British Tort Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

British Tort Law - Case Study Example For any one party to be held responsible for violation of the tort law, the claimant must establish that there is a duty of care and that there has been a breach of that duty to cause damage or loss to the claimant that needs to be compensated by an award of damages. There is a breach of the duty-of-care principle if the defendant is proven to have failed to do what a reasonable person will do in the situation presented. Francesca was a chambermaid of good standing at Hulton hotel until a regular hotel guest stormed into the manager's office one day to accuse her of theft. The hotel regular Manon complained that he asked Francesca to redeem a ring worth 20,000-pound sterling from a downtown jeweler where it was taken for repairs. He never saw the chambermaid and the ring again. Obviously, Francesca kept the ring for herself and avoided Manon while continuing her duties at the hotel. In March, the hotel management dismissed Francesca for cause and brought a court case against her. She was convicted in August on several counts of theft after subsequent investigations revealed that she had stolen from other hotel guests before, although mostly involving items of smaller value. The hotel guest Manon, insisting that the hotel management shares responsibility for Francesca's misdeed, is intent on suing the hotel, saying the establishment should answer to the law as well. Question: Is the Hulton hotel management accountable for the loss of Manon's ring to the thieving Francesca Answer: Yes, the hotel management shares the blame for Francesca's acts under the British tort law. However, this judgment depends on the circumstances surrounding the theft. The Occupier's Liability Act in UK expressly provides that any person like a shop owner who admits people into his premises owes a minimum duty of care to protect these people's safety (MRL, 2003). This statutory tort applies to health and safety regulations across the workplace (Honore, 1995). In the case simulation at bar, the Hulton hotel management admitted the man Manon into its premises as hotel guest. The hotel here is a workplace where health and safety regulations are to be strictly observed. It follows that the hotel management is duty-bound to care for its guest's safety from "trespassers" against his goods. Therefore, Manon's loss of his ring can be traced to the hotel's breach of its duty of care by failing to detect the presence of a potential theft among its employees as a safety precaution. For this reason, it is reasonable to ask the hotel to recompense the loss. The management, however, may argue that Manon had it coming because he entrusted his ring to Francesca as an individual presumably enjoying his confidence, and not as an adjunct of the hotel who entered the arrangement with the full knowledge of management. It should be noted that Manon's act of personally requesting Francesca to redeem his ring from the jeweler's shop in his behalf involved an element of trust. If that were so, common sense dictates that the theft was a result of Manon's