Employer's Liability

Question 1

Dalton v Frendo

Answer 1

The employer is not an insurer

Question 2

Obligations for employer

Answer 2

• safe place of work
• safe equipment
• competent staff
• safe system of work
• bullying and harrassment

Question 3

Latimer v AEC

Answer 3

• Employee slipped on factory spill
• Sawdust and cleaning took place
• P found the only place where it was not cleaned up
• Court held there was reasonable enough care from the employer

Question 4

Mulcare v Southern Health Board

Answer 4

• P worked in meals on wheels
• Injured when delivering to elderly woman due to loose floorboards
• Court held that there was no lack of reasonable care

Question 5

Barclay v An Post

Answer 5

• Postman suffered back injury
• Informed work of injury
• When he went back to work, he said he could work but not the traditional route
• Some of the post boxes were low to the ground
• Denied, and he injured his back
• Successfully sued as they failed to provide a safe work space for him

Question 6

Rogers v Bus Atha Cliath

Answer 6

• Duty includes obligation to take reasonable steps to effect improvement

Question 7

Quigley v Complex Tooling

Answer 7

• Duty on employer to hire competent staff
• Continuous obligation

Question 8

Martin v Dunnes Stores

Answer 8

• Injured while lifting sack of potatoes
• Held that there was a sufficient system in place

Question 9

Quinn v Topaz

Answer 9

• No panic alarm at deli counter
• Held that having better system in place was necessary

Question 10

Walsh v Securior

Answer 10

• Security guard worked in armed transit van
• Just because the work is dangerous does not mean there is no obligation to make it as safe as possible

Question 11

Walker v Northumberland County Council

Answer 11

• Manager of 4 social service teams
• Mainly childcare issues
• Overworked
• Requested assistance which never happened
• Stress-related breakdown
• Promised assistance again which never happened
• Suffers another stress-related breakdown
• Held defendant liable for second breakdown as it was foreseeable

Question 12

Hatton v Sutherland

Answer 12

16 Practical Positions for employers regarding workplace stress

Question 13

Quinn v Complex Tooling

Answer 13

• P complained of verbal bullying by supervisor
• Warning placed on file and not removed
• Discussed issue with HR
• Given final written warning
• Eventually fired
• Sued for stress
• Only complained about stress to doctor about dismissal 14 months after
• Held that where the personal injury is not of a direct physical kind, it must amount to a psychiatric injury

Question 14

Ruffley v Anne’s School

Answer 14

• SNA brought child to quiet room and left them on their own
• Fair procedures not followed

Two questions for SC:
i) Whether an unfairly carried out disciplinary process amounted to workplace bullying
ii) Whether behaviour not witnessed by other persons in the workplace is capable of undermining the dignity of the employee