Bad Behaviour

The case of the city worker, Helen Green, hit the headlines when she was awarded £800,000 in compensation against her employer, Deutsche Bank.

The case involved a claim for personal injury following Ms Green developing a depressive disorder after being bullied at work. The judge found that there had been “a deliberate and concerted campaign of bullying.”

The high pay out should serve as a warning to employers who tolerate bullying in the workplace. Employers are responsible for the acts of their employees and effective procedures and policies should be put in place to protect employees.

Personal injury claims of the kind brought by Ms Green can be difficult to bring. Claimants have to establish that the psychiatric injury was foreseeable which can cause difficulties if there have not been previous problems.

But that does not mean that employers can be complacent. Bullying which is not effectively dealt with can result in constructive dismissal claims. A successful claim will result in a minimum basic award being made and an award for loss of earnings. If the bullying involves an element of unlawful discrimination, an award for injury to feelings can also be made.

In addition, the House of Lords has recently confirmed that an employer can be held vicariously liable for the actions of its employees where they are in breach of the Protection From Harassment Act 1997 (the ‘Act’).This means that victims of bullying at work could bring a civil claim for harassment against either the actual bully or the employer, although the conduct complained of must be unacceptable to the extent that criminal liability under the Act would be sustained; rather than being irritations or even unreasonable behaviour .

For an employee to be liable, the harassment must have taken place on at least two occasions, although an employer can also be vicariously liable where more than one employee, each acting on different occasions, has acted in furtherance of some joint design. In cases brought under the Act, compensation for the anxiety suffered can be awarded.

To protect themselves and their employees, employers should consider taking the following steps:

• implement a separate bullying/dignity at work policy which identifies which personnel can be approached about bullying concerns, or amend existing harassment policies to cover ‘general’ bullying;
• take the time to inform all employees of the policy and what is considered unacceptable by the organisation;
• provide training to managers on dealing with bullying complaints;
• amend dismissal and disciplinary procedures to ensure that contravention of such policies is listed as gross misconduct; and
• deal with issues as soon as they arise and in accordance with the procedures.

Please contact Yvonne Atherton for further information.

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