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24 April 2008 / Victoria Lee , Caroline Doran
Issue: 7318 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Community care , Employment
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Employers on suicide watch

A recent House of Lords ruling explores issues of liability on the suicide of an employee. Caroline Doran and Victoria Lee report

The courts accept that pressure at work can take its toll on both our physical and mental wellbeing. Over the years the courts have accepted that overwork, bullying, lack of supervision and pace of work can all cause work stress. The mental consequences of stress range from sleeplessness through to clinical depression and suicide.

In , they have a name for “overwork-related deaths” (including suicides): karojisatsu. This is officially recognised and compensated. Figures released in May 2007 showed that, of the record 205 individuals in qualifying for worker's compensation insurance payouts in 2006, 65 involved suicide.

 

Corr v IBC Vehicles

The recent decision by the House of Lords, in Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd [2008] UKHL 13 HL, [2006] All ER (D) 466 (Mar) sent shockwaves through the business community.

Thomas

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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