Category: Personal Injury

Taylor v Glasgow Corporation: SCS 23 Jul 1952

The defender sought to rely on a disclaimer for responsibilitrty for personal injury of users of its bathhouse. The disclaimer was printed on the reverse of the ticket, and the pursuer was aregular user. She said that, by the negligence of defenders’ bath attendants allowed to fall down an interior stair and suffer serious injury.
Held: Her appeal failed: ‘the Sheriff was right to regard this ‘ticket’ as in substance a voucher. If so, the pursuer could not be reasonably expected to study it for conditions, and it follows that in the absence of some other method of calling her attention to its ‘conditional’ function the defenders cannot be said to have done what was reasonably sufficient to give the pursuer notice of the condition.’

Citations:

[1952] ScotCS CSIH – 1, 1952 SLT 399, 1952 SC 440

Links:

Bailii

Scotland, Personal Injury, Contract

Updated: 22 July 2022; Ref: scu.279422

Angus v National Coal Board: SCS 9 Feb 1955

The worker had been driving his tractor, when the ground underneath him collapsed through coal workings. He died when it fell on him. There were old but themselves secure workings near the surface, but subsequent deeper workings had undermined those near the surface.
Held: The action was dismissed. The case had been pleaded in negligence alone. No plea had been raised for lack of support of the land.

Judges:

Lord Strachan

Citations:

[1955] ScotCS CSIH – 1, 1955 SLT 245

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 48(1)(a)

Scotland, Personal Injury, Negligence

Updated: 22 July 2022; Ref: scu.279435

Curwen v James: CA 1963

An appeal court had a discretion to hear relevant evidence of events after the date of judgment, in this case a change in circumstances of the victim’s widow, when considering a claim for damages for personal injury, where that evidence would clearly have impacted on the award.

Citations:

[1963] 1 WLR 748

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Golden Strait Corporation v Nippon Yusen Kubishka Kaisha (‘The Golden Victory’) HL 28-Mar-2007
The claimant sought damages for repudiation of a charterparty. The charterpary had been intended to continue until 2005. The charterer repudiated the contract and that repudiation was accepted, but before the arbitrator could set his award, the Iraq . .
Cited – Richmond Adult Community College v McDougall CA 17-Jan-2008
The claimant had been offered and had accepted a job subject to satisfactory health clearance. When that was not received her offer was withdrawn. She had suffered a condition which would affect her daily activities, but had recovered from that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Damages

Updated: 21 July 2022; Ref: scu.252488

McEwan v Lothian Buses Plc: OHCS 4 Apr 2006

Mr McEwan was a probationary fitter employed to maintain and repair buses. He slipped on the surface of a board which was wet and slippery because of a spillage of coolant fluid.
Held: The defenders had failed to prove that it would have been reasonably practicable for them to prevent the breach of regulation 12(3).
Lord Emslie said: ‘As regards regulation 5(1) I am not persuaded that it was ever intended to impose an absolute duty in exactly the same circumstances as are covered by the qualifying duty under regulation 12(3). At the time when the precursor of regulation 12(3) appeared as the second part of section 28(1) of the Factories Act 1961, the absolute obligation contained in the first part of that section was held not to cover spillages and other transient conditions. Where these matters are now expressly covered under regulation 12(3), it seems to me that, on a proper construction, regulation 5(1) should be confined in scope to the permanent state of the workplace, or at least to longer-term situations. In this regard I find myself in agreement with the approach recently taken by the Court of Appeal in Lewis v Avidan Limited.
It is of course true that, as Lord Brodie observed in Cochrane v Gaughan, the words in parentheses; ‘… (including cleaned as appropriate)’ – which did not appear in previous legislation – bear to extend the scope of the duty under regulation 5 to some degree. In my view, however, sufficient content can be given to these words by construing the regulation as extending, at most, to such non-constructional states as would be removed by appropriate cleaning (my emphasis), and thus still as excluding momentary or transient spillages which no appropriate cleaning regime could practicably have dealt with in the time available. The element of appropriateness must, in other words, be given content as well as the reference to cleaning which does not stand alone. Approaching the matter in this way would have the merit of maintaining the logical distinction, which applied under earlier legislation, between absolute duties applying to the permanent or long-term state of the workplace and means of access, and duties qualified by reasonable practicability applying to short-lived transient conditions. It would also have the advantage of preserving the settled meaning which has, for decades, been accorded to statutory duties expressed in terms of ‘maintaining premises in an efficient state’.
For the avoidance of doubt, I should make it clear that I am not suggesting that any relevant distinction should be respected merely because it was established under earlier legislation. Plainly, such an approach would be untenable following repeal of that legislation and implementation of the Workplace Directive, although I note in passing that the latter does not clearly impose on employers any absolute duty to secure the safety of either new or existing workplaces under all possible conditions. The point is rather that, in the 1992 Regulations as in earlier legislation, qualified and unqualified duties have been enacted side by side, and in that context it is surely necessary to construe the unqualified duties, where possible, in such a way as to preserve some semblance of content and application for the qualified. If the absolute duty prescribed under regulation 5 were to be given the wholly unrestricted meaning for which the pursuer contended, then in my view many of the other regulations would become otiose, and the qualification of reasonable practicability in particular defined situations (for example under regulation 12(3)) might as well not be there at all.’

Judges:

Lord Emslie

Citations:

2006 SCLR 592

Jurisdiction:

Scotland

Cited by:

Approved – Munro v Aberdeen City Council SCS 17-Sep-2009
Safety Duty on Employer was not Absolute
The pursuer was injured slipping on ice in her defender employer’s car park. Liability depended on the interpretation of regulation 5, the claimant saying that it imposed an absolute requirement to maintain the workplace in efficient working order . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Health and Safety

Updated: 21 July 2022; Ref: scu.240074

Huscroft v P and O Ferries Ltd: CA 16 Jun 2010

Renewed application for permission to appeal.

Judges:

Rimer LJ

Citations:

[2010] EWCA Civ 628

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Application for leave – Huscroft v P and O Ferries Ltd CA 21-Dec-2010
Second appeal against order requiring sum for security for costs to be paid into court and in default for the claim to be struck out.
Held: The Court considered its jurisdiction to make an order for security for costs under rule 3.1 and, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury

Updated: 21 July 2022; Ref: scu.416760

Egan v Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals NHS Trust: CA 15 Dec 2008

The claimant, a nurse employed by the defendant, appealed against the refusal of her claim for personal injury suffered operating a hoist whose wheels jammed when they hit a plinth in the floor. No risk assessment was in place.
Held: The judge had not separately considered the allegation of breach of regulation 4(1)(b)(ii). This was an additional obligation and was not affected by whether the failure to carry out the risk assessment was causative. There had been reasonably practicable ways of minimising the danger. However the claimant remained 50% contributorily negligent.

Judges:

Sedley LJ, Keene LJ, Smith LJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 1424, [2009] ICR 585

Links:

Bailii, Times

Statutes:

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 4(1)(b)(ii)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Gold Harp Properties Ltd v Macleod and Others CA 29-Jul-2014
The company appealed against an order re-instating to the register leases which the company said it had forfeited for non-payment of rent. After the forfeiture, the landlord had granted new leases. It appealed saying that exceptional circumstances . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury

Updated: 21 July 2022; Ref: scu.278975

Hall v Holker Estate Co Ltd: CA 17 Dec 2008

The claimant was injured playing football with his son while playing football at a caravan park owned by the defendant. He appealed dismissal of his claim. They had been using goal posts which collapsed on him injuring his face. It had not been anchored as required by the manufacturer.
Held: The appeal was allowed. The judge was in error; he: ‘should have approached the case upon the broad basis that assuming the pegs had at some time earlier been properly in place along the frame, in accordance with the manufacturers directions, (as to which there was no direct evidence), but that they had been removed by campers for their own purposes, the probabilities were that the situation had existed at least throughout the day and that, if the daily system of inspection to ensure the pegs were in place (which the safety inspector regarded as necessary and the defendants purported to carry out), had actually been carried out, then the absence of pegging would have been detected and the pegs replaced .’

Judges:

Sir Mark Potter P

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 1422

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Occupiers Liability Act 1957

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Ward v Tesco Stores Ltd CA 1976
The claimant slipped on the contents of a yoghurt pot which had spilled onto the floor of the supermarket. The defendants gave evidence of frequent inspection and sweeping of the supermarket floor with instructions to the staff to clear up spillages . .
Cited – Richards v W F White and Co 1957
The plaintiff slipped on oil and fell suffering injury, and claimed damages.
Held: There had to be some evidence to show how long the oil had been present and some evidence from which it could be inferred that a prudent occupier of the . .
Cited – Richards v W F White and Co 1957
The plaintiff slipped on oil and fell suffering injury, and claimed damages.
Held: There had to be some evidence to show how long the oil had been present and some evidence from which it could be inferred that a prudent occupier of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury

Updated: 21 July 2022; Ref: scu.278819

Mcintyre and Another v The Home Office: QBD 30 Jan 2014

Claim for compensation for injuries allegedly suffered by the claimants as a result of a minor car accident.
Held: There was a stark contrast between the parties. The court accepted the version of the events told by the defendants, and the claim failed.

Judges:

Mostyn J

Citations:

[2014] EWHC B13 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Onassis and Calogeropoulos v Vergottis HL 1968
Lord Pearce (dissenting) discussed the assessment of a witness’ oral evidence: ‘Credibility involves wider problems than mere demeanour which is mostly concerned with whether the witness appears to be telling the truth as he now believes it to be. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury

Updated: 21 July 2022; Ref: scu.523305

AB and others v British Coal Corporation (Department of Trade and Industry): QBD 27 Jun 2007

The parties disputed the effect of the Claims Handling Agreement (CHA) which regulated claims for compensation for respiratory diseases incurred by people working for the defendant as regards the circumstances for claimants with chronic bronchitis. The claimants said that they need only establish having had the disease whilst working at a mine. The DTI said they had additionally to show that the disease was caused by the employment.
Held: the overall object of the CHA was to compensate claimants for injury caused by negligent exposure to mining dust and fumes. To this end, the MAP was designed to identify the respiratory condition(s) from which the miner was suffering or had suffered. The documentaion ‘is, in my view, very strongly indicative of an intention on the part of the parties that, whereas cases of exacerbation of asthma and late onset CB should be evaluated for a causal link with the miner’s work, the same should not be so in cases of CB where the symptoms developed during a period when the miner was working underground.’

Judges:

Swift DBE J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 1407 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Whitworth Street Estates (Manchester) Ltd v James Miller and Partners Ltd HL 1970
The parties disagreed as to the curial law of an arbitration agreement. The proper law of the building contract and the arbitration agreement was English but the reference was conducted in Scotland.
Held: Evidence of behaviour after a contract . .
Cited – Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society HL 19-Jun-1997
Account taken of circumstances wihout ambiguity
The respondent gave advice on home income plans. The individual claimants had assigned their initial claims to the scheme, but later sought also to have their mortgages in favour of the respondent set aside.
Held: Investors having once . .
See Also – AB and others v British Coal Corporation and Coal Mining Contractor Defendants QBD 22-Jun-2004
. .
See Also – AB and others v Department of Trade and Industry S/A British Coal Corporation CA 21-Dec-2005
. .
See Also – AB and others v British Coal Corporation and others CA 19-Oct-2006
A collective compensation agreement, which required affected persons to submit their claims, along with medical evidence, through authorised solicitors to be compensated on the basis of agreed damages formula, was introduced. . .
See Also – AB and others v British Coal Corporation and Another ComC 18-May-2007
. .

Cited by:

See Also – AB and others v British Coal Corporation (Department of Trade and Industry) (Costs) QBD 27-Jun-2007
. .
See Also – AB and others v British Coal Corporation (Rulings Appended) QBD 13-Aug-2007
. .
See Also – AB and others v British Coal Corporation ComC 15-Jan-2008
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Litigation Practice

Updated: 19 July 2022; Ref: scu.253714

Lyons v Woodilee Coal and Coke Co Ltd: HL 27 Apr 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 404, 54 SLR 404

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury

Updated: 19 July 2022; Ref: scu.631004

Dickins v O2 Plc: CA 16 Oct 2008

The employer appealed against a finding that it was responsible for the personal injury of the claimant in the form of psychiatric injury resulting from stress suffered working for them. She had told her employers that she was at the end of her tether, but they failed to respond, and a few weeks later her health broke down. The employer denied that they had been forewarned, and said that it was for her to refer herself to her doctor.
Held: The appeal failed. The judge had not failed to distinguish stress and stress related illness. The employer claimed as per Hatton that having provided a counselling service, it shoud not be held liable. The importance of such a service was that the confidentiality might allow an employee to seek assistance without the employer knowing the details. The court expresed doubts however about the method of apportionment of damages used.

Judges:

Smith LJ, Sedley LJ, Wall LJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 1144

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Sutherland v Hatton; Barber v Somerset County Council and similar CA 5-Feb-2002
Defendant employers appealed findings of liability for personal injuries consisting of an employee’s psychiatric illness caused by stress at work.
Held: Employers have a duty to take reasonable care for the safety of their employees. There are . .
Cited – Conn v Sunderland CA 7-Nov-2007
The claimant said that he had been harassed by the respondent through an employee.
Held: Under the 1997 Act, the behaviour had to go beyond the regrettable to the unacceptable, and would be of such gravity as would sustain criminal liability . .
Cited – Intel Corporation (UK) Ltd v Daw CA 7-Feb-2007
The company appealed against an award of damages to the defendant for personal injury in the form of stress induced mental illness.
Held: The reference to counselling services in Hatton did not make such services a panacea by which employers . .
Cited – Barber v Somerset County Council HL 1-Apr-2004
A teacher sought damages from his employer after suffering a work related stress breakdown.
Held: The definition of the work expected of him did not justify the demand placed upon him. The employer could have checked up on him during his . .
Cited – Bailey v The Ministry of Defence and Another CA 29-Jul-2008
The claimant had suffered brain damage following cardiac arrest after inhaling vomit. She had inhaled her vomit because she was in a very weakened state. Two causes had contributed to her weakness, one tortious, the other not. The judge below held . .
Cited – Rahman v Arearose Limited and Another, University College London, NHS Trust CA 15-Jun-2000
The claimant had suffered a vicious physical assault from which the claimant’s employers should have protected him, and an incompetently performed surgical operation. Three psychiatrists agreed that the aetiology of the claimant’s very severe . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Employment, Damages

Updated: 19 July 2022; Ref: scu.276943

Kent v Griffiths and others: CA 3 Feb 2000

A doctor attended the home of a patient suffering from an asthma attack and called for an ambulance to take her immediately to hospital. The control replied ‘Okay doctor.’ After 13 minutes the ambulance had not arrived and the patient’s husband made a further call. He was told that an ambulance was well on the way and should arrive in seven or eight minutes. For unexplained reasons it did not arrive until 40 minutes after the first call. The patient suffered a respiratory arrest which would have been prevented if the ambulance had arrived in a reasonable time. The patient’s doctor gave evidence that if she had been told that it would take the ambulance service 40 minutes to come, she would have advised the patient’s husband to drive her to hospital and would have gone with them.
Held: The defendant owed a duty of care to the claimant. The ambulance service, as part of the health service, should be regarded as providing services equivalent to those provided by hospitals, and not as providing services equivalent to those rendered by the police and fire services. Accordingly, the staff of the ambulance service owed a similar duty of care to that owed by doctors and nurses operating in the health service.

Judges:

Lord Woolf MR

Citations:

[2000] EWCA Civ 3017, [2000] 2 WLR 1158, [2000] 2 All ER 474, [2001] QB 36, [2000] PIQR P57, [2000] Lloyd’s Rep Med 109

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

To be confined to its facts – Alexandrou v Oxford (Chief Constable of the Merseyside Police) CA 16-Feb-1990
A shop was burgled. The shop-owner blamed the police for their negligent investigation.
Held: The police were not liable in negligence. . .
See Also – Kent v Dr Griffiths, Dr Roberts, London Ambulance Service CA 11-Dec-1998
Though there is no duty at large to help someone in need of urgent assistance, an ambulance service, by accepting a 999 call, may have accepted a duty to the caller. It remained open to argue as to whether it was fair just and reasonable to impose . .
Appeal from – Kent v Doctor Griffiths, Doctor Roberts, The London Ambulance Service QBD 16-Jul-1999
The claimant suffered a respiratory arrest after an emergency ambulance called by the first defendant, did not arrive for 40 minutes.
Held: the ambulance service was negligenct and liable. The acceptance of the doctor’s request for an . .

Cited by:

Cited – Michael and Others v The Chief Constable of South Wales Police and Another SC 28-Jan-2015
The claimants asserted negligence in the defendant in failing to provide an adequate response to an emergency call, leading, they said to the death of their daughter at the hands of her violent partner. They claimed also under the 1998 Act. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Professional Negligence, Personal Injury, Health Professions

Updated: 19 July 2022; Ref: scu.276303

Smith v General Motor Cab Co: HL 3 Apr 1911

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 one of hire by the driver from the cab owners. The County Court Judge found in fact that the driver hired the cab and was not a servant.
Held: There was evidence before the County Court Judge on which he could reasonably act to sustain his finding, and that therefore it could not be set aside.

Judges:

Lord Chancellor (Loreburn), the Earl of Halsbury, Lords Ashbourne, Atkinson, Shaw, and Mersey

Citations:

[1911] UKHL 618, 49 SLR 618

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury

Updated: 18 July 2022; Ref: scu.619194

Bailey v The Ministry of Defence and Another: CA 29 Jul 2008

The claimant had suffered brain damage following cardiac arrest after inhaling vomit. She had inhaled her vomit because she was in a very weakened state. Two causes had contributed to her weakness, one tortious, the other not. The judge below held that the tortious cause had made a material contribution to the weakness and the claimant succeeded in full. The employer appealed.
Held: The appeal failed. It was not possible to say with any confidence whether, without the tortious contribution, the claimant would have been so weak as to inhale her vomit. It was not suggested either in this court or below that the damages should be apportioned.
Waller LJ said: ‘I would summarise the position in relation to cumulative cause cases as follows. If the evidence demonstrates on a balance of probabilities that the injury would have occurred as a result of the non-tortious cause or causes in any event, the claimant will have failed to establish that the tortious cause contributed. Hotson exemplifies such a situation. If the evidence demonstrates that ‘but for’ the contribution of the tortious cause the injury would probably not have occurred, the claimant will (obviously) have discharged the burden. In a case where medical science cannot establish the probability that ‘but for’ an act of negligence the injury would not have happened but can establish that the contribution of the negligent cause was more than negligible, the ‘but for’ test is modified, and the claimant will succeed.’

Judges:

Lord Justice Waller, Lord Justice Sedley and Lady Justice Smith

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 883, Times 26-Aug-2008, [2009] 1 WLR 1052

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Dickins v O2 Plc CA 16-Oct-2008
The employer appealed against a finding that it was responsible for the personal injury of the claimant in the form of psychiatric injury resulting from stress suffered working for them. She had told her employers that she was at the end of her . .
Cited – Leigh v London Ambulance Service NHS Trust QBD 20-Feb-2014
The claimant was injured, and an ambulance was called. There was an unnecessary and neligent delay. The claimant suffered post-traumatic stress and now sought to recover damages from the trust.
Held: The claimant had unfortunately suffered a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Armed Forces, Professional Negligence, Personal Injury

Updated: 18 July 2022; Ref: scu.271219

McHugh v Gray: QBD 27 Jul 2006

Judges:

Beatson J

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 1968 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Limitation Act 1980 11

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Coad v Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Health Authority CA 17-Jul-1996
A nurse suffered a back injury in 1983 in the course of her employment. She left the employment of the health authority in either 1990 or 1991. The judge had accepted her evidence that she did not know that she had a right of action against her . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Limitation, Personal Injury

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.244510

Rance v Essex County Council: CA 21 Feb 1997

Appeal against refusal of claim against highway authority. The appellant was injured when her car crashed. A high volume of heavy goods vehicles had been using a local road, damaging the road and verges. Though the road was wide enough for her car to pass a lorry coming toward her, the appellant held to her side, and the nearside wheels fell into the damaged verge. On freeing the car from the rut, it careered across the road colliding with a tree and causing the injury. Locals had complained about the unsafe condition of the road to the respondent, the responsible highway authority.
Held: The appeal failed. Though the judge had erred in the way he had applied the case of Griffiths, a minor breach of he code of practice need not of itself create liability in the Council, and there was evidence which supported his conclusions.
Beldam LJ said: ‘section 58(2) requires the court in particular to have regard to certain matters in deciding whether the authority has in fact discharged the burden of showing a defence under section 58: First, the character of the highway and the traffic which might reasonably be expected to use it; secondly, the standard of maintenance appropriate for a highway of that character; thirdly, the state of repair that the reasonable person would have expected to find the highway in; and, fourthly, whether the highway authority knew or could reasonably have been expected to know that the condition of that part of the highway would be likely to cause danger to users of the highway, and where the highway authority could not reasonably have been expected to repair that part of the highway before the cause of action arose, what notices of its condition had been displayed.
Applying those considerations to this case and observing the nature and condition of this road from the photographs which were before the Judge, it seems to me that this road was not in an unexpected condition for a road of its type. The presence of worn verges with ruts at either side is not unusual in the roads in our country districts, particularly now that they are used by many vehicles for which they are quite unsuitable in many instances.’

Judges:

Beldam, Otton LJJ

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 1064

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Highways Act 1980 41 58

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Griffiths v Liverpool Corporation CA 1967
The Highways Act of 1961 had enlarged the duty of the highway authority and made it a general duty to take reasonable care to secure that the highway was not dangerous to traffic.
As to the effect of the 1961 Act, Diplock LJ said: ‘The duty at . .
Cited – Rider v Rider CA 1973
The plaintiff was a passenger in a car which her husband was driving and which collided with a van. The husband had been driving too fast. The edge of the tarmac on the road abutted grass verges at a lower level and the edge had been inadequately . .
Cited – Mills v Barnsley Borough Council CA 1992
The court considered the extent of defect in a highway needed to found a claim that it was dangerous. It emphasised that the duty must not be made too high, balancing the public need against the private interest.
Steyn LJ said: ‘For my part I . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Road Traffic

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.141460

WCC v Steer: QBD 15 Jul 2019

Claim for damages for the injurious consequences of sexual abuse which she alleges she sustained at the hands of the Defendant over a three-year period between 1978 and 1981, that is from eight years to eleven years of age.

Citations:

[2019] EWHC 1874 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.639731

Gates v Mckenna: QBD 14 Aug 1998

The plaintiff suffered schizophrenia after taking part in an on-stage hypnosis performance by the defendant.
Held: The claim failed: ‘it is highly improbable that the onset of the plaintiff’s schizophrenia had anything to do with his participation in the hypnotism show in which he took part. The only conceivable way in which there could be a causative link would be by classifying the experience as a life event and postulating that the stress which it generated was responsible for triggering the disease.’

Judges:

Toulson J

Citations:

[1998] EWHC 2006 (QB), (1999) 46 BMLR 9, [1998] Lloyd’s Rep Med 405

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Hypnotism Act 1952

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Smith v Leech Brain and Co Ltd CA 1962
The reasoning in The Wagon Mound did not affect the rule that a tortfeasor takes his victim as he finds him.
Lord Parker CJ said: ‘The test is not whether these employers could reasonably have foreseen that a burn would cause cancer and that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Negligence

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.375089

Willmore v Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council: QBD 24 Jul 2009

The claimant sought damages for personal injury, saying that she had now contracted mesolthelioma having been exposed to asbestos whilst a pupil at a school run by the defendant’s predecessors.
Held: The authority was liable.

Judges:

Nicol J

Citations:

[2009] EWHC 1831 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Applied – Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd and Others HL 20-Jun-2002
The claimants suffered mesothelioma after contact with asbestos while at work. Their employers pointed to several employments which might have given rise to the condition, saying it could not be clear which particular employment gave rise to the . .

Cited by:

At first instance – Sienkiewicz v Greif (UK) Ltd; Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willmore SC 9-Mar-2011
The Court considered appeals where defendants challenged the factual basis of findings that they had contributed to the causes of the claimant’s Mesothelioma, and in particular to what extent a court can satisfactorily base conclusions of fact on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.368665

Tedstone v Bourne Leisure Ltd (T/A Thoresby Hall Hotel and Spa): CA 7 May 2008

A leisure centre appealed a finding of liability under the 1957 Act after a customer slipped on water by a jacuzzi and injured herself, saying that the judge imposed too high a duty of care.
Held: The appeal succeeded. ‘If the claimant can prove facts which support the inference that the defendant was at fault, an evidential burden, that is, a burden to call evidence which would tend to rebut that inference, passes to the defendant. In this case, however, the facts proved by the claimant were not in my view sufficient to support the inference that the defendant was at fault. There was no evidence that the defendant knew that a significant pool of water was likely to appear in the area in which the claimant fell, or indeed anywhere else in the general area, other than at the foot of the steps leading out of the Jacuzzi, and accordingly the evidence called by the claimant did not point to the conclusion that prima facie there was a breach of duty on the part of the defendant. ‘

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 654

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 2

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Ward v Tesco Stores Ltd CA 1976
The claimant slipped on the contents of a yoghurt pot which had spilled onto the floor of the supermarket. The defendants gave evidence of frequent inspection and sweeping of the supermarket floor with instructions to the staff to clear up spillages . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Land

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.270529

Harrison v Derby City Council: CA 21 Apr 2008

The claimant injured herself tripping over a depression in the pavement. The council appealed a finding that it was in breach of its duty, saying that it had inspected the footway every six months.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Any collapse at this site would be from a cellar underlying the pavement, which might happen suddenly. It was not reasonable to require the council to have a separate inspection regime for this purpose.

Judges:

Sir Anthony Clarke MR, Laws, Longmore LJJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 583

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Highways Act 1980 41(1) 58

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Approved – Jacobs v Hampshire County Council QBD 28-May-1984
Skinner J discussed the application of section 58 of the 1980 Act saying: ‘that, in assessing whether a council has a defence under section 58 of the 1980 Act, it is necessary to take account of the sort of traffic which would foreseeable use the . .
Cited – Ward v Tesco Stores Ltd CA 1976
The claimant slipped on the contents of a yoghurt pot which had spilled onto the floor of the supermarket. The defendants gave evidence of frequent inspection and sweeping of the supermarket floor with instructions to the staff to clear up spillages . .
Cited – Atkins v London Borough of Ealing QBD 17-Oct-2006
An accident which occurred when a manhole cover tilted, causing the claimant’s foot to fall through into the hole and causing the claimant injury.
Held: The council’s appeal failed. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Local Government

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.270518

Cenet v Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council: QBD 26 Jun 2008

Swift J stated that the highway must be ‘free of danger to all users who use the highway in a way normally expected of them’.

Judges:

Swift J DBE

Citations:

[2008] EWHC 1407 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Citing:

Cited – Rider v Rider CA 1973
The plaintiff was a passenger in a car which her husband was driving and which collided with a van. The husband had been driving too fast. The edge of the tarmac on the road abutted grass verges at a lower level and the edge had been inadequately . .

Cited by:

Cited – Jones v Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council CA 15-Jul-2008
The claimant, a fireman, sought damages for injuries suffered when he was injured answering a call out. He fell into a depressed area by the road side as he was pulling away a burning wooden pallet.
Held: The appeal was dismissed. The court . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.270432

Piccolo v Larkstock Ltd (T/A Chiltern Flowers and Others): CA 19 May 2008

The claimant won damages when slipping on a rail terminus concourse owned by the second defendant from which the first defendant had sold flowers, allowing water and petals to be spilled causing the slip. The second defendant renewed its application for leave to appeal against a finding of liability.

Judges:

Smith LJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 647

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.269720

Bollito v Arriva London: CA 20 May 2008

The defendant renewed its application for leave to appeal against a finding that its driver was 100% to blame when a passenger was trapped in the door as he got on a bus, and then fell as the driver accelerated away causing serious head injuries.

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 621

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal INjury

Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.269712

Portsmouth Youth Activities Committee (A Charity) v Poppleton: CA 12 Jun 2008

The claimant was injured climbing without ropes (‘bouldering’) at defendant’s activity centre. The defendant appealed against a finding of 25% responsibility in having failed to warn climbers that the existence of thick foam would not remove all risk and might give a false sense of security.
Held: It was not sustainable to say that the risk of being injured despite the presence of the foam was not obvious: ‘no amount of matting will avoid absolutely the risk of possibly severe injury from an awkward fall and that the possibility of an awkward fall is an obvious and inherent risk of this kind of climbing.’ and ‘There being inherent and obvious risks in the activity which Mr Poppleton was voluntarily undertaking, the law did not in my view require the appellants to prevent him from undertaking it, nor to train him or supervise him while he did it, or see that others did so. If the law required training or supervision in this case, it would equally be required for a multitude of other commonplace leisure activities which nevertheless carry with them a degree of obvious inherent risk – as for instance bathing in the sea.’

Judges:

May LJ, Richards LJ, Sir Paul Kennedy

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 646

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Fowles v Bedfordshire County Council CA 22-May-1995
The claimant had received some instruction as to the use of gymnastic mats, but the instruction from the defendants was inadequate and had not made him aware of the dangers. Subsequently, when the claimant used the mats with a friend on a subsequent . .
Cited – Perrett v Collins, Underwood PFA (Ulair) Limited (T/a Popular Flying Association) CA 22-May-1998
The plaintiff was a passenger in an aircraft which crashed, and there was a preliminary issue as to the liability to him of those who certified that the aircraft was fit to fly. The propeller was mismatched to the gearbox.
Held: A certifying . .
Cited – Michael Alexander Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd, World Boxing Organisation Incorporated CA 19-Dec-2000
The claimant was seriously injured in a professional boxing match governed by rules established by the defendant’s rules. Ringside medical facilities were available, but did not provide immediate resuscitation. By the time he received resuscitation . .
Cited – Donoghue v Folkestone Properties Limited CA 27-Feb-2003
The claimant had decided to go for a midnight swim, but was injured diving and hitting a submerged bed. The landowner appealed a finding that it was 25% liable. The claimant asserted that the defendant knew that swimmers were common.
Held: The . .
Cited – Evans v Kosmar Villa Holidays Plc CA 23-Oct-2007
The claimant sought damages from the tour operator after he suffered a head injury resulting in incomplete tetraplegia after diving into a shallow swimming pool in the early hours of the morning in a resort in Greece while on a tour run by the . .

Cited by:

Cited – Geary v JD Wetherspoon Plc QBD 14-Jun-2011
The claimant, attempting to slide down the banisters at the defendants’ premises, fell 4 metres suffering severe injury. She claimed in negligence and occupiers’ liability. The local council had waived a requirement that the balustrade meet the . .
Cited – Cockbill v Riley QBD 22-Mar-2013
The claimant sufferd catastrophic injury diving into a paddling pool at a party held by the defendant for his daughter to celebrate completing her GCSEs.
Held: The claim failed. ‘It was reasonably foreseeable that someone would lose his . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Negligence, Personal Injury

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.268830

MG v North Devon NHS Primary Care Trust: QBD 28 Apr 2006

Claim for damages – work induced stress and depression – health visitor.

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 850 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Walker v Northumberland County Council QBD 16-Nov-1994
The plaintiff was a manager within the social services department. He suffered a mental breakdown in 1986, and had four months off work. His employers had refused to provide the increased support he requested. He had returned to work, but again, did . .
Cited – Barber v Somerset County Council HL 1-Apr-2004
A teacher sought damages from his employer after suffering a work related stress breakdown.
Held: The definition of the work expected of him did not justify the demand placed upon him. The employer could have checked up on him during his . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Employment, Personal Injury

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.245089

Clark v The Chief Constable of Essex Police: QBD 18 Sep 2006

The officer had retired on ill health grounds, and now sought damages from his chief constable saying that the duties imposed on him had been excessive, and had caused his injury by negligence, and that he had been bullied by co-workers and had not been given appropriate support by the defendant.
Held: The allegations of bullying and harassment were made out. A meeting described as a management meeting was in fact clearly a disciplinary one, but proper procedures had not been followed. This level of stress was not properly part of a policeman’s role and the psychological injury followed. The claim of contributory negligence was not supported. The claimant had done what he could to complain of his treatment. Damages were awarded accordingly.

Judges:

Tugendhat J

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 2290 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Waters v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis HL 27-Jul-2000
A policewoman, having made a complaint of serious sexual assault against a fellow officer complained again that the Commissioner had failed to protect her against retaliatory assaults. Her claim was struck out, but restored on appeal.
Held: . .
Cited – Sutherland v Hatton; Barber v Somerset County Council and similar CA 5-Feb-2002
Defendant employers appealed findings of liability for personal injuries consisting of an employee’s psychiatric illness caused by stress at work.
Held: Employers have a duty to take reasonable care for the safety of their employees. There are . .
Cited – Garrett v Camden London Borough Council CA 16-Mar-2001
The court considered a claim for work related stress. The claimant asserted that he had been harassed, intimidated and systematically undermined: ‘Many, alas, suffer breakdowns and depressive illnesses and a significant proportion could doubtless . .
Cited – Rorrison v West Lothian College and Lothian Regional Council OHCS 21-Jul-1999
The pursuer, a nurse, claimed that she suffered psychological injuries as a result of her treatment at work by two superiors.
Held: The court could find nothing in the pleadings: ‘which, if proved, could establish that Andrews and Henning . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Police, Vicarious Liability

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.245094

Redhead v Rawcliffe: QBD 31 Oct 2006

Dispute as to the extent to which the claimant who was a child severely injured in a road traffic accident, will need future care, and the responsibility, if any, of the local authority to fund it.

Judges:

Keith J

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 2695 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury, Damages

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.245958

John Stewart and Son (1912) Ltd v Longhurst: HL 23 Mar 1917

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 Injury

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.631000

CP (A Child) v First-Tier Tribunal (Criminal Injuries Compensation): CA 4 Dec 2014

The claimant child suffered permanent damage in the form of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. She now appealed from rejection of her claim for criminal injuries, saying that her mother’s drinking had been made her guilty of unlawfully administering a poison to any other person so as thereby to inflict grievous bodily harm, contrary to section 23 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, and that it constituted a crime of violence within the meaning of the scheme.
Held: The appeal failed. At the time when the alcohol was ingested, she had not been a ‘separate person’.

Judges:

Lord Dyson MR, Treacy, King LJJ

Citations:

[2014] EWCA Civ 1554, [2014] WLR(D) 520, [2015] 4 All ER 60, [2015] 2 FLR 1163, [2015] 1 Cr App R 19, (2015) 142 BMLR 18, [2015] 2 WLR 463, [2015] PIQR P12, [2015] 1 QB 459, [2015] Fam Law 123

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Offences Against the Person Act 1861 23

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.539732

NXS v London Borough of Camden: QBD 16 Jul 2009

The claimant sought damages from the defendant who had arranged for her to be taken into care as a child in that she suffered personal injury by being abused at a time when the defendant should have acted to take her into care.

Judges:

Swift J

Citations:

[2009] EWHC 1786 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Negligence, Personal Injury

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.347820

Jennings v The Forestry Commission: CA 23 May 2008

The claimant was a self employed contractor. He suffered serious injuries when while working for the defendant, his vehicle overturned. The defendant appealed against the finding of liability. The Land Rover went out of control on a steeply sloping field on which he was driving in the course of carrying out fencing work for the Forestry Commission. He alleged that the Forestry Commission had assumed control over his work equipment (the Land Rover). The judge had said: ‘a householder who employs a contractor to do work on his home, and then sees the contractor using his equipment in a way which appears to be dangerous, is not in breach of Regulation 3 if he does not intervene.’
Held: The appeal failed. The Forestry Commission were plainly carrying on an ‘undertaking’ within the meaning of Regulation 3(4).

Judges:

May LJ, Richards LJ, Sir Paul Kennedy

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 581, [2008] ICR 988

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 9

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Kmiecic v Isaacs QBD 12-Mar-2010
The claimant sought damages after suffering injury when falling from a ladder working on the uninsured builder’s site. He sued the owners of the property, saying that by refusing to allow or pay for the work to be conducted in safer ways, she had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Health and Safety, Personal Injury, Negligence

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.268000

A Train and Sons Ltd v Fletcher: CA 24 Apr 2008

Appeal re award of interest on claim under Fatal Accidents Act.
Hooper LJ confessed: ‘I do not understand why chronological years are deducted from the multiplier’.

Judges:

Sir Mark Potter P, Hooper, Moses LJJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 413, [2008] 4 All ER 699

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Fatal Accidents Act 1976

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Cookson v Knowles HL 24-May-1978
The House described the approach to the calculation of damages for a dependency under the Fatal Accidents Acts.
Held: The multipliers in Fatal Accidents Act cases should be calculated from the date of death.
Sections 3 and 4 mark a . .

Cited by:

Cited – Knauer v Ministry of Justice SC 24-Feb-2016
The court was asked: ‘whether the current approach to assessing the financial losses suffered by the dependant of a person who is wrongfully killed properly reflects the fundamental principle of full compensation, and if it does not whether we . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Damages

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.267997

Byrne (A Minor) v The Motor Insurers Bureau and Another: CA 22 May 2008

The claimant said that the rejection of his claim against the MIB was out ouf time under the MIB scheme, where, had the claim been against the driver, the claim would have succeeded.
Held: The Bureau’s appeal failed. European law imposed a duty to ensure that the scheme for compensating victims of uninsured drivers was no less generous than the scheme which applied as between insured drivers. The British scheme provided for a shorter limitation period for such claimas and accordingly was in breach of European law.

Judges:

Lord Justice Waller, Lord Justice Keene and Lord Justice Carnwath

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 574, Times 02-Jul-2008

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Council Directive 84/5/EEC of 30 December 1983, Untraced Drivers Agreement 1972

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Byrne (A Minor) v The Motor Insurers Bureau, Secretary of State for Transport QBD 5-Jun-2007
The court was asked whether the UK provisions for the Motor Insurers bureau met the requirements of the European Directive.
Held: The UK had failed to implement the directive properly by imposing a three year limit on claims when no such . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Road Traffic, European, Limitation

Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.267968

Mason and Another v Satelcom Ltd and East Potential Ltd: CA 14 May 2008

The claimant was replacing a computer memory card. He fell from a ladder suffering injury. He was employed by the defendant contracting for another defendant, and used a ladder on loan from another neighbour.
Held: The contribution sought from the owner of the ladder failed. It had not been proved that East owned the ladder, and therefore their duty went no further in this case than to make sure whilst it was under their control it did not get in anyone’s way.

Judges:

Lord Justice Ward, Lord Justice May and Lord Justice Longmore

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 494, Times 04-Jun-2008, [2008] ICR 971

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996, Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (1992 No 2932)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Mason v Satelcom Ltd and others QBD 24-Jul-2007
The claimant IT engineer was injured replacing a computer card. He was employed by other defendants contracting for the now only continuing defendant. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Smith v Northamptonshire County Council HL 20-May-2009
The claimant, a health care worker was visiting the home of a client when she fell from a defective wheelchair ramp and suffered injury. She sought damages from her employer.
Held: Her appeal failed (Lord Hope and Lady Hale dissenting). The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Health and Safety

Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.267654

Bostock v Carillion Construction (Contracts) Ltd and Another: CA 17 Apr 2008

Employers appealed a finding that the claimant had contracted asbestosis through his work for them in the past. He had worked for two such firms and the court had apportioned liability equally.

Judges:

Hughes LJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 451

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury, Health and Safety

Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.267564

Herbison v McCooke and Another: QBNI 8 Mar 2007

The claimant was on land belonging to the second defendant in the company of the first defendant when an explosion occurred as a result of which he sustained a serious injury to his left leg. The parties have agreed that if liability is established the plaintiff is entitled to receive andpound;70,000 in compensation for his injuries.

Judges:

Higgins LJ

Citations:

[2007] NIQB 122

Links:

Bailii

Northern Ireland, Personal Injury

Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.267017

Carver v BAA Plc: CA 22 Apr 2008

The claimant had succeeded in her claim and had recovered more than the sum paid in by the defendant, and now appealed an order for costs in favour of the defendant.
Held: The award of costs to a successful claimant achieving more than any sum paid in was not automatic. Where the court felt that the litigation had been conducted in an inappropriate manner, as here, it had a discretion to depart from the normal order and award the defendant their costs. The court had a discretion to take into account all the circumstances when asking whether a settlement was more advantageuos than the sum paid in. The claimant here had only just bettered the payment in and had pursued her claim well beyond a time when she should have done.

Judges:

Ward, Rix, Keene LJJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 412, Times 04-Jun-2008, [2009] 1 WLR 113, [2008] 3 All ER 911, [2008] PIQR P15, [2008] LS Law Medical 351, [2008] CP Rep 30

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Civil Procedure Rules 36.14(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Gibbon v Manchester City Council, L G Blower Specialist Bricklayer Ltd, Reeves and another CA 25-Jun-2010
A payment in had been made, and a counter offer made by the claimant. The original offer was increased but rejected. The counter-offer was not withdrawn, and was then accepted by the defendant. On receipt of the acceptance, the claimant purported to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Costs, Personal Injury

Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.267004

Arriva Trains Northern Ltd v Eaglen: CA 10 Apr 2008

The respondent had claimed for long term back injury which he blamed upon unsatisfactory seating arrangements as a train driver. The company appealed against a finding of liability.

Judges:

Rix, Longmore, Wilson LJJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 352

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Health and Safety, Personal Injury

Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.266554

D v Intel Corporation (UK) Ltd: QBD 23 May 2006

The claimant sought damages for stress incurred at work. She had suffered post natal depression and received counselling through her work and recovered. She suffered a second bout of depression after the birth of another child, but again was thought to have recovered. A re-organisation left her answerable to three managers, and she complained of a lack of resources. She claimed for the subsequent depression, and relied on the knowledge in her employers of the earlier episodes.
Held: Though they were unconnected with her work, her employers should have known she would be more readily susceptible to further bouts. ‘[A]ssuming knowledge of the previous episodes of post natal depression, I do not accept that as a reasonable employer the defendant here should without more have taken into account that Mrs. D’s mental health was more at risk if she were placed under stress. ‘ The employer had given her an excessive workload and had not taken steps to ameliorate her position when it should have done so. It was liable.

Judges:

Goldring J

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 1097 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Garrett v Camden London Borough Council CA 16-Mar-2001
The court considered a claim for work related stress. The claimant asserted that he had been harassed, intimidated and systematically undermined: ‘Many, alas, suffer breakdowns and depressive illnesses and a significant proportion could doubtless . .
Cited – Hartman v South Essex Mental Health and Community Care NHS Trust etc CA 19-Jan-2005
The court considered the liability of employers for stress injury to several employees.
Held: Though the principles of awarding damages for stress related psychiatric injury are the same as those for physical injury, the issues have still . .
Cited – Sutherland v Hatton; Barber v Somerset County Council and similar CA 5-Feb-2002
Defendant employers appealed findings of liability for personal injuries consisting of an employee’s psychiatric illness caused by stress at work.
Held: Employers have a duty to take reasonable care for the safety of their employees. There are . .
Cited – Hone v Six Continents Retail Ltd CA 29-Jun-2005
The employer appealed a finding that it was liable in damages for negligence to the claimant, and employee who suffered psychiatric injury cause by stress at work. He said he had been left to work very excessive hours, between 89 and 92 hours a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Negligence, Personal Injury

Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.242311

Considine and Another v M’Inerney: HL 11 Apr 1916

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 be disregarded in assessing the compensation due to him.
Held that both pension and gratuity were a ‘payment, allowance, or benefit’ under Schedule I (3) of the Act, and should be taken into account in fixing the amount of weekly compensation.
Decision of the Court of Appeal in Ireland ( 1916, 2 Ir. R. 193) reversed

Judges:

Lord Chancellor (Lord Buckmaster), Earl Loreburn, Lords Atkinson and Shaw

Citations:

[1916] UKHL 406, 54 SLR 406

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury

Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.630680

Greenwood v Nall and Co Ltd: HL 3 Nov 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 these three years, pounds 168, 13s. 5d. The appellant claimed pounds 212, 11s., the amount W. G. would have earned had he worked continuously at his average weekly wage.
Held that compensation should be awarded upon the basis of the average weekly wage during the three years preceding the accident.
Decision of the Court of Appeal ( 1915, 3 K.B. 97) reversed.

Judges:

Earl Loreburn, Lords Kinnear, Shaw, and Parmoor

Citations:

[1916] UKHL 427, 54 SLR 427

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Personal Injury

Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.630693

Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Another v Williams: CA 15 Feb 2008

The court considered the essential philosophy underwriting the 1976 Act. Smith LJ said: ‘nothing that a dependant (or for that matter anyone else) could do after death could either increase or decrease the dependency. The dependency is fixed at the moment of death; it is what the dependants would probably have received as benefit from the deceased, had the deceased not died. What decisions people make afterwards is irrelevant. The only post death events which are relevant are those which affect the continuance of the dependency (such as the death of a dependant before trial) and the rise (or fall) in earnings to reflect the effects of inflation.’

Judges:

Smith, Thomas, Lloyd LJJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Civ 81

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Fatal Accidents Act 1976

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Roerig v Valiant Trawlers Ltd CA 28-Jan-2002
The claimant who was Dutch, was a widow of a fisherman who had died at sea. The question on appeal was ‘in assessing damages for loss of dependency should benefits resulting from the loss be deducted from the damages?’ The claimant’s position under . .

Cited by:

Cited – Cox v Ergo Versicherung Ag and Another QBD 28-Oct-2011
The deceased died in a road traffic accident whilst serving in the Armed forces in Germany. The driver was insured under German law. The widow now claimed damages in England. She had entered a new relationship.
Held: The object of section 844 . .
Cited – Cox v Ergo Versicherung Ag CA 25-Jun-2012
The deceased member of the armed forces had died in a road traffic accident in Germany. The parties didputed whether the principles governing the calculation of damages were those in the 1976 Act and UK law, or under German law.
Held: ‘There . .
Cited – Cox v Ergo Versicherung Ag and Another QBD 28-Oct-2011
The deceased died in a road traffic accident whilst serving in the Armed forces in Germany. The driver was insured under German law. The widow now claimed damages in England. She had entered a new relationship.
Held: The object of section 844 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Damages, Personal Injury

Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.265926

Ferryways Nv v Associated British Ports: ComC 14 Feb 2008

The court considered the effect of an exclusion from liability reading: ‘Exclusion and Limitations of Liability . . (c) Where the Company is in breach of its obligations in respect of the Services or under any Contract or any duties it may have as bailee of the Goods it shall have no liability to the Customer in contract, tort, negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise for any loss, damage, costs or expenses of any nature whatsoever incurred or suffered by the Customer which is of an indirect or consequential nature including without limitation the following:
(i) loss or deferment of profit;
(ii) loss or deferment of revenue;
(iii) loss of goodwill;
(iv) loss of business;
(v) loss or deferment of production or increased costs of production;
(vi) the liabilities of the Customer to any other party.’
Held: Where a party seeks to protect himself from liability for losses otherwise recoverable by law for breach of contract he must do so by clear and unambiguous language. Clause 9(c) provides that liability for such losses as are ‘of an indirect or consequential nature’ is excluded. In the light of the well-recognised meaning which has been accorded to such words in a variety of exemption clauses by the courts from 1934 to 1999 it would require very clear words indeed to indicate that the parties’ intentions when using such words was to exclude losses which fall outside that well-recognised meaning. This is particularly so when ‘indirect’ is used as well as ‘consequential’. The use of ‘indirect’ draws an implicit distinction with direct losses. The meaning which has been given to direct losses in the cases which I have mentioned is ‘loss which flows naturally from the breach without other intervening cause and independently of special circumstances’ (per Atkinson J in Saint Line[3] at page 103). By contrast, indirect or consequential losses are losses which are not the direct and natural result of the breach (per Atkinson J in Saint Line at page 104).
The important question therefore is whether the words in clause 9 ‘including without limitation the following’ indicate clearly that the parties were giving their own definition of indirect or consequential losses so as to include the specified losses even if they are the direct and natural result of the breach in question. In my judgment those words do not provide the sort of clear indication which is necessary for the defendant’s argument. The parties are merely identifying the type of losses (without limitation) which can fall within the exemption clause so long as the losses meet the prior requirement that they are ‘of an indirect or consequential nature’. Had the parties intended that liability for losses which were the direct and natural result of the breach could be excluded they would have hardly have described such losses as ‘indirect or consequential’.

Citations:

[2008] EWHC 225 (Comm), [2008] 1 Lloyds Rep 639

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Markerstudy Insurance Company Ltd and Others v Endsleigh Insurance Services Ltd ComC 18-Feb-2010
The claimant insurers alleged the mishandling of insurance claims by the defendant of many claims leading to substantial losses. The parties asked the court to determine a basis for calculation of damages under the contract.
Held: A similar . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Damages

Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.264525