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Northern Ireland
The Catholic Child Welfare Society and others v Various Claimants and The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and others [2012] UKSC 56
Published on: 23/11/2012
Issues Covered:
Article Authors The main content of this article was provided by the following authors.
Background The Appellant represented the board of managers for a residential school for boys. It appealed against a decision that the Respondent Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (“the Institute”) was not vicariously liable for alleged abuse perpetrated by brother teachers whilst at the school. At all material times, the headteacher and some other teachers at the school were supplied by the Institute. The alleged abusers included Institute brothers as well as other members of staff. The Appellant had been held to be vicariously liable for acts of abuse by the brother teachers. It now sought to challenge the finding that the Institute was not also vicariously liable. To determine if vicarious liability arose the Supreme Court considered firstly the relationship between the Institute and the tortfeasor and secondly the connection that linked the relationship between the Institute and the tortfeasor and the act or omission of the latter. 80The relationship between the teaching brothers and the Institute was sufficiently akin to that of employer and employees to satisfy the first stage of the test; the teaching activity undertaken by the brothers was in furtherance of the objective, or mission, of the Institute and the manner in which the brother teachers were obliged to conduct themselves as teachers was dictated by the Institute's rules. The Court‟s comment on control in modern employment relationships at this point may be of note in future cases:"In days gone by, when the relationship of employer and employee was correctly portrayed by the phrase “master and servant”, the employer was often entitled to direct not merely what the employee should do but the manner in which he should do it. Indeed, this right was taken as the test for differentiating between a contract of employment and a contract for the services of an independent contractor. Today it is not realistic to look for a right to direct how an employee should perform his duties as a necessary element in the relationship between employer and employee. Many employees apply a skill or expertise that is not susceptible to direction by anyone else in the company that employs them. Thus the significance of control today is that the employer can direct what the employee does, not how he does it."The second stage required that a strong causative link between the relationship and abuse be established. The Court found that there was a very close connection between the relationship between the brothers and the Institute and the employment of the brothers as teachers in the school. There was also a very close connection between the brother teachers' employment in the school and the sexual abuse that they committed.The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, finding that vicarious liability was made out, even for the extreme criminal activities of the brothers.http://bit.ly/UUHNyi

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 23/11/2012
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