On Monday 27th November, the Supreme Court will begin hearing two days of submissions in the case of Dryden and ors v Johnson Matthey Plc. The case raises important questions of the nature of actionable injury and the recoverability of economic loss in negligence in the context of platinum salt sensitisation in the workplace. The three Claimants are represented by Robert Weir QC and Patrick Kerr, instructed by Harminder Bains, a partner at Leigh Day.
The Claimants were negligently exposed to platinum salts by their employer, Johnson Matthey, in breach of the employer’s statutory and common law duty. The Claimants developed platinum salt sensitivity and as a result they were moved into different, less well-paid jobs or left the company. The Claimants are appealing to the Supreme Court, having been unsuccessful in both the High Court and Court of Appeal. They appeal on the basis that they have suffered an actionable injury, namely platinum salt sensitisation, or, alternatively, that should be able to directly recover their economic losses in negligence.
The background to and history of the case can be found here in the blog post on permission to appeal being granted.