Club owner at fault over bouncer

The Appeal Court has ruled that a nightclub owner is responsible for the behaviour of a doorman who stabbed a customer in a revenge attack outside the club. Gerard Pollock, who owned and operated Flamingos nightclub in Woolwich, London, was sued by carpenter David Mattis who was left as a paraplegic after being stabbed by unlicensed door supervisor Stephen Cranston. The decision overturns a High Court judgement which held Pollock was not liable to the victim, whose spinal cord was severed in the attack. In 1999, Cranston was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of causing Mr Mattis grievous bodily harm with intent and received an eight-year jail sentence. Pollock has also been convicted of employing Cranston as an unlicensed door supervisor Mattis did not sue Cranston personally, but sued Pollock claiming he was "vicariously liable" for the injuries inflicted. The Appeal Court appeal ruled Pollock owed a duty of care to Mattis in relation to his safety and to have known of Cranston's violence. Said Michael Ball, employment partner in law firm Halliwell Landau's leisure unit: "It is not unusual for an employer to be held liable for the acts of its employees ­ but this case demonstrates how far this principle can be extended. "The employer here had denied liability for the horrific injuries on the grounds that they had been inflicted outside the scope of the employment. The attack was motivated by revenge rather than any work-related duty and it had taken place outside of the workplace sometime after the employee had left work and returned home. "The Court of Appeal still ruled the employer liable as he had been aware that the doorman had acted aggressively in the night club on previous occasions.