Employer liable

The House of Lords has ruled that a boarding school was liable for sexual abuse against children carried out by a warden employed by the school. The school had undertaken to care for the boys, through the services of its warden and there was a very close connection between the warden's wrongdoing and his employment. The ruling is important because it extends the liability of employers for unlawful acts committed by employees and does not allow them to get away with saying that they are not liable because what the employee did was outside his contract. It is a warning to employers to ensure that they employee individuals who do not put those in their care at risk. (Lister v Hesley Hall, The Times Law Reports, 10 May 2001).