Bringing a Claim for Workplace Bullying/Harassment

Standard occupational stress claims are based upon common law negligence and many workplace bullying/harassment claims are brought on that basis (see section on occupational stress). However, following the case of Majrowski v Guy's & St. Thomas's NHS Trust (2006), claimant's now have the option of bringing a claim under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. In the Majrowski case, the Court of Appeal held that an employer can be held vicariously liable for acts of workplace bullying/harassment by their employees committed in the course of their employment against fellow employees and other third parties. The Majrowski case was upheld by the House of Lords on the 12th July 2006

To amount to workplace bullying/harassment in breach of the Act, a claimant must show that the alleged offender pursued a course of conduct amounting to workplace bullying/harassment which they knew, or ought to have known, amounted to workplace bullying/harassment, having regard to whether a reasonable person possessing the same information would think that the course of conduct amounted to workplace bullying/harassment. Hence, the conduct must be intentional and comprise of more than one act of misconduct. Further, the claimant will need to show that the employer either foresaw or ought to have foreseen that the type of injury they the claimant sustained was a possible consequence of the offenders misconduct (i.e. workplace bullying/harassment).

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