Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The reception of Bazley v Curry
- 3 Enterprise risk
- 4 The risk and the individual
- 5 The enterprise
- 6 The borrowed employee
- 7 Independent contractors
- 8 Transferring the burden: the employer's right of indemnity
- 9 Risk and the employment relationship
- 10 Enforcement of the employment contract
- 11 Enterprise liability and non-delegable duties
- 12 Fundamental obligations
- 13 Concluding remarks
- Index
5 - The enterprise
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 November 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The reception of Bazley v Curry
- 3 Enterprise risk
- 4 The risk and the individual
- 5 The enterprise
- 6 The borrowed employee
- 7 Independent contractors
- 8 Transferring the burden: the employer's right of indemnity
- 9 Risk and the employment relationship
- 10 Enforcement of the employment contract
- 11 Enterprise liability and non-delegable duties
- 12 Fundamental obligations
- 13 Concluding remarks
- Index
Summary
It is obviously extremely important to determine what constitutes the enterprise for the purposes of enterprise liability. In particular the complexities of corporate structures pose challenging questions. A grouping of interconnected companies can allocate risk across the group in ways that have significant impact on third parties. The effect, in a tort case, can be hugely significant:
English company law possesses some curious features, which may generate curious results. A parent company may spawn a number of subsidiary companies, all controlled directly or indirectly by the shareholders of the parent company. If one of the subsidiary companies, to change the metaphor, turns out to be the runt of the litter and declines into insolvency to the dismay of its creditors, the parent company and the other subsidiary companies may prosper to the joy of the shareholders without any liability for the debts of the insolvent subsidiary.
The impact on tort litigation can be graphically illustrated in cases involving multiple claimants such as claims in respect of industrial diseases or environmental pollution. The number of plaintiffs may be great, as may the amounts claimed for. The potential liabilities of defendants in cases of this sort may be vast, though assessing the full extent of liability may also be problematic. The harm, for instance, in an industrial disease case may remain latent for a very long time. In cases of this sort a subsidiary may be forced into insolvency by the magnitude of the claims.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Enterprise Liability and the Common Law , pp. 55 - 65Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010