Tag archives: vicarious liability

Calling a man “bald” can amount to harassment related to sex

By Safwan Afridi on June 8, 2022 Posted in General, UK

The Employment Tribunal (ET) has found that an employee that was called “a bald ****” by a fellow male colleague was harassed based on his sex. The Claimant presented a number of other claims against the Respondent, including unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, victimisation and health and safety detriments; however, this post focuses on the Claimant’s … Continue reading

Vicarious Liability – the UK Supreme Court hands down two important decisions.

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on April 2, 2020 Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, UK

The Supreme Court has now delivered its judgements on two important cases involving the concept of vicarious liability. In both it has upheld the appeals holding that the employer was not vicariously liable. The first case is WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants. The case concerned a data breach by a disgruntled employee of … Continue reading

Vicarious liability in the data breach context – bad news for UK employers

By Amanda Sanders (UK) and Catrina Smith (UK) on October 30, 2018 Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, General, UK

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of the High Court holding that an employer can be vicariously liable for data breaches caused by the actions of an employee, even where the employee’s actions were specifically intended to harm the employer. This decision is significant as it means a company can be held liable … Continue reading

To what extent can employers be held vicariously liable for the acts of their employees and others in France?

By Judicaël Fouquet on May 10, 2016 Posted in Europe, France

The issue of the liability the employers can face as a result of the acts and/or omissions of their employees is a recurring aspect of employee management in France. There are no specific employment rules per se governing the extent to which the employers can be held vicariously liable for the acts of their employees. … Continue reading

Vicarious liability for sexual harassment

By Karen Ainslie (ZA) on May 9, 2016 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, South Africa

This article was written by Steven Adams, an Associate and Hermann Nieuwoudt, a Director at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa The Eastern Cape High Court has developed the common law and expanded the circumstances in which an employer may be held vicariously liable for its employee’s sexual harassment of another employee. Phil-Ann Erasmus was employed by … Continue reading

To what extent can employers be held vicariously liable for the acts of their employees?

By on May 3, 2016 Posted in Europe, General, Germany

This post was also contributed by Ebru Tirel, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Munich). Imagine a forklift truck driver damaging the car of a customer of the employer, resulting in a loss of EUR 200,000. Who will be liable for the damage? Generally speaking, of course, the employee is directly liable for the damage caused by … Continue reading

Vicarious liability in the UK – who am I responsible for?

By Catrina Smith (UK) on April 27, 2016 Posted in Europe, UK

Back in the day, the concept of vicarious liability (that is the situation in which one party is held liable for the acts or omissions of another) was largely confined to the employer/employee relationship. However, as working relationships have become more complex and diverse, and fewer people are entering into classic employer/employee relationships, vicarious liability … Continue reading

Vicarious Liability – When does it arise?

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on March 10, 2016 Posted in Europe, UK

Two recent decisions of the UK Supreme Court have considered the doctrine of vicarious liability and effectively extended it to a wider range of circumstances. In the UK an employer can be held liable for the tortious acts committed by an employee in the course of their employment. Courts will consider whether there is a … Continue reading

What are the limits of vicarious liability?

By Karen Ainslie (ZA) on April 17, 2013 Posted in South Africa

This post was contributed by Sipelelo Litji, Lauren Coetzee and Kate Paterson Employers may be vicariously liable for an employee’s actions regardless of whether they are acting in the course and scope of their employment. This is according to a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment that found the Minister of Defence to be liable for … Continue reading