Tort Law Assignment Level 3 GSM London

CASE STUDY 1

Advising Maid4U in relation to vicarious liability

Vicarious liability is the state when any individual is held responsible for particular action omission. Considering the same in workplace context, an employer can be held liable for the actions or omissions that are being carried out by its employees. However, the condition may only be applicable if it took place in the curse of employment only. The main issue that arises in concept of vicarious liability is that employers are unaware about whether employee was acting in his personal capacity in the course of employment or not. It has become difficult to make determination in the situation. The law states that some relationship, due to their nature, generates requirements of taking responsibility of individuals, who are made to engage in a particular activity. The employment of this nature is quite common in case of employer and employee. Hence, it can be stated that an employer will be held responsible for the acts and omissions of employees under the rules and regulations of vicarious liability. Catholic Child Welfare Society v Various Claimants and Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools [2012] UKSC 56, is quite famous case related to vicarious liability which helped in developing the relationship between employer and employee even if the relationship was between welfare society and schools.

The case discuses regarding Christine who has been appointed by a cleaning company, Maid4U, to clean the offices of children’s charity, “More4kids”. She is paid for fixed hourly rate per cleaning job. Since, the charity was organizing some event, cleaning was initiated and company was contacted for same. Despite of company’s policy that cigarette smoking is not allowed for Maid4U employees, when they are at work, Christine lit up one and mistakenly thinking that it has been extinguished, dropped in it in a bin in the exit. It caused a small fire in exit hallway. Since, she has been appointed by the company, “Maid4U”, which will be held responsible under laws and regulations prevailing regarding vicarious liability in country.

Companies who tend to employee others for some particular course of business are subjected to fully or vicariously liable for all the acts of employees which has harmed the party. Vicarious liability is a civil matter which generally deals with  civil courts and are generally based on common law of doctrine of agency. Since, it arises in the course of employer employee relationship, any negligent act committed by the employee against the third party, the employer will then be held vicariously liable for the acts of employee. Hence, claim can be collected by the third party from employer.

Howver, in certain cases, the employer may not be liable to bear the responsibility of the wrongdoings of employees. Assessing the case Wilshire Police Authority v Wynn, some workers do not fall in the category of being employees. They may be interns, trainees or apprenticeship. In such cases, the employer is not held liable. Another case related to it  Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets was related to this tort where Mr. Mohamud was on receiving end of physical assault.

Vicarious liability as per doctrine of English Tort law opts for imposing strict obligation on the employers for  wrongdoings of employees, to  third party. The case decision in the situation , Catholic Child Welfare Society v Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, strongly emphasized on enterprise risk. It has been stated by the court that third party can demand compensation for all damages from employer. The main reason behind same is that any type of tort is generally conducted due to lack of instructions and strictness from side of employers. If employer is responsible to seek any type of gain from side of employer, then the consequences must be borne by him as well. It also helps in ensuring that all precautions have been taken by the employer while conducting any type of business. Hence,  rules and regulations must be prepared in such a manner that none of mistakes would be found to take place from employee’s end under employer’s command. Cox v Ministry of Justice was the other case that was also related to vicarious liability.

Although, the primary liability lies on Christine. It was already mentioned in the policies and procedure report that employees are not allowed to smoke while being at work. However, Maid4U is vicariously liable for the same as it has not been able to keep up the command given. Hence, analysing case study being provided, it can be stated that employer, that is, “Maid4U”, is responsible for act. More4kids has right to draw out compensation for damages from company.

Advice to Ruby and Brenda in the tort of occupier’s liability

Occupier’s liability is said to be another field of law of torts which has been codified as statute. The liability is concerned with duty of care to be considered by one who actually holds  real property. It helps in dealing with the liability that may arise from accidents caused by defective or prevailing dangerous condition of premises. English law has come up with Occupier’s liability Act 1957, which deals with the accountability that an occupier has on visitors. The act came into enforcement on 1^st January 1958, where occupier has been defined as individual occupying or the person in control of  particular premises. He / she may not necessarily be owner but most likely one who has  ability to prevent harm. There are certain damages that are carried out due to negligence of person who has been carrying out work in the premises. If damages are the result of faulty maintenance of a particular set up, then the liability lies in hands of individual who was responsible for fixing that set up. Harris v Birkenhead Corp [1976] is the other case that is related to it.

The present case discusses regarding day of event which was organized by “More4kids” in order to entertain  visitors.  The charity contracted with ToysRus Ltd who put a long and inflated slide. Ruby’s son, Jo, arrived at the event and decided to use that slide. In the third,  slide suddenly rolled onto the floor due to which Jo broke his nose with some sustained cuts and bruises as well. It was later analysed that slide was not properly placed and secured to ground.

Analysing the facts and figures of the case, it can be stated that, Ruby have right to get compensation against the law of tort of occupier’s liability. It is the default being conducted by the occupier, which is ToysRus Ltd in this case. Once, the claimant made it possible to prove that the defendant was in mistake and is responsible for breach of duty, under the occupier’s liability Act, Ruby can sue the company so as to gain compensation regarding the same from the occupier.

Another aspect of the case is also stated in the study, where a Keep out sign has been installed in the event so as to prevent people from going to the hallway which was damaged due to fire. However, Brenda, who tried to sneak to the venue, without purchasing any ticket, from the exit hallway. She then distracted by some noise an in the hassle of running, hiding and being caught of not having any ticket, she slipped on a pool of water. Brenda hit her head from wooden piece lying on the floor. It damaged her brand-new iPhone as well.

The verdict of Fiona Brown v East Lothian council [2013] was also taken considering the occupier’s liability. Other related case to occupier’s liability are, Lowery v Walker

Analysing the case, it can be stated that it does not covers under the periphery of occupier’s liability as the sign of “keep out” was already being mentioned for the exit hallway. It was due to the negligence of Brenda, that she was caught in to that situation. The common duty of care of the occupier is to keep the visitors reasonably safe from any kind of circumstances that can crop up in the premises. These actions were already being taken by the organizers of More4kids. It can be stated that the scenario comes under the negligence scope of Brenda who tried to have a sneak peek to the event without holding any ticket. Hence, the concept and compensation of occupier’s liability will not be applied in case of Brenda. Moreover, she will not be liable to gain any benefits or compensation amount out of it. Defending Brenda from the case, section 2 (4) (a) of Occupier’s liability Act 1957 states that providing warning signs or warning given to the visitors will not be treated as dissolving the overall liability of the visitor unless in all the circumstances it has been ensured that the visitors are reasonably safe under all the circumstances. Considering this aspect of occupier’s liability Act 1957, Brenda have right to demand the compensation. However, the warning sign was not mentioned on the other side of the hallway. Hence, the event organizers can be held liable for what has happened with Brenda and she can demand compensation on her iPhone. In relation with the given case scenario, Edward v Railway Executive, is the other case related to it where decision was made under the concept of Occupier’s liability.

CASE STUDY 2

Potential liability in tort of defamation referring defamation Act 2013

The tort of defamation has been framed in order to defend the rights of individual with respect to defamation. It also protects the individuals from being exploited and provide rights to people to bring them in court of law if he /she have been defamed due to published statement in front of the society. In this scenario, defamation an be defined as, “The publication of a particular statement which is the representation of person’s reputation lowering the estimation of right thinking of the members of the society.

The tort of defamation helps in protecting individual’s reputation and not allow any other individual to pose any type of statement which can have direct or indirect impact on individual’s reputation in the society. Companies as well as individual have the right to brings these cases into the court and take actions against defamation. The law states that there is a delicate balance between right to freedom of speech and right to protect their good name. It is difficult to assess that which personal remark made to the individual or company is proper and which can be brought under defamation law.

As per the case of  Derbyshire County Council v. Times Newspapers Ltd. the accuser, who is a local authority, brought an action for damages for libel against The Times in respect of two newspaper articles which had questioned the propriety of its financial dealings. Other related case is, Sim v Stretch [1936] .

Defamation generally covers all the statements that can affect someone’s reputation. If the statement has been made in writing, then it is called as libel and I the hurtful statements have been spoken, then in that scenario, these statements are called as “slander”. Defamation is generally considered in civil wrong or a tort. Defamation draws a fine line between right to freedom of speech and right of person to avoid defamation. On one hand, an individual has right to discusses regarding experience sin truthful manner without having any type of fear for lawsuit if something mean but true has happened to them. However, on the other hand, people do not have any right to make any false statement for any company or individual which can damage their reputation. Webb v Beavan [1883] is the other case that have strong relation to defamation law and verdict has been taken based on it.

There are various elements that are related to law suits. Hence, it has direct relation to someone making statement, publishing wrong content, statement causing injury and which does not fall into a privileged category. Defamation Act 2013 is an act issued by parliament of UK which deals with the issue of right to freedom of expression and protection of reputation. The act has been responsible of changing the overall criteria of successful claims where the claimant is responsible of showing actual or probable harm before opting for suing in England or Wales. It has also been able to set a limit on geographical relevance. It has also been able to bring defence with respect to resolve the complaints which are able to publish true and honest opinion with respect to a particular corporation. Defamation Act 2013, generally applies to cause of action. All the defamation cases are now resolved under the Senior Courts Act 1981 in the Queen’s division bench which requires prolonged analysis of the evidences and scenario. The cases are then referred to defamation Recognition Commission. Analysing all the pros and cons with respect to the case then help in reaching to a specific decision that can help the board to take judgement that whether it has caused any kind of defamation to the organization or individual or not.

The case discuses regarding Hiya which is a fashion and TV magazine. It is quite famous for its celebrity publications. A four-page article was published by the company regarding exploitation carried out in harry and Maggie design, which is a designer clothing company. The article discussed regarding the organization involved in exploiting its workers in UK for paying minimum wages. The article stated that the company is also involved in destroying environment as it is involved in using high toxic dyes. It stated that the workers are also forced to work in quite an inhumane and degrading conditions. The claim made by the magazine did not contain any kind of proof or research, that can help in stating that the news printed by them is convincing enough.

Harry and Maggie have right to file a against hiya, which is a fashion magazine, under the defamation Act 2013 of UK. The company can claim that since, it is a big fashion magazine, it must be having various followers which can cause serious harm to the revenue generated by it and can affect the overall reputation of the company as well. Harry and Maggie can claim the compensation for all the damages of reputation being initiated by the team due to ineffective article being published. Hence, it can be stated that defamation compensation can be initiated by the team so that appropriate reputation can be collected by the organization.

Couple’s rights of tort of misusing private information and assessing the balance between Article 8 and 10 ECHR

Article 8 of European Convention on Human Rights provides the right to respect his private and family life. The public authorities do not have any right to make any type of interference with exercise of this right except in case, if the it is quite important for the democratic society and it belongs to their interest. Moreover, it can only be disclosed in case of its direct interest with respect to national security public safety or economic well being of the country. Moreover, its disclosure can also be important in case of prevention of any kind of disorder or crime, initiating protection for health or morals and right to freedom of others. Article 8 is considered to be one of the most open-ended convention rights given to human which tends to cover various issues. It contains all the obligations that may be positive or negative in nature. The negative obligation that can be found in this article is that it is not appropriate to interfere with the privacy rights. However, on the other hand, the positive aspect can be measuring protection of private parties in interfering in the stated rights. It can act as a matter of safety being taken by the team for its effective establishment. There are four expresses that can help in protecting the interest under article 8. These are, private life, home, family and correspondence. Majority of the actions are decided under the periphery of right to respect private life of the individual.

Article 10 of European Conventions on Human Rights deals with freedom of expression. Every individual has the right to share the opinion hold by him / her. One can opt for receiving and imparting ideas and information without having any interference from the side of public authority regardless of any type of frontiers. The article does not prevent people from requiring licensing of broadcasting, cinema enterprises and television. One can exercise these freedom from carrying out responsibilities and duties that may be subjected to formalities, penalties, restrictions and conditions.

The information discussed in Article 8 and Article 10 of European Conventions on Human Rights are contradictory to each other. It is required to find out certain balance between the two so that effective application of both the section can be initiated.

The case discuses regarding Harry and Maggie who got married who belongs to some respectable and aristocratic family. They decided that they will not be disclosing their wedding pictures until they come back from their honeymoon. Hiya’s editor was also invited to the wedding who took their pictures without their permission and posted on their internet page. The two stated that the action has been taken without their permission and their personal information has been misused for generating profits. Hiya claimed that there is no reasonable expectations of privacy as its justification can be made on grounds of public interest.

It can be stated that there can be no public interest in the case being disclosed by Hiya’s editor without the permission of couple. Protection can be given to the information that has been disclosed out of trust and confidence. Hence, harry and Maggie have right to gather claim on the grounds of disclosure their personal information and pictures without their permission.

Get Assignment help in London from Assignment Desk

CONCLUSION

From the above report, it can be concluded that the law of torts simply means civil wrong. It is considered to be the grounds based on which compensation can be demanded from the other party for any type of damages and injuries being initiated intentionally or unintentional to the aggrieved party. The report makes discussion on two cases, comprising of various parties who have been indulged in civil wrong. It also discusses regarding vicarious and occupier’s liability that can be hold by the party where the injury has directly not been initiated by the organisation. It is due the wrongdoings of employees that has to be borne by employer.

REFERENCES

• Luntz, H. and et.al., 2017. Torts: cases and commentary. LexisNexis Butterworths.
• Goldberg, J. C. and Zipursky, B. C., 2012. Rights and Responsibility in the Law of Torts.
• Varuhas, J. N., 2014. The concept of ‘vindication’in the law of torts: Rights, interests and damages. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 34(2). pp.253-293.
• Epstein, R. A. and Sharkey, C. M., 2016. Cases and materials on torts. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
• Herring, J., 2015. Q&A Medical Law. Routledge.
• Laposata, E., Barnes, R. and Glantz, S., 2012. Tobacco Industry Influence on the American Law Institute’s Restatements of Torts and Implications for Its Conflict of Interest Policies. Iowa law review. 98(1). p.1.
• Kraakman, R. and Hansmann, H., 2017. The end of history for corporate law. In Corporate Governance (pp. 49-78). Gower.
• Goldberg, J. C., 2012. Introduction: Pragmatism and Private Law. Harvard Law Review. 125(7). pp.1640-1663.
• Solove, D. J. and Schwartz, P., 2014. Information privacy law. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
• Geistfeld, M. A., 2014. Risk distribution and the law of torts: carrying Calabresi further. Law & Contemp. Probs.. 77. p.165.
• Brand, R. A., 2016. The export of legal education: its promise and impact in transition countries. In The Export of Legal Education (pp. 9-20). Routledge.
• Burnham, W., 2016. Introduction to the law and legal system of the United States. West Academic Publishing.
• Hart, H. L. A. and Green, L., 2012. The concept of law. Oxford University Press.
• Chan, G. K. Y. and Lee, P. W., 2016. The Law of Torts in Singapore.
• Chan, G. K. Y. and Lee, P. W., 2016. The Law of Torts in Singapore.
• Luntz, H. and et.al., 2017. Torts: cases and commentary. LexisNexis Butterworths.
• Goldberg, J. C. and Zipursky, B. C., 2012. Rights and Responsibility in the Law of Torts.
• Right to Family life.  2015. [Online]. Available through < http://echr-online.info/right-to-family-life/ >
• Varuhas, J. N., 2014. The concept of ‘vindication’in the law of torts: Rights, interests and damages. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 34(2). pp.253-293.
• Epstein, R. A. and Sharkey, C. M., 2016. Cases and materials on torts. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
• Herring, J., 2015. Q&A Medical Law. Routledge.
• Laposata, E., Barnes, R. and Glantz, S., 2012. Tobacco Industry Influence on the American Law Institute’s Restatements of Torts and Implications for Its Conflict of Interest Policies. Iowa law review. 98(1). p.1.
• Kraakman, R. and Hansmann, H., 2017. The end of history for corporate law. In Corporate Governance (pp. 49-78). Gower.
• Goldberg, J. C., 2012. Introduction: Pragmatism and Private Law. Harvard Law Review. 125(7). pp.1640-1663.
• Solove, D. J. and Schwartz, P., 2014. Information privacy law. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
• Geistfeld, M. A., 2014. Risk distribution and the law of torts: carrying Calabresi further. Law & Contemp. Probs.. 77. p.165.
• Brand, R. A., 2016. The export of legal education: its promise and impact in transition countries. In The Export of Legal Education (pp. 9-20). Routledge.
• Burnham, W., 2016. Introduction to the law and legal system of the United States. West Academic Publishing.
• Hart, H. L. A. and Green, L., 2012. The concept of law. Oxford University Press.

UPTO50%

Avail The Benefit Today!

To View this & another 50000+ free

Enter Email

Submit