Focus: Blake v JR Perry Nominees Pty Ltd [2012]
VSCA 122
Services:
Employee & Industrial Relations,
Insurance
Industry Focus:
Insurance
Introduction
A decision made last month by the Victorian Court of Appeal
highlighted the largely uncertain area of law concerning an
employer's vicarious liability for the unauthorised acts of
their employees. The case reiterates that an employer is not liable
for the unauthorised actions of its employees, within the
workplace, which are beyond its reasonable control.
The facts
The incident took place on 16 October 2001 at the Portland
Dockyards. The plaintiff, Blake, was a truck driver who had arrived
the previous night to refuel a tanker early in the morning of 16
October 2011. For unknown reasons the tanker in question was
delayed. As a result, Blake and his fellow truck drivers including
a man called Jones, an employee of JR Perry, were left waiting. For
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