Mohamud v Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc UKSC 11 is an English tort law case, concerning vicarious liability in English law.
Facts Mohamud claimed that Morrisons was liable for a racial and physical assault by a petrol station employee, Mr Khan, in Small Heath, Birmingham. He asked to print off documents from a USB stick, was refused, racially abused, and told to leave. Khan then followed Mohamud to his car, told him never to come back, and physically assaulted him, ignoring a supervisor’s order to stop.D Nolan and K Oliphant, Lunney & Oliphant's Tort Law: Text and Materials (7th edn OUP 2023) ch 14, 862
The Judge dismissed the claim for there being no close connection between what Khan was employed to do and the tortious conduct. The Court of Appeal upheld the judge.
Judgment The Supreme Court held that Morrisons was vicariously liable. Khan was an employee, so there was no difficulty on the first part of the test for vicarious liability. The issue was whether the connection is close, and it was.
Lord Toulson gave the leading judgment. AC 677, UKSC 11
Lord Dyson agreed and said "To search for certainty and precision in vicarious liability is to undertake a quest for a chimaera."
Lord Neuberger, Lord Reed and Baroness Hale agreed.
See also
English tort law
References