Time to turn the tide?

• Outstanding difficulties in the practical application of the Lister test.

The Court of Appeal in X v Kuoni Travel Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 938, [2018] All ER (D) 121 (Apr) concluded that there was no breach of EU law on the provision of package holidays, nor a contractual breach by Kuoni and a holiday-maker when an employee at one of their partner hotels in Sri Lanka attacked and raped a holiday-maker staying at that hotel. Though it did not formally constitute part of the claimant’s action, the first instance decision before McKenna J ([2016] EWHC 3090 (QB)) and the judgments in the Court of Appeal both raise the possibility of vicarious liability on the part of the hotel for the conduct of its employee. The range of views expressed by the different judges on the course of employment show that, while the Supreme Court in Mohamud v Morrison Supermarkets plc [2016] UKSC 11, [2016]