Supreme Court allows worker's claim against fund, ruling new law cannot strip rights acquired before its effective date.

The Supreme Court reversed the lower court's dismissal of a worker's claim for occupational disease compensation against the Guarantee Fund. The worker argued that the employer's insolvency prevented payment, but the lower courts applied a 1995 amendment that restricted claims based on the date of insolvency. The Court held that since the claim arose before the amendment's effective date, the worker acquired rights under the old law, which did not contain the new restrictions, and the amendment could not retroactively deprive the worker of these established rights.