“Employers liable for staff's intentional crimes if closely connected to job”
The House of Lords held that the defendants were vicariously liable for the warden's sexual abuse of the claimants.
The defendants operated a school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The claimants were former pupils who alleged sexual abuse by the house warden. The warden was convicted of sexual offences against the boys while they were resident at the school.
Whether an employer can be vicariously liable for intentional wrongdoing by an employee that is not authorised and is performed for the employee's own gratification rather than the employer's benefit.
The test is whether there is a sufficiently close connection between the employment and the wrongful acts. The warden's position gave him the opportunity, means and setting for the abuse. His role involved intimate care of vulnerable children, making the connection between employment and wrongdoing sufficiently close.
This case significantly expanded vicarious liability by moving away from the restrictive 'course of employment' test to a more flexible 'close connection' approach, particularly important for institutional abuse cases.
Employers can be vicariously liable for employees' criminal acts if there is a sufficiently close connection between the employment and the wrongful conduct. This replaced the previous restrictive Salmond test.
The House of Lords found the employer vicariously liable for sexual abuse committed by care workers, establishing the 'close connection' test for vicarious liability.
It fundamentally reformed vicarious liability law with a more flexible test that better protects victims and holds institutions accountable for employee misconduct.
OSCOLA Citation
Lister v Hesley Hall Ltd [2001] UKHL 22, [2002] 1 AC 215
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[2026] EWHC 1095 (KB)
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