHF 40,730.--. Since the insured had been receiving a full disability insurance pension since May 1, 1988, as well as a supplementary pension for his wife and, from August 1, 1989, a child's pension, a supplementary pension of CHF 335.-- per month was granted to him. A disability allowance of CHF 32,640.-- was also paid to him.

Considerations

The disputed issue concerns the calculation of the cost-of-living adjustment on the supplementary pension. According to the Federal Insurance Court: - The cost-of-living adjustment must be set on the supplementary pension and not on the basic pension of the accident insurance. This follows from the interpretation of Art. 32 para. 5 and Art. 33 para. 2 AIO, which provide that the cost-of-living adjustments are calculated on the supplementary pension. - Granting the cost-of-living adjustment on the basic pension rather than on the supplementary pension would result in a double indexation of the portion of the pension exceeding the…