Vicarious Liability and Bifurcation: Reflections on WM Morrison Supermarkets v Various Claimants
Published date | 01 September 2020 |
Pages | 389-394 |
DOI | 10.3366/elr.2020.0651 |
Date | 01 September 2020 |
Over the last twenty years, the courts in England have elected to bring about a significant and ongoing expansion in the extent of an employer's responsibility where vicarious liability is concerned. This is true with respect to both the types of behaviour that can lead to the imposition of liability and the nature of the relationships that are relevant. Views will inevitably vary where the merits of these common law reforms are concerned but it is almost certainly the case that the prospects for claimants have never seemed more promising. Scotland has followed suit to a significant extent though a degree of caution has also been evident.
In
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[the court generally has to decide whether] … the wrongful conduct [was] so closely connected with acts the … employee was authorised to do that, for the purposes of the liability of [his] … employer, [it] … may fairly and properly be regarded as done by the [employee] while acting in the ordinary course of [his] … employment.
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