''Torquay Hotel Co Ltd v Cousins''

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is a

UK labour law United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK can rely upon a minimum charter of employment rights, which are found in Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equit ...

case concerning the liability of a union when its members take industrial action. In it

Lord Denning MR Alfred Thompson "Tom" Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999) was an English lawyer and judge. He was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when ...

invented a new

economic tort Economic torts, which are also called business torts, are torts that provide the common law rules on liability which arise out of business transactions such as interference with economic or business relationships and are likely to involve pure eco ...

for interference with a contract. This was not there before, because economic torts had only existed where the result of some action was unlawful, for instance the ''breach'' of a contract, intimidation (see ''

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'' (1793) 1 Peake 270) or conspiracy to injure. The House of Lords has subsequently rejected the existence of a separate tort for interference with a contract which can be constituted without unlawful actions or without a contractual breach.see also now, '' OBG Ltd v Allan'' UKHL_21
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Facts

Torquay Hotel Co Ltd had a contract for the supply of oil from Esso Petroleum Co Ltd. It contained a ''force majeure'' clause. The Transport and General Workers Union went on strike and blocked that supply. There was therefore no breach of contract by the Esso for failing to deliver. Torquary Hotel nevertheless sued the union, of which Mr Frank Cousins was the general secretary. Lord Denning MR set out the facts in his judgment.

Judgment

Lord Denning MR held that for the purpose of the trade union's liability, they were unable to rely on that clause to absolve themselves from liability for the economic loss they caused. The interference with the supply contract was enough to visit liability, even though under the plain meaning of the contract, there was no breach. His decision ran as follows.

Notes

{{English law types English tort case law United Kingdom labour case law Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases 1968 in United Kingdom case law United Kingdom trade union case law United Kingdom strike case law 1968 in labor relations

Facts

Judgment

See also

Notes