Personal injury caused by assault at work, who is to blame?
Friday October 22, 2010 at 12:04am
In the case of Brown V Robinson & Sentry Service Co Ltd, the House of Lords confirmed that when Robinson a security guard at the gate shot Brown at a football match, his acts were closely connected with his employment as a guard and it was proper and sensible to blame his employers for the assault on Brown.
Robinson had been armed by his employers, the security company, he chased Brown in the course of his employment and later shot him. The employers were rightly blamed for the assault.
The employers had tried to deny responsibility for the shooting of Brown by claiming that Robinson’s conduct was an unauthorised act and was therefore acting outside the scope of his employment. This reasoning was rejected by the House of Lords.
Employers are responsible for assaults committed by their employees in the course of their employment.
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