“Employers must take reasonable care when writing employment references”
Spring was dismissed by Guardian Assurance for alleged dishonesty. Guardian Assurance provided a negative reference to a prospective employer that effectively prevented Spring from obtaining employment in the insurance industry. Spring sued, claiming the reference was negligently prepared and contained inaccurate statements that damaged his reputation and career prospects.
Whether an employer owes a duty of care to a former employee when providing a reference to prospective employers, and if so, what standard of care applies.
The House of Lords held that an employer does owe a duty of care to a former employee when providing a reference. The employer must take reasonable care to ensure the reference is accurate and fair, though they are not required to provide a reference at all.
This case significantly expanded employer liability in negligence and established important protections for employees against carelessly prepared references. It balanced competing interests between honest assessment and protection from negligent harm.
You're reading the free summary of Spring v Guardian Assurance. Create a free account to unlock the full reasoning, the cited authorities and the verbatim judgment — plus structured briefs for 412,000+ UK judgments.
No card required. Free forever.
OSCOLA Citation
Spring v Guardian Assurance plc [1995] 2 AC 296 (HL)
Multiple official and mirror sources — pick whichever loads cleanly on your network.
Falls back to Google for old citations BAILII catalogues separately
Common Room
0 comments · About the Common Room →
No comments yet — start the discussion.
Voted-best comments help future students and feed Caselaw's AI study tools.