Monica Haxton v Phillips Electronics UK Limited, Court of Appeal, 2014
Facts
A woman contracted mesothelioma through washing her husband's work clothes. She brought a claim against her husband's employers, Phillips.
Mrs Haxton issued two separate proceedings against Phillips, alleging negligence and breach of statutory duty. Firstly, through her capacity as Administratrix of her late husband's estate and as a dependent. Secondly, she brought proceedings against Phillips in her own right, for her own illness.
Liability was conceded for both claims and damages agreed except for one disputed point arising from her future dependency for her husband's death. She alleged that but for Phillips' negligence, her life would not have been cut short (she had a remaining life expectancy of 0.7 years) and the assessment of her dependency claim in the first action would therefore have been significantly greater.
Judgment
The claimant's appeal was allowed.
It was agreed that there was no reason in principle or in policy preventing a widow from recovering damages representing the loss she had in fact suffered as a result of her curtailment of life by Phillips' negligence. There was nothing to prevent her recovering the loss in value resulting from the tortfeasor's negligence as a Head of Loss in her personal action against the defendant.
What can we learn?
- This decision follows a growing number of cases that further opens employer's liability to secondary exposure claims. The court did not consider remoteness to be an issue – it was reasonably foreseeable that a curtailment of life might lead to a diminution of value of a claim. If the claimant had such a claim then the wrongdoer must take the victim as he finds him
- The judge also stated that he would be inclined to think that this would be the case even if Mrs Haxton's tortfeasor had not been the same as her husband's ––Defendant insurers should be encouraged to settle the surviving dependant's injury claim first
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