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Vicarious Liability for Violent Employees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2004

Robert Weekes
Robert Weekes*
Affiliation:
British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London
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Abstract

A series of recent cases have extended the liability of employers for intentional wrongdoing by their employees. The article explores the implications of these decisions, arguing that they evidence the revival of the “master’s tort” theory of vicarious liability, and have the potential for a further, undesirable, widening of liability rules.

Type
Shorter Article
Information
The Cambridge Law Journal , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , 27 March 2004 , pp. 53 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Law Journal and Contributors 2004

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References

Notes

* My thanks to Dr. T.R. Hickman and Dr. M. Andenas for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. All errors remaining are of course my own.

1 Mattis v. Pollock [2003] EWCA 887, [2003] 1 W.L.R. 2158.

2 [2001] UKHL 22, [2002] 1 A.C. 215.

3 [2002] UKHL 48, [2002] 3 W.L.R. 1913.

4 Salmond, J., Law of Torts, 1st edn., (London 1907), p. 83.Google Scholar

5 Dyer v. Munday [1895] 1 Q.B. 742.

6 Ilkiw v. Samuels [1963] 1 W.L.R. 991; Rose v. Plenty [1976] 1 W.L.R. 141.

7 Kooragang Investments Pty Ltd. v. Richardson & Wrench Ltd. [1982] A.C. 462, 473.

8 Note 2 above, at pp. 223-224; n. 3 above at para. [23].

9 Note 1 above, at para. [26].

10 Note 3 above, at paras. [24]-[26].

11 Broom v. Morgan [1953] 1 Q.B. 597, 609; 612; Boyle v. Kodak [1969] 1 W.L.R. 661, 672-673.

12 X v. Bedfordshire County Council [1995] 2 A.C. 633, 739-740; KR v. Bryn Alyn Community (Holdings Limited) [2003] EWCA Civ 85, at [102].

13 Note 3 above, at para. [22].

14 Hamlyn v. John Houston & Co. [1903] 1 K.B. 81, 85; note 2 above, at para. [65].

15 Bazley v. Curry (1999) 174 D.L.R. (4th) 45 at [37]; note 2 above, at para. [83].

16 Deatons Pty Ltd. v. Flew (1949) 79 C.L.R. 370.

17 New South Wales v. Lepore [2003] H.C.A. 4 at [65].

18 Bolton v. Stone [1951] AC 850; Tomlinson v. Congleton Borough Council [2003] UKHL 47, at [34]-[37]; [79]-[80].

19 Dorset Yacht v. Home Office [1970] 1 A.C. 1004, 1035.

20 Fairchild v. Glenhaven Funeral Services [2002] UKHL 22, [2003] 1 A.C. 32.

21 E.g., Gregg v. Scott [2002] EWCA Civ 1471, [2003] Lloyd's Rep Med 105, at [58]-[59].

22 Vasey v. Surrey Free Inns Plc [1996] P.I.Q.R. 373, 377-378.

23 Note 1 above, at para. [25].

24 Note 2 above, at para. [53].

25 Balfron Trustees v. Peterson [2001] I.R.L.R. 758, at [27].

26 Pinn v. Rew (1916) 32 T.L.R. 451; Wilsher v. Essex Area Health Authority [1987] Q.B. 730, 775; 778.

27 Note 2 above, at para. [55]; para. [20] per Lord Steyn; para. [82] per Lord Millett.

28 Hedley Byrne and Co. Ltd. v. Heller and Partners Ltd. [1964] A.C. 465, 494 but cp Smith v. Eric S. Bush [1990] 1 A.C. 831, 862.

29 Weld-Blundell v. Stephens [1920] A.C. 956, 986; Smith v. Leurs (1945) 70 C.L.R. 256, 261-262.

30 Note 17 above, at paras. [99]-[105]; [154]-[166].

31 Ibid., at para. [31].

32 Mattis v. Pollock [2002] EWHC 2177, at [77].

33 The Commonwealth v. Introvigne (1982) 150 C.L.R. 258.

34 Gold v. Essex County Council [1942] 2 K.B. 293.

35 Note 32 above, at para. [74].

36 Ibid., at para. [77].

37 Note 25 above, at para. [27].

38 Note 32 above at para. [76] [emphasis added].

39 E.g., Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. v. Shatwell [1965] A.C. 656, 685.

40 Note 15 above, at para. [15].

41 Ibid., at para. [41]; Jacobi v. Griffiths [1999] 174 D.L.R. (4th) 71.

42 Note 2 above, at para. [27].

43 Caparo Industries Plc v. Dickman [1990] 2 A.C. 605, 616.

44 X v. Bedfordshire County Council [1995] 2 A.C. 633, 754.

45 Note 2 above, at para. [60] (Lord Hobhouse).

46 [1962] Lloyd's Rep 1.

47 Note 1 above, at para. [28].

48 Note 46 above, at p. 10; cp: Warren v. Henley's Ltd. [1948] 2 All E.R. 935; note 16 above; Irving v. Post Office [1987] I.R.L.R. 289.

49 Poland v. John Parr & Sons [1927] 1 K.B. 236, 375-376 cp Vasey v. Surrey Free Inns Plc [1996] P.I.Q.R. 373 (note 22 above).

50 Jacobi v. Griffiths [1999] 174 D.L.R. (4th) 71.

51 Note 1 above, at para. [21].

52 Note 43 above, at para. 628 per Lord Roskill.

53 Ibid., 628 cf. Staton v. National Coal Board [1957] 1 W.L.R. 893, 895.

54 Ultramares Corporation v. Touche (1931) 174 N.E. 441, 444.

55 Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland NV v. Export Credits Guarantees Dept. [2000] 1 A.C. 486.

56 JD v. East Berkshire Community Health [2003] EWCACiv 1151, at [82]-[87].

57 KR v. Bryn Alyn Community (Holdings) Limited [2003] EWCA Civ 85, at [108].

58 Note 22 above, at p. 378.