Judgment No. 3623

• Organization: European Patent Organisation (EPO)
• Date: 03.02.2016
• Original: Anglais
• Judges: Barbagallo, Moore, Rawlins
• Full judgment text (anglais) - Texte intégral du jugement

Decision

The complaint is dismissed.

Summary

The complainant contests the decision to assign him to non-active status and to replace his invalidity pension by an invalidity allowance.

Judgment keywords

Keywords

status of complainant; disability benefit; complaint dismissed

Consideration 7

Extract:

The main issue raised in this complaint is whether or not the EPO violated an acquired right of the complainant. The Tribunal finds no such violation. A rule which concerns a long-term issue (such as pensions which last the remainder of the employees’ lifetimes) may be modified throughout the years. The changes in circumstances which may require the rule to be amended must be reasonable and the changes have to balance the interests of the employees and the Organisation. The interest of current and future employees who are not currently affected by the rule but shall be in the future is also to be taken into account by the Organisation. The question of the sustainability of pension schemes must be a primary concern to the Organisation and as such may naturally require adjustments to be made to the norm regulating pension schemes over time. This question has already been examined by the Tribunal in relation to the same Administrative Council’s decision CA/D 30/07.

Keywords

acquired right