The court considered that an employer owed a duty of care and under the contract of employment to employees to protect them against ill treatment or bullying. The plaintiff sued for breach of contract.
Arnold J said: ‘We do not think that it is an outrageous or inconvenient conclusion that where a party has an obligation to take reasonable steps to achieve something, and is found to have taken no step or no significant step at all, towards that end, the obligation of demonstrating that there was no reasonable step which could have been taken should be found to lie upon that party. And we do not think that in the circumstances of a case such as this it is possible to say that this industrial tribunal were wrong in the conclusion reached upon that topic: or to put it another way, that the absence of evidence would justify us in overturning the decision of the industrial tribunal.’
Judges:
Arnold J
Citations:
[1979] ICR 411
Cited by:
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: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment, Contract
Updated: 01 May 2022; Ref: scu.241283