Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Vicarious liabilityLatest NewsData protection

Morrisons granted permission to take data breach case to Supreme Court

by Jo Faragher 17 Apr 2019
by Jo Faragher 17 Apr 2019 Chris Radburn/PA Wire/PA Images
Chris Radburn/PA Wire/PA Images

Morrisons has been granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court after it was held vicariously liable for a major data breach.

In 2014 Andrew Skelton, an internal auditor at the supermarket’s headquarters, posted the names, addresses, bank account details, national insurance numbers and salaries of more than 100,000 employees online. At his criminal trial, he was jailed for eight years.

Data protection

Morrisons payroll breach: Could the supermarket have done more?

Data protection

In October 2018, the Court of Appeal upheld a previous High Court decision that the supermarket was vicariously liable for the breach. This meant that more than 5,500 claimants could proceed with claims for compensation against the supermarket, despite there being no proof of personal financial loss caused by the breach.

The Court of Appeal comprised three senior judges, including the Master of the Rolls, who refused the company permission to appeal to the Supreme Court at the time. However, Morrisons has applied directly to the Supreme Court, and this permission to appeal a second time has now been granted.

Nick McAleenan, partner and data privacy law specialist at JMW Solicitors, which represents the claimants, said he had every confidence that the Supreme Court decision will echo that of previous rulings.

He said: “While the decision to grant permission for a further appeal is of course disappointing for the claimants, we have every confidence that the right verdict will, once again, be reached – it cannot be right that there should be no legal recourse where employee information is handed in good faith to one of the largest companies in the UK and then leaked on such a large scale.

“This was a very serious data breach which affected more than 100,000 Morrisons employees – they were obliged to hand over sensitive personal and financial information and had every right to expect it to remain confidential. Instead, they were caused upset and distress by the copying and uploading of the information.”

The decision to hold Morrisons vicariously liable for the actions of a single employee caused some lawyers to question the decision by the Court of Appeal last year, with one calling the judgment “bewildering”. It is thought to have been the first class action case on a data leak in the UK.

Morrisons
Jo Faragher
Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. Jo is also the author of 'Good Work, Great Technology', published in 2022 by Clink Street Publishing, charting the relationship between effective workplace technology and productive and happy employees. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
Academics forced to sign NDAs to cover up bullying and harassment allegations
next post
Investor votes down appointments in firms that lack gender diversity

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Employers hit by payroll cyberattack receive ultimatum

7 Jun 2023

BBC, Boots and BA see employee data hit...

6 Jun 2023

Dozens of employers affected by Capita data breach

31 May 2023

ICO publishes subject access requests guidance

24 May 2023

Council publishes staff salaries online in error

22 May 2023

Payroll giant SD Worx hit by cyberattack

13 Apr 2023

‘TikTok should not be on work devices’

17 Mar 2023

Cybersecurity is an HR issue, not just a...

12 Jan 2023

Interserve fined £4.4m following employee data breach

24 Oct 2022

Do your employment contracts address modern legal risks?

11 Oct 2022

  • The HR Bundle: Your one-stop guide to building a successful global HR Department PROMOTED | Get your hands on Deel’s free HR bundle...Read more
  • The Benefits of an Employee Assistance Programme PROMOTED | EAPs support employees in a range of ways...Read more
  • Intergenerational working and how to manage up and down the generations PROMOTED | The benefits and challenges of intergenerational workplaces...Read more
  • Bereavement in the workplace: How training can help HR get it right PROMOTED | HR professionals play an essential role...Read more
  • UK workforce mental wellbeing needs PROMOTED | The mental wellbeing support employers are providing misses the mark...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2023

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2023 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+