Following my post confirming that the Supreme Court has granted permission in Various Claimants v Morrison Supermarket Plc, I have had quite a few email queries as to the scope of the grounds of appeal. To put you in the picture, permission has been granted on all grounds. In a nutshell, this means that the Supreme Court will be considering: (a) whether the common law doctrine of vicarious liability is excluded in cases that engage the data protection legislation (i.e. where the primary tortfeasor’s actions amounted to a breach by the tortfeasor of his or her own obligations under data protection legislation); (b) whether, if the doctrine is excluded in respect of claims brought by reference to the data protection legislation, it is equally excluded in respect of any related common law or equitable causes of action and also (c) whether, if the doctrine is not excluded, the Court of Appeal in any event erred when it decided to uphold the conclusion that Morrisons was vicariously liable in the circumstances of the case.

Anya Proops QC