Defendant’s application for security for costs. Judges: Master Fontaine Citations: [2011] EWHC B20 (QB) Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Costs Updated: 19 November 2022; Ref: scu.444308
Citations: [1904] 2 Ch 196 Cited by: Cited – Hunt and Another v McLaren and others ChD 4-Oct-2006 Land had been given to a football club under a trust for its exclusive use as such. That land was sold and a new ground acquired and a stadium built, but the land was subject to restrictive … Continue reading Re Lead Co.’s Workmen’s Fund Society: 1904
Citations: [1910] SLR 478 Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: Scotland Scotland Updated: 21 April 2022; Ref: scu.615611
Blackburn J said: ‘I take it that, since the case of Vaughan v Taff Vale Ry Co, which was expressly affirmed in Brand v Hammersmith Ry Co, it is clear that when a railway company is authorized by their Act of parliament to run engines on their line, and that cannot be done without their … Continue reading Smith v The London and South Western Railway Company: 1870
Negligence requires duty to injured Workmen, employed by the defendant railway company to cut the grass and trim hedges bordering the railway, placed the trimmings in heaps near the line, and allowed them to remain there for fourteen days, during very hot weather in the month of August. Fire from a passing engine ignited one … Continue reading Smith v The London and South Western Railway Company: 1869
Contrary to the Coal Mines Order 1st September 1913, a miner proceeded to remove the stemming from an unexploded charge which had missed fire. An explosion took place, as a result of which he died. His widow claimed compensation from the respondents his employers, under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906. Held that the accident did … Continue reading Bourton v Beauchamp and Beauchamp: HL 17 May 1920
A counterclaim for negligent sale was a valid claim allowing potential against repossessing bank but would not make bank’s claim unliquidated. The Judge could properly hold that there was a liquidated and unsecured debt the subject of the statutory demand owed to the Bank for a sum greatly in excess of the statutory minimum which … Continue reading Platts v Trustees Savings Bank Plc: CA 13 Feb 1998
The claimant was injured at work at a swimming pool. As he and other members of staff tidied away a wet inflatable slide, he slipped and fell, suffering serious injury. Held: ‘it was necessary for the employers to have laid down a system to this extent: they should have warned their employees about the potential … Continue reading Barnes v Stockton-On-Tees Borough Council: CA 29 Oct 1997
A workman on 21st April 1919 sustained injuries to his eyes and was admitted to hospital. On 9th June 1919 his right eye was removed. On 3rd July 1919 the certifying surgeon granted a certificate in which he stated that the workman was then suffering from ulceration of the corneal surface of the eye. He … Continue reading Corsar v Archibald Russell Ltd: HL 17 Dec 1920
Master and Servant – Workmen’s Compensation – ‘Arising out of’ Employment – Collision whilst Riding a Bicycle – Risk Run by the General Public – Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906 (6 Edw. VII, cap. 58), sec. 1 (1). Judges: Lord Chancellor (Finlay), Earl Loreburn, Lords Shaw, Parker, and Parmoor Citations: [1917] UKHL 517, 55 SLR 517 … Continue reading Dennis v White and Co: HL 14 Jun 1917
The court considered the commercial purpose of employers’ liability insurance. Held: Although the Court was held by precedent to conclude that the date in the certificate was the date of the accident and thus of the disablement, nevertheless it achieved compensation for the employees, by concluding that they were employed, and the employer insured, at … Continue reading Ellerbeck Collieries tLd v Cornhill Insurance Co: CA 1932
Judges: Earl Loreburn, Lords Atkinson, Shaw, Parmoor, and Wrenbury Citations: [1916] UKHL 810, 53 SLR 810 Links: Bailii Statutes:
The court considered how to construe a clause in a contract which excluded a remedy provided by law. Lord Diplock said: ‘It is, of course, open to parties to a contract . . to exclude by express agreement a remedy for its breach which would otherwise arise by operation of law . . But in … Continue reading Modern Engineering (Bristol) Ltd v Gilbert Ash (Northern) Ltd: HL 1974
Judges: Lord Hanworth MR Citations: [1934] Ch 431 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Approved – Hanak v Green CA 1958 A builder was sued for his failure to complete the works he had contracted for. The buider sought a set-off against that claim of three of his one claims. One, under the contract, was … Continue reading In re a Bankruptcy Notice: CA 1934
A seaman while on board his ship at Spezzia was injured by drinking out of a tin which contained caustic soda in solution. The crew were in the habit of putting water supplied by the ship for drinking purposes in places where there was a draught for the purpose of cooling, and this practice was … Continue reading M’Kinnon v J and P Hutchison: HL 1 Feb 1916
Master and Servant – Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906 (6 Edw. VII, cap. 58), sec. 1 (1) – ‘Arising out of’ – Fall of Wall on Adjoining Property upon Roof of Building where Workman Employed. Citations: [1917] UKHL 267 – 1, 54 SLR 267 – 1 Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: Scotland Personal Injury Updated: 03 August 2022; … Continue reading Simpson v Sinclair: HL 8 Mar 1917
The defendants did not warn a contractor’s workmen of the risk of fire from an oxygen-enriched atmosphere. As a result, one of them accidentally started a fire in which eight employees died. Held: The employers were convicted under section 2(1). The duty under that section includes an obligation to take such steps as are reasonably … Continue reading Regina v Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Ltd: CA 1982
Denning LJ said: ‘Much maintenance is considered justifiable today which would in 1914 have been considered obnoxious. Most of the actions in our courts are supported by some association or other, or by the State itself. Comparatively a few litigants bring suits, or defend them at their own expense. Most claims by workmen against their … Continue reading Hill v Archbold: CA 1968
Master and Servant – Workmen’s Compensation – Compensation – Computation of the Compensation – Average Weekly Earnings – ‘Tips’ Received, under Sanotion of the Employer – Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906 (6 Edw. VII, c. 58), First Sched. (1) (6), (2) ( a).A railway porter met with an accident under circumstances which entitled him to compensation … Continue reading Great Western Railway Co v Helps: HL 30 Nov 1917
Master and Servant – Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906 (6 Edw. VII, cap. 58), sec. 1 (1) – Accident – Death Due to Chill Contracted by Miner while Waiting at Shaft-Bottom – Delay Due to a Protracted Statutory Inspection of Shaft. Judges: Earl Loreburn, Lord Shaw, Lord Parker, Lord Sumner, and Lord Parmoor Citations: [1917] UKHL … Continue reading Lyons v Woodilee Coal and Coke Co Ltd: HL 27 Apr 1917
redrow_buckboroughEAT2008 EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS: Worker, employee or neither WORKING TIME REGULATIONS: Worker / Holiday pay As in Redrow Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd v Wright 2004 IRLR 720, the issue in this appeal was whether workmen engaged by Redrow to work on their building sites were workers for the purposes of Reg. 2(1) of the Working Time … Continue reading Redrow Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd v Buckborough and Another: EAT 10 Oct 2008
A taxi-cab driver was injured by an accident while engaged in his vocation. He claimed compensation from the cab owners, and maintained that they were his employers in the sense of the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906. Some of the proved facts were consistent with the driver’s contention, the other facts indicated that the contract was … Continue reading Smith v General Motor Cab Co: HL 3 Apr 1911
Master and Servant – Workmen’s Compensation – ‘In Course of’ Employment – Point at which Employment Ceases – Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906 (6 Edw. VII, cap. 58), sec. 1. Judges: Lord Chancellor (Finlay), Earl Loreburn, Lords Dunedin, Atkinson, and Buckmaster Citations: [1917] UKHL 506, 55 SLR 506 Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Employment, Personal … Continue reading John Stewart and Son (1912) Ltd v Longhurst: HL 23 Mar 1917
An employee of the Crown at the Dublin Central Criminal Asylum received an injury by an accident in the course of his employment which incapacitated him for life. He was accordingly retired upon a pension and paid a gratuity. In his subsequent claim under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906 he claimed that these payments should … Continue reading Considine and Another v M’Inerney: HL 11 Apr 1916
W. G., a workman, met with a fatal accident in the course of his work on 14th September 1914. In the preceding three years during which he had been employed by the respondents he had been absent 163 days. The respondents claimed to fix the amount of compensation due at the wages actually paid during … Continue reading Greenwood v Nall and Co Ltd: HL 3 Nov 1916
The appellant appealed a finding that the respondent had been its employee, saying he was a minister of religion. Held: The judge had been entitled to find an intention to create legal relations, and therefore that the claimant was an employee. ‘The religious beliefs of a community may be such that their manifestation does not … Continue reading The New Testament Church of God v Reverend Stewart: CA 19 Oct 2007
A workman in the course of his employment received an injury apparently of a trifling character. About a month later, as a result of the injury, serious symptoms ensued, and the workman took to bed after giving his employers a doctor’s certificate that he was suffering from septic poisoning. No notice of a formal character … Continue reading Eydmann v Premier Accumulator Co Ltd: HL 23 Mar 1916
A miner died on 28th December 1914, as alleged by his widow, from heart failure due to overstrain at his work. Notice of the accident was only given on 6th January 1915. The employers took no steps to have the body exhumed. Against a claim for compensation they maintained that the miner had died from … Continue reading Lochgelly Iron and Coal Co Ltd v Kirk: HL 30 Oct 1916
The claimant was injured working for the defendants on a semi-submersible platform. He fell from a ladder which was not secured properly. He alleged a breach of the Regulations. The defendant denied any breach and asserted that the claimant had contributed to the accident by his negligence. Held: The employee’s appeal succeeded. The aim in … Continue reading Robb v Salamis (M and I) Ltd: HL 13 Dec 2006
The claimant sought interest on an overpayment of Advance Corporation Tax. The tax itself had been paid late, and the Collector claimed a set off. Held: The claim to DTR could not be described as an attempt at self-help. It had a statutory claim to DTR which was eventually conceded in its entirety. The appeal … Continue reading Burton (Collector of Taxes) v Mellham Ltd: HL 15 Feb 2006
Land had been given to a football club under a trust for its exclusive use as such. That land was sold and a new ground acquired and a stadium built, but the land was subject to restrictive covenenats limiting its use to sports, which considerably reduced its value. The trustees sought clarification of their duties. … Continue reading Hunt and Another v McLaren and others: ChD 4 Oct 2006
The defendant’s company in South Africa had become insolvent and the claimant had recovered judgment for arrears of rent. They obtained a freezing order against the defendant. The defendant appealed saying the court did not have jurisdiction, and should have taken account of cross claims. The defendant argued that the order was sought on a … Continue reading John Louis Carter Fourie v Allan Le Roux and others: CA 7 Mar 2005
The appellant challenged an order for costs after dismissal of her application for judicial review of the respondent’s planning decision. The claimant had been granted legal aid at about the time of the bringing in of the new legal aid scheme. The two regimes differed as to the limits applied to sums recoverable from the … Continue reading Sonia Burkett, Regina (on the Application of) v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham: CA 15 Oct 2004
On 10th March 1916 a workman who had been employed by the respondents for the preceding three years was killed by an accident in one of the respondents’ collieries. The respondents disputed the method of computing the compensation due to his dependants. From 1st to 13th July 1915 the deceased workman worked ‘day by day.’ … Continue reading Price v Guest, Keen, and Nettlefolds, Ltd: HL 17 Jun 1918
The appellant’s employers made a pathway over lands belonging to them by which their workmen obtained access to their work by a route shorter than the public road. The workmen were permitted, but not bound or entitled, to use this short-cut. The pathway at a point three-quarters of a-mile from the place of work contained … Continue reading Walters v Staveley Coal and Iron Co: HL 30 May 1911
The Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906, sec. 16(1), enacts-‘This Act shall come into operation on the first day of July 1907, but, except so far as it relates to references to medical referees and proceedings consequential thereon, shall not apply in any case where the accident happened before the commencement of this Act.’ Schedule II (17) … Continue reading Rosie v Mackay: HL 13 Nov 1911
A sailor who had gone on shore, with leave, upon his return reached the quay alongside of which his ship was lying. The gangway which was the access to his ship was properly lighted. There was no evidence whether he reached the gangway, but he fell into the water between the quay and the ship, … Continue reading Kitchenham v Owners of SS ‘Johannesburg’: HL 2 Jun 1911
A master mariner, while his ship was lying in Bangor Roads, went ashore to a pier, as he was entitled to do. It was not proved whether he went upon the ship’s business or for his own purposes. On returning to the quay he hailed his ship for a boat to convey him on board. … Continue reading Hewitt v Owners of SS ‘Duchess’: HL 15 Jun 1911
The question was whether the master is entitled under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906 (Sched. 1, sec. 17), to redeem by payment of a sum down a weekly payment which has been made for six months but which does not represent the full compensation due to the servant under the Act. Held that the payment … Continue reading Clawley v Carlton Main Colliery Co Ltd: HL 15 Jul 1918
The word ‘earnings’ in the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1897 is used in a popular sense, and means the sum which a workman gets for his work when he comes to it properly equipped according to the general understanding and practice of his particular trade. By agreement with a collier, his employer deducted from his weekly … Continue reading Abram Coal Co v Southern: HL 29 Jun 1903
A workman was killed by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. At the date of his death he was engaged to be married; the banns had been published at his expense and the wedding day fixed; the woman was pregnant with a child which the workman had acknowledged to … Continue reading Orrell Colliery Co Ltd v Schofield: HL 14 May 1909
A workman was totally incapacitated by accident. During all the preceding year he had been employed by respondent company in the same grade of work. During this time there were 16 weeks when work was impossible through public holidays or stoppage of work. Out of the 36 working weeks the workman had been off work … Continue reading Anslow v Cannock Chase Colliery Co Ltd: HL 17 May 1909
Circumstances in which held (diss. Lords Dunedin and Atkinson, and rev. judgment of the Second Division) that an award of compensation by an arbiter in a workmen’s compensation case, where the workman, a ship’s steward, was last seen alive in his bunk, and was found drowned next day near where his ship had been lying, … Continue reading Ayr Steam Shipping Co Ltd v Lendrum: HL 17 Jul 1914
The defendant had an exclusive distributorship agency for the plaintiff in England. Under that agreement, the plaintiff sold its prunes and raisins to the defendant under separate contracts of sale. The plaintiff claimed the price of goods sold under the latest of such sale contracts. Three weeks later the plaintiffs commenced separate proceedings in which … Continue reading Dole Dried Fruit and Nut Co v Trustin Kerwood Ltd: CA 1990
The plaintiff was his son’s agent. The son purchased a veterinary surgeon’s practice from the defendant, agreeing to pay the rent and indemnify the defendant against liability under a lease of premises from which the practice was carried on. The son then decided to leave the country, and gave the plaintiff authority to sell the … Continue reading Bankes v Jarvis: 1903
The tenant was sued by his landlord for arrears of rent, but sought an equitable set-off for damages for disrepair accruing under the previous landlord. Held: If the entitlement to recover arrears of rent passes from assignor to assignee, and if the amount of that entitlement is reduced or extinguished at common law by money … Continue reading Smith v Muscat: CA 10 Jul 2003
EAT The claimant had presented claims of sex and disability discrimination and victimisation. She suffered injury to her throat when builders demolished a wall near her workstation. Held: The employer’s appeal was dismissed. ‘There must be many cases in which the disabled person has been placed at a substantial disadvantage in the workplace, but in … Continue reading Mid-Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust v Cambridge: EAT 4 Mar 2003
The appellants challenged a finding that they were liable for their builders’ bill. Held: Work which had been rejected had not in fact been charged for. The defendant’s appeal on that point failed. The measure of damages for distress and inconvenience could not be said to be wrong. Ezekiel’s case was far more serious. The … Continue reading Boynton and Another v Willers: CA 3 Jul 2003
Buxton LJ: ‘The issue therefore is one of simple statutory construction. Can the expression ‘payment’ when used in section 87 of the 1970 Act, or ‘pays’ when used both in section 246N(2) of the 1988 Act and section 239 of the 1988 Act, encompass a set-off of the sort that the appellant asserts? In order … Continue reading Mellham Ltd v Collector of Taxes: CA 17 Jan 2003
The taxpayer appealed against a rating assessment on a barge permanently moored at a riverbank. He claimed that as a chattel, it should not be rated. Held: The vessel was a chattel, but its occupation could be an occupation of the riverbed. The licences were stated to be non-exclusive, but the law of rating looks … Continue reading Cinderella Rockerfellas Ltd v Rudd (Valuation Officer): CA 11 Apr 2003
Citations: [1908] ScotCS CSIH – 6, [1908] SLR 73, 1909 SC 132, 16 SLT 450 Links: Bailii, Bailii Statutes:
A firm of contractors who were engaged in substituting electric for horse tramway lines in the streets of a town stored the new rails when unloaded from the railway trucks in the railway company’s yard by arrangement with the railway company. An employee of the contractors was injured while stacking the rails. The yard abutted … Continue reading Back v Dick, Kerr, and Co: HL 15 May 1906
The appellants operated a chemical plant. When the plant was shut down for its annual maintenance, an independent firm repaired a tank lining. An employee of that firm was working by electric light. He had to clean the tank with acetone and resin. The acetone was in a bucket retreived from a refuse bin. While … Continue reading Regina v Associated Octel Ltd: HL 14 Nov 1996
Smithies, a master plasterer carrying on business in Birmingham, brought an action against the National Association of Operative Plasterers and the trustees thereof for damages for conspiracy, the conspiracy alleged being that they unlawfully and maliciously and with intent to injure him conspired together and with others to induce, persuade, influence, and coerce certain workmen, … Continue reading National Association of Operative Plasterers and Others v Smithies: HL 29 Jun 1906
An insurance policy covered the liability of an employer to compensate his workmen for injuries in the course of their employment. The court was asked whether it incorporated a condition requiring the employer to give immediate notice to the insurer of any accident causing injury to a workman and to forward to the insurer every … Continue reading In re Coleman’s Depositories Ltd: CA 1970
On the morning of the 20th August 1901 Johnson was working as a joiner in the gallery of the erecting shop in the respondents’ works. The gallery ran round all four sides of the erecting shop, and a large number of men were employed there. Access to the gallery from the floor below was gained … Continue reading Johnson v Marshall Sons and Co: HL 17 May 1906
The dependant of a deceased workman claimed compensation from his employers. The circumstances of the workman’s death are narrated in the judgment of Lord Mersey as follows-‘William Francis Barnes, a boy of seventeen, was employed at the Nunnery Colliery as a ‘clamper.’ In the early morning of the 2nd May last he and three other … Continue reading Barnes v Nunnery Colliery Co Ltd: HL 11 Dec 1911
It is not a matter of law but is a question of fact for the decision of the arbiter whether the demand of a workman, who is to be medically examined on the employer’s behalf, under section 4 of the First Schedule of the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906, that his own doctor shall also be … Continue reading Morgan v William Dixon Ltd: HL 13 Nov 1911
Lord Wrenbury said: ‘I have long since abandoned the hope of deciding any case upon the words ‘out of and in the course of’ upon grounds satisfactory to myself or convincing to others’. Judges: Lord Wrenbury Citations: [1920] AC 757 Statutes:
The owner of land had contracted with the plaintiff for him to build a tunnel under a road, along which there was a defective water pipe. The pipe leaked, and when the contractor started to dig, the water that had accumulated under the road flowed out, obstructing the works. This either reduced the contractor’s profit … Continue reading Cattle v The Stockton Waterworks: 1875
The court considered an allegation of discrimination made as to the appointment of a wages clerk by a district council. Held: Lord Lowry said: ‘It must not be forgotten that when the Act uses the word ‘discrimination or ‘discriminate’ it is referring to an employer who makes a choice between one candidate and another on … Continue reading Armagh District Council v Fair Employment Agency: CANI 1983
Where an employee was injured at work, but by an outside person, section 6 of the 1897 Act provides that the worker could ‘at his option, proceed, either at law against that person to recover damages, or against his employer for compensation under this Act, but not against both’. If compensation under the Act was … Continue reading Oliver v Nautilus Steam Shipping Co Ltd: 1903
The plaintiffs, London barge repairers claimed after an explosion on the Anglo-American Oil Company’s oil tank barge Warwick, when she was being repaired by the plaintiffs, to whom she had been sent for that purpose by the defendants. As a result of the explosion several lives were lost and considerable damage done. In the second … Continue reading Hodge and Sons v Anglo-American Oil Co: 1922
The defendants had installed a gas apparatus to provide natural gas on the premises of a railway company. They had installed a regulator to control the pressure and their men negligently made an escape-valve discharge into the building instead of into the open air. The railway workmen, the plaintiffs, were injured by an explosion in … Continue reading Dominion Natural Gas Co Ltd v Collins: 1909
A widow claimed compensation for her husband’s death overseas. Held: The Act did not provide for compensation to be payable. ‘What is the widow’s claim here ? She is claiming, not as a party to the contract, not as claiming any rights under a contract made by her or by any person through whom she … Continue reading Tomalin v S Pearson and Son Ltd: CA 1909
The company appealed against liability orders made against it. It owned premises which were subdivided and let to other businesses which it contended were the ones in actual occupation, since it did not benefit from physical, non-transient occupation. Held: The appeal failed. The magistrates had properly allowed for the restricted nature of the licences granted … Continue reading JDE Plant Hire Limited v Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council: QBD 2000
A policy provided an indemnity against employer’s liability under the 1906 Act, but required employers to keep a wages book and to notify the insurers of details of all remuneration paid during the period of insurance within one month from the end of the period, with provision for retrospective adjustment of the premium if the … Continue reading Re Bradley and Essex and Suffolk Accident Indemnity Society: CA 1912
The plaintiff, a Salvation Army Officer claimed under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Held: The claim failed. Sir Wilfred Green MR said that membership of the Salvation Army gave rise to a relationship ‘pre-eminently of a spiritual character’ which was not intended to give rise to legal relations, and ‘The circumstances that a monetary sum is … Continue reading Rogers v Booth: CA 1937
A writ of waste was brought alleging that waste had been committed in respect of a building etc. and also in respect of wood, namely certain trees. And in the count in respect of the trees he counted that the defendant cut down the trees and sold them. With respect to the building he pleaded … Continue reading 5 E. 4. 100: 1465
In looking at restrictions by an employer to limit his vicarious liability, the court must distinguish between prohibitions which limit the sphere of employment and those which only deal with conduct within the sphere of employment:’ ‘there are prohibitions which limit the sphere of employment, and prohibitions which only deal with conduct within the sphere … Continue reading Plumb v Cobden Flour Mills Co Ltd: HL 1914
The deceased had worked in the defender’s steel foundry, inhaling there siliceous dust particles. He contracted pneumoconiosis and died. The complaints related to the defender’s failure to provide adequate ventilation to extract the dust. The deceased had inhaled large quantities of noxious particles about which he could have no cause of complaint. The question was … Continue reading Nicholson v Atlas Steel Foundry and Engineering Co Ltd: HL 1957
Four workmen who had suffered pre-liquidation accidents but had made post-liquidation claims had, at the date of the winding up, ‘contingent claims’. Citations: [1947] Ch 763 Cited by: Cited – McCartney and Unite The Union and Another v Nortel Networks UK Ltd (In Administration) ChD 22-Apr-2010 The administrators gave employees of the company notice of … Continue reading Re Armstrong Whitworth: 1947
The plaintiff had been employed by the first defendant as a pipe fitter at two steel works occupied and operated by predecessors of the second defendant. He had worked two years at each of the sites erecting pipes, breaking into old pipes and knocking off old lagging between an inch and three inches in thickness; … Continue reading Banks v Woodhall Duckham and Others: CA 30 Nov 1955
The colliery owned 346 cottages which it kept for occupation by the colliers according to the discretion of the owners, who generall gave preference to married workers. A collier who was married but for whom a cottage could not be found was provided with an additional allowance for rent for alternative accomodation. It was not … Continue reading Smith v Seghill Overseers: 1875
An employer was insured against liability for accidents to his workmen under a policy containing a condition that if proceedings were taken to enforce any claim the insurance company should, if they so desired, ‘have the absolute conduct and control of the defences, in the name and on behalf of the employer, ‘ and that … Continue reading Kerr v Employers Liability Assurance Co, Ltd: SCS 20 Oct 1899
An injured workman who had obtained an award of damages and expenses against his employer sought, after the employer became insolvent, to obtain an award of expenses against the insurer. It was accepted that, under the policy, the insurers had complete control of the conduct of the defence, that they had exercised such control, and … Continue reading Kerr v Employers’ Liability Assurance Co Ltd: SCS 1902
The appellant company were held not liable for injuries caused by a defective brake on a coal wagon conveyed by the railway company to a point in the transit where their contract ended, and where the wagons were taken over for haulage for the last part of the journey by a second railway company, on … Continue reading Caledonian Ry Co v Mulholland or Warwick: HL 1898
The plaintiff was a crane driver whose load of timber, drums of paint, and bags of bolts etc, and without any fault on his part, fell into the hold of a ship as they were being lowered along with scaffolding. No one was actually injured but the plaintiff knew that fellow workers were then in … Continue reading Dooley v Cammell Laird and Co Ltd: 1951
By an agreement duly recorded under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1897, between an injured workman (appellant), and his employer (respondent), the latter agreed to pay the former a certain sum weekly as compensation during incapacity, or until the weekly payment should be ended, diminished, increased, or redeemed under the Act. Subsequently, in an arbitration at … Continue reading Nicolson v Piper: HL 18 Jun 1907
A railway company issued and posted the following notice:-‘Enginemen and firemen must not leave the footplate of their engine when the latter is in motion.’ The engine driver of a passenger train running at a fast speed left the footplate of his engine and climbed on to the tender for the purpose of getting coal … Continue reading Bist v London and Southwestern Railway Co: HL 25 Apr 1907
The appellant’s deceased husband was an engine-driver in the respondents’ service. In March 1907, while his engine was at Landore, Swansea, he descended in order to turn a water-crane to his engine. He afterwards crossed another line of rails in order to get a book from a friend on another engine. This was a private … Continue reading Reed v Great Western Railway Co: HL 29 Oct 1908
A workman in poor physical condition was engaged in a steamer’s stokehold raking ashes from the furnace; he received a heat-stroke from the radiation of the boiler and died in a few hours. Held ( diss. Lord Macnaghten) that the death was caused by accident within the meaning of the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906. Judges: … Continue reading Ismay, Imrie, and Co v Williamson: HL 31 Jul 1908
Under the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1887 an additional special rule was in force in a mine which provided-‘The bottomer at a mid-working. . . shall not open the gate fencing the shaft until the cage is stopped at such mid-working . . ‘ A bottomer at a mid-working, in need of the cage, signalled … Continue reading George v Glasgow Coal Co, Ltd: HL 9 Nov 1908
An action was raised by the plaintiff (appellant) against the respondents for demurrage under a charter-party entered into by them. The defendants pleaded the clause of exemption in rubric. Delay in loading had been caused by the crowded state of the harbour and a block of other vessels in the loading dock. The charter-party contained … Continue reading Larsen v Sylvester and Co: HL 21 May 1908
A foreman engineer was sent by his employers on board of a ship lying in a wet dock to take notes of repairs that they were to execute. While on board he accidentally fell and was injured. Held that the employers were not in actual occupation of the dock and were not ‘undertakers,’ and that … Continue reading Morgan v Tydvil Engineering and Ship Repairing Co: HL 6 Mar 1908
Held that the fact that a federation of miners in inducing its members to break their contracts of service with their employers acted without malice and in the bona fide belief that the breach of contract would benefit both the miners and their employers, formed no defence to an action brought by the latter against … Continue reading South Wales Miners’ Federation and Others v Glamorgan Goal Co and Others: HL 14 Apr 1905
A seaman was accidentally injured while engaged in his ordinary work as a sailor on board his ship. At the time she had completed coaling and was lying in the middle of the dock basin moored to buoys and waiting to proceed to sea on the following day. Held (diss Lord James of Hereford) that … Continue reading Houlder Line Ltd v Griffin: HL 14 Apr 1905
In consequence of a wreck in one of the shafts of a mine the miners were ordered to the surface. Those accustomed to ascend by the damaged shaft were directed to ascend by another shaft. They were detained an hour and a-half waiting until this shaft was free, the miners accustomed to use it being … Continue reading John Watson Ltd v Brown: HL 28 Apr 1914
Where employers apply for a review of the compensation payable by them weekly to a workman under an arbiter’s award, on the ground that the workman’s incapacity ceased at a date antecedent to the date of the application, at which date they have in fact ceased payment, the review may be, not only from the … Continue reading Gibson and Co v Wishart: HL 14 May 1914
The Union Canal Act 1817, authorising the formation of a canal from Lothian Road near Edinburgh, to join the Forth and Clyde Navigation Canal near Falkirk, inter alia, enacts-Section 112-‘Provided always and be it further enacted that nothing herein contained shall extend to prejudice or affect the right of any owner or owners of any … Continue reading Marquis of Linlithgow and Others v North British Railway Co: HL 22 Apr 1914
Frank Whittall was a miner and was killed by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment by the respondents. Thomas Lloyd was the illegitimate son of Alice Lloyd by Frank Whittall, born seven months after the latter’s death. At the arbitration Alice Lloyd gave evidence, objected to by the respondents … Continue reading Lloyd v Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co, Ltd: HL 6 Apr 1914
A schoolmaster at an industrial school, while performing his duties, was assaulted and killed by two of his pupils (who had formed a conspiracy for that purpose, and were afterwards tried and found guilty of manslaughter). A dependant having claimed compensation, the County Court Judge found that the deceased met his death by accident arising … Continue reading Board of Management of Trim Joint District School v Kelly: HL 6 Apr 1914
The purposes of this Order were the construction of new water-works and the abstraction of an additional supply of water from the river Dee for the City of Aberdeen. All opposition, including that of the counties of Aberdeen and Kincardine and the burgh of Banchory, had been withdrawn, save that on behalf of the District … Continue reading Aberdeen Corporation Water Order: HL 21 Oct 1915
A coalheaver was struck in the abdomen by a fall of coal while coaling a ship. He died from peritonitis, and the medical evidence showed him to have been suffering from chronic appendicitis. The question arose whether his death was the result of the blow or of the disease. The arbitrator found his widow entitled … Continue reading Woods v Thomas Wilson Sons and Co Ltd: HL 1 Mar 1915
Compensation had been paid by weekly payments for injuries received by a workman, and had been discontinued on the workman’s recovery and return to work. About two years later the workman, having meantime been in hospital with an illness which was not the result of the accident, claimed compensation on the ground of partial incapacity … Continue reading Smith v Davis and Sons Ltd: HL 29 Mar 1915
Consideration of the onus of proof that the employer has not been prejudiced in his defence by the omission to give the notice required by the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906 of a claim under the Act. Reversal of the decision of the Court of Appeal, who had, on this ground, set aside the arbiter’s award. … Continue reading Hayward v Westleigh Colliery Co Ltd: HL 8 Feb 1915
Colliery-owners provided a free service of trains which the workmen used if they so desired in going to and from work. An accident occurred to a train owing to the negligence of a servant engaged in repairs on the railway, and another servant was killed while travelling in the train. Held that the deceased workman … Continue reading Coldrick v Partridge, Jones, and Co, Ltd: HL 13 Dec 1909
A workman was injured while at work owing to the negligence of two fellow-servants. The employers became liable to pay him compensation, and claimed to be indemnified by the fellow-servants, as liable to pay damages under ‘a legal liability in some person other than the employer’ to pay damage in respect of the injury. Held … Continue reading Lees v Dunkerley Brothers: HL 3 Nov 1910
A seaman while on a foreign voyage was totally incapacitated by accidental injury. Under the Merchant Shipping Acts his employers became liable to pay wages up to the date of discharge, hospital and surgical expenses, and his maintenance until his arrival back in England. The County Court Judge held that compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation … Continue reading M’Dermott v Owners of The ‘Tintoretto’: HL 13 Dec 1910
The appellant was a workman who sustained injury by accident in the course of his employment with the respondents. He gave formal unwritten notice of a claim to compensation, but without mentioning any fixed amount in his claim. The Court of Appeal ( Cozens-Hardy, M. R., Fletcher Moulton and Farwell, L.JJ.) set aside the order … Continue reading Thompson v Goold and Co: HL 9 Jun 1910
