An employee who suffers a psychiatric injury as a result of unreasonable stress at work may have a cause of action against his employer. According to the Court of Appeal in Hatton v Sutherland, this will be determined on the ordinary principles applicable to cases of employer’s liability. But the judgment also creates some qualifications to those ordinary principles, which do not apply in the general run of employer’s liability cases.
Firstly, the Court of Appeal’s decision suggests that an employer need only be reactive to warnings, from the employee or others, that the employee is or may be subject to damaging stresses. Generally, in employer’s liability, the employer has a responsibility to take reasonable care, which involves them being proactive in a principle formalised in regulations over 10 years ago. The Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations require that employers will make satisfactory risk assessments of the work and take steps to eliminate or minimise the risks identified.
