The defendant employer had had confidential information of many of its staff taken and disclosed by a rogue employee. The employees now sought compensation. The main issue was whether the company was directly or vicariously liable for the tort.
Held: The company were not directly liable, but were liable vicariously: ‘Adopting the broad and evaluative approach encouraged by Lord Toulson JSC in Mohamud’s case [2016] AC 677 I have therefore come to the conclusion that there is a sufficient connection between the position in which Skelton was employed and his wrongful conduct, put into the position of handling and disclosing the data as he was by Morrisons (albeit it was meant to be to KPMG alone), to make it right for Morrisons to be held liable ‘under the principle of social justice which goes back to Holt CJ’.’
The statutes and regulations did not impose direct liability on an employer.
Judges:
Langstaff J
Citations:
[2017] EWHC 3113 (QB), [2017] WLR(D) 806, [2018] IRLR 200, [2018] EMLR 12, [2018] 3 WLR 691
Links:
Statutes:
Data Protection Act 1998 55, Computer Misuse Act 1990, Parliament and Council Directive 95/46/EC
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – The Catholic Child Welfare Society and Others v Various Claimants and The Institute of The Brothers of The Christian Schools and Others SC 21-Nov-2012
Law of vicarious liability is on the move
Former children at the children’s homes had sought damages for sexual and physical abuse. The court heard arguments as to the vicarious liability of the Society for abuse caused by a parish priest visiting the school. The Court of Appeal had found . .
Cited by:
See Also – Various Claimants v Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc QBD 16-May-2018
. .
At QBD – Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc v Various Claimants CA 22-Oct-2018
Co vicariously liable for employee’s data breach
A member of the company’s staff had unlawfully disclosed personal details of many company employees. The data consisted of personal information of the defendant’s employees including their names, addresses, gender, dates of birth, phone numbers, . .
At QBD – WM Morrison Supermarkets Plc v Various Claimants SC 1-Apr-2020
A disgruntled senior employee had divulged on the internet personal details of several thousand employees. The claimants alleged that that had been a breach of the 1998 Act, and that the appellants were vicariously liable for that wrong. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment, Information, Vicarious Liability, European
Updated: 08 August 2022; Ref: scu.601126