Damages

Employee disciplined and demoted after injury in accident at work - employer's liability for accident apportioned by agreement at 85% - employee entitled to damages for loss of income arising from demotionCasey v Morane Ltd: CA (Peter Gibson, Henry and Mance LJJ): 5 May 2000

The claimant was injured in an accident at work.

He was disciplined and demoted, resulting in an annual loss of income.

He brought proceedings for damages in negligence and breach of statutory duty against his employer.The parties settled the issue of liability by consent, apportioning 85% liability to the employer and 15% to the claimant.

The claimant sought to recover the loss of earnings which his demotion had cost him.The judge awarded damages under all the heads claimed taking into account the claimant's 15% liability.

The employer appealed arguing that it was the demotion and not the accident which caused the loss of earnings.

Barry Coulter (instructed by Shoosmiths, Northampton) for the claimant.

Alasdair Brough (instructed by Henmans, Oxford) for the company.Held, dismissing the appeal, that ordinarily where an employee was penalised and lost income following an objective review of his conduct which had led to an accident, the relevant cause of that loss would be his own conduct and nothing more; that a disciplinary sanction and loss which was not so related or merited, however, was in the nature of an additional disadvantage arising from the accident; that where an employer had accepted 85% responsibility for an accident and a 15% responsibility by the employee would not have led to any disciplinary proceedings at all still less to any loss of pay, the employer's breach of duty was the predominant cause of the accident and the loss arising from the occurrence of the additional disadvantage should properly be attributed to that breach; that, accordingly, the employee was entitled to damages for loss of earnings flowing from the demotion.