vicarious liability

Vicarious liability

Where a third person has legal responsibility for the unlawful actions of another. Commonly seen in the workplace where the employer is held responsible fir the actions of their employee who acted in the course of their employment

Justifications for vicarious liability

C able to receive compensation

Employer traditionally has a degree of control over employee

Employers are responsible for hiring and firing staff

Employer responsible for making sure all employees are trained

Employer should have supervised the employee more affectively

Test for vicarious liability

Must have committed a tort

Been an employee

Committed the tort during the course of their employment

Testing employment

Contract of service they are an employee

Contract of services - contractor

Control test

Yemen’s v noakes - master employee test whether they had the right to control what the employee id and how it was done

Henderson- right to select the servant, right to control method of working right to suspend and dismiss and payment of wages

More than one employer can be vicariously liable

Integration test

Worker will be an employee if their work is fully integrated into the business if their work is only an accessory to the business they are not an employee

Economic reality test

1. Employee agrees to provide work or skill in return for a wage

2. Employee expressly or implied lay accepts that the work will be subject to the control of the employer

3. All other considerations in the contract are consistent with their being a contract of employment

4. Now factors in relationship also considered such as

5. Ownership of tools

6. Methods of payment

7. If tax, national insurance and pension contributions are deducted from wages

8. Job description

9. Any independence in doing job

Acting in the course of employment

Acting against orders- if employee doing their job but acts against orders in the any they did it employer still liable.If employee causes injury doing something outside what he was employed to fi employer not liable

Employee committing criminal act- if employee commits a crime dyuring work employer can be liable of their is a close connection between crime and what they are employed to do

Employee committing a negligent act- if employee dies job badly employer can be liable for actions which cause injury to another

Employee acting on a frolic of their own - commits tort outside area or time of work employer not liable

Payment of compensation

If tort is committed by employee acting in course of employment company pays, v only receive one payment

By civil liability act 1978 employer can recover Andy compensation paid out form the employee by deduction of wages

Other areas of vicarious liability

E.g parents responsibility for their child’s actions doesn’t always have to employer employee

Smith v stages

Hilton v Thomas burton

Century Insurancd co. Ltd v Northern Ireland Road transport board

Matt is v pollock

N v Chief constable of merseyside police

Lister v Hensley hall

Beard v London general omnibus

Twine v beans express

Rose v plenty

Limpus v London general

Fletcher v Chancery Supplies

Cox v Ministyry of justice

C employed ina prison as a catering manger. Injured by a prisoner who negligently dropped a sack of rice on her back. Claimed …

Mohamed v Wm Morrison supermarkets plc

The catholic child welfare society v various claimants and the institute of the brothers if the Christian schools

JGE v trustees of the Portsmouth catholic diocesan trust

….level of control and supervision exercised by the church and the role of the priest within the structure of the church were considered to be important

E v English province of our lady of charity

Ready mixed concrete v minister of pensions and national insurance

Viasystems v thermal transfer

Hawley v luminar leisure ltd

Mersey docks and harbour board v Coggins and Griffith