Practical Jokes in the Workplace

Monday 12 October 2020

The High Court decision in Chell v Tarmac and Lime Limited is no joke. Mr Justice Martin Spencer upheld a decision that an employer was not vicariously liable for a practical joke played by a member of staff in the workplace.

This case is another useful reminder that the application of vicarious liability is limited to circumstances where the actions of the employee were carried out in pursuing the business of the employer.

This case concerned an employee who suffered serious injuries to his hearing (a perforated ear drum, hearing loss and tinnitus) when another employee detonated two loud explosive pellets close to his ear.

Whilst the practical joker was dismissed, the injured employee brought a claim for negligence against the employer and further claimed that it was vicariously liable for the acts of dismissed employee. The claim did not succeed at trial as the court found that “there was not a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury… such as to give rise to the duty to take reasonable steps to avoid that risk…”.

The decision was appealed on the basis that, in respect of the alleged negligence, the employer has failed to maintain discipline on site. However, the HC agreed with the trial judge’s finding that “horseplay, ill-discipline and malice are not matters that I would expect to be included within a risk assessment”.

Further, the HC found that “it is expecting too much of an employer to devise and implement a policy or site rules which descend to the level of horseplay or the playing of practical jokes. Increased supervision to prevent horseplay was not a reasonable step for the employer to have identified and taken.

In this case the workplace merely provided the opportunity for the employee to carry out the “practical joke”, rather than it being within the employee’s activities for which he was employed.

This case highlights that although an incident might happen in the workplace, an employer will not be held vicariously liable for the actions of staff if it can show that those actions were unconnected with any instruction given to the employee in connection with their work and did not in any way advance the purpose of his employer.

However, this case does not totally absolve employers of liability for the actions of their staff. Measures should always be taken to ensure that staff are properly trained and fully aware of what is expected of them in terms of behaviour and conduct when in the workplace.

If you have any questions about vicarious liability for the actions of employees, please email or call our Employment Law team today on 0113 207 0000.