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Vicarious liability & work experience

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06 October 2023 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 8043 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Nicholas Dobson reviews a recent case involving wrongdoing during a one-week work experience stint
  • Considers vicarious liability where the individual concerned is on work experience.
  • Covers the case of MXX v A Secondary school.

A vicar (ultimately from Latin vicarius (substitute)) is an earthly representative of God. Similarly, the adjective vicarious describes someone or something taking the place of another. Vicarious liability, therefore, is legal liability imposed on one person for the legal wrongdoings of another, even though the person vicariously liable is not personally responsible. An employer will consequently be liable for the torts committed by an employee in the course of their employment. But what of work-experience in this context? This issue was recently considered by the Court of Appeal in MXX v A Secondary School [2023] EWCA Civ 996, judgment in which was given in August 2023 by Lady Justice Nicola Davies, with whom Lords Justice Lewison and Jackson agreed.

Background

The respondent was a co-educational secondary school providing education for children aged 11 to 16. In December

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