An employer's duty of care to protect employees from psychiatric injury caused by workplace bullying is not engaged unless the employer has knowledge, or ought to have knowledge, of circumstances giving rise to a reasonably foreseeable risk of cognisable psychiatric harm — mere knowledge of isolated incidents of unreasonable demands is insufficient. Where an employee is placed at a third party's premises under that party's control, the third party may owe a duty equivalent to that of an employer as a 'surrogate employer'. The knowledge of junior employees who witness bullying cannot be attributed to the employer company. Terms protecting employees from racial vilification or intimidation cannot be implied into employment contracts where the contract already contains a duty to provide a safe system of work. The question of whether the Wilkinson v Downton intentional tort applies to prolonged courses of workplace bullying conduct remains unresolved.
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