UK: England and Wales: company vicariously liable for director's harassment of a debtor

Yesterday, in S & D Property Investments Ltd v Nisbet [2009] EWHC 1726 (Ch), the trial judge held a company vicariously liable for harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act (1997) in respect of violent threats made by a director to a debtor. The trial judge stated (at paras. [119] and [122]):

The House of Lords held in Majrowski that an employer could be vicariously liable for the harassment of its employee. It was not disputed in the present case that [the company] could be vicariously liable for the harassment of [the director] if he acted as the company's agent and within the scope of his authority.

I conclude that [the director] was the agent of [the company] for the purpose of taking steps to recover the debt. Plainly, it was left to his judgment as to how this should be done. His harassment of [the debtor] was part and parcel of his attempts to do just that. Accordingly, I find that his harassment was within the scope of his actual authority. [The company] is vicariously liable for his tort".