Suicide - An Employers Liability

February 2008

The House of Lords has recently upheld the finding of the Court of Appeal in the case of Corr (Administratrix of the Estate of T. Corr (deceased)) v IBC Vehicles Ltd. In doing so they have affirmed that an employer may be liable under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 for the suicide of an employee resulting from depression following an injury at work.

The fact of the case are that Thomas Corr had suffered a serious accident at work caused by the employer's negligence - which was admitted. As a direct result of the accident, Mr Corr had become depressed, despite having no prior history of psychiatric problems. Mr Corr's depression worsened over time and, some 6 years after the incident, he committed suicide. In the judgement, the House of Lords held that it was not unfair to hold IBC responsible for the consequences of its negligence. Nor were the damages attributable to Mr Corr's death rendered too remote in the circumstances. Accordingly Mr Corr's suicide was a foreseeable result of the injuries. The House of Lords stated "some manifestation of severe depression could probably be held to be so unusual and unpredictable as to be outside the bounds as what is reasonable foreseeable". Suicide however did not fall within this description.

Mr Corr's widow had claimed for damages as a result of the wrongful Act, negligence or default of IBC and for loss of financial support arising from Mr Corr's death. The House of Lords made no reduction in respect of Mr Corr's contributory fault in taking his own life. Accordingly the decision of the Court of Appeal stood