Summary judgment for defendant in coronavirus (COVID-19) claims (Edwards and others v 2 Sisters Food Group Ltd)
Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence analysis: Summary judgment was given for the defendant in four claims brought by its employees who alleged that they contracted coronavirus while at work at the defendant’s factory in June 2020. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the court found that even if the claimants could prove breach of duty by the defendant, they faced an impossible task in proving a causal link between a breach of duty and contracting coronavirus. At that time coronavirus was everywhere, not just in the factory, and the claimants had not been able to serve any medical or other expert evidence to establish a causal link. Further, the court was not prepared to extend the Fairchild exception to the causation rules to include the risks of contracting coronavirus. Written by Jasmine Murphy, barrister, at Gatehouse Chambers.