The recent case of Alexis v Newman London Borough Council has highlighted an important issue in cases concerning vicarious liability.

In the case, Miss Alexis, a teacher employed by Newman London Borough Council, had her bottle of water spiked with whiteboard cleaning fluid by a pupil.

The spiking incident occurred when Miss Alexis was away from the school for a day. The pupil in question had been given the key to Miss Alexis’ classroom by another teacher in order to obtain some study materials. While doing so, she poured some of the cleaning solution into a water bottle on Miss Alexis’ desk.

When the claimant returned to work the next day, she drank from the bottle and suffered immediate physical injury and subsequent psychological issues as a result.

Miss Alexis then brought a claim against the school. She alleged that they were vicariously liable for the incident, as the teacher who had given the pupil the key to her classroom had acted negligently and against standard practice.

The presiding judge rejected her claim, finding that the school could not be held vicariously liable due to the fact that the teacher who had allowed the pupil to access the classroom could not have known that such a consequence would have arisen from letting the pupil enter the classroom unsupervised, and thus had not acted negligently.

The school was not one in which the pupils were known to normally act in such a mischievous manner, so the teacher could not have been expected to anticipate the pupil’s actions. It would not have been reasonable to prohibit teachers from using their discretion to let pupils collect study materials without supervision; therefore Miss Alexis’ claim could not be upheld.

The Court found that there was no breach of the duty care owed to the claimant either by the other teacher or by the school, so Newman London Borough Council could not be held responsible for the incident.

Technorati Tags: Vicarious Liability, Workplace Negligence