Common law
[ch 2: page 23]In addition to statutory law, employers (and others) have common law duties to protect employees (and non-employees) from the risk of work-related violence and abuse.
In Selwood v Durham County Council and others [2012] EWCA Civ 979 the Court of Appeal ruled that a social worker who was stabbed by a psychiatric patient whose child she was responsible for, had the right to sue two health authorities responsible for her attacker’s care. Claire Selwood had been stabbed six times by a parent after he confronted her during a professional conference at his child’s school. Just two days earlier he had told medical staff at a Sunderland hospital that he would kill her on the spot if he saw her — the last of a number of threats that were not acted upon. Selwood suffered life-threatening injuries and was profoundly traumatised by the ordeal.
Supported by UNISON, she claimed against the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust and Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust as well as her employer, Durham County Council. Overturning a previous decision, the Court of Appeal accepted it was arguable that the two NHS Trusts owed her a duty of care based on their responsibilities under an agreed protocol. She later settled a claim for compensation out of court.