Duty of care

Case 1: The facts

Mr Struth, a motorman on board a ship, brought a claim for constructive dismissal, saying that he was unable to continue working under a new captain.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the duty to take reasonable care for an employee's safety is not a duty to ensure that the employee is not unhappy at work, unless this unhappiness is foreseeably likely to be so severe as to manifest itself in physical or mental illness. However, where employees live and work in the close confines of a ship, the duty is greater.

The employer's failure to act to improve the atmosphere on the ship and the captain's attitude did amount to conduct that could lead to constructive dismissal, the EAT said.

Gulf Offshore Guernsey v Struth UKEAT/0489/04