TUPE And Personal Injury Liability

Regulation 4 of TUPE transfers to a transferee all rights, powers, duties and liabilities under or in connection with a transferring employee's contract of employment. In Bernadone v Pall Mall Services Group Limited [2001] ICR 197 the Court of Appeal confirmed that a liability in connection with the employment contract included liability for the form of negligence, that is to say for personal injury. This was illustrated in the recent High Court case of Baker v (1) British Gas Services (Commercial) Limited (2) J&L Electrics Lye Limited. Mr Baker was an electrical engineer working for British Gas. In 2012 he was sent to a client's premises to do electrical repair work. Whilst working with a light, he was electrocuted, had a cardiac arrest and was thrown to the floor, thereby suffering serious personal injury.