Decision details

That the Director of Public Health, Lisa McNally be indemnified, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Indemnities for Members and Officers) Order 2004, in respect of civil action seeking relief on the terms detailed appendix 1 to the report.

Lisa McNally is the claimant in a civil claim in the High Court for Harassment, under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and The Data Protection Act 2018. The Council supports Lisa McNally in this claim, pursuant to its duty of care towards her.

The Council has a duty of care towards its employees. Employers, including the Council, must provide a safe place of work. This duty extends to mental well-being as well as physical well-being. In determining if an employer has complied with this duty, a court would decide whether the employer has taken reasonable care of the employee, have they done enough? It would also have to determine if the injury caused to the employee was related to the actions or failure to act of the employer and if that injury was reasonably foreseeable.

In this case, Lisa McNally has been subject to attacks from an individual, through their publications, for a number of months. Lisa McNally has suffered injury because of this; to her mental wellbeing. It can be reasonably foreseen that if the Council does not act to take reasonable care of the employee, further injury will be caused to her.

It is very important that the Council complies with its duty of care towards employees, taking steps to protect them from abuse, harassment and oppression received because of their employment, and trying to prevent further occurrences of similar behaviour.

The Council could choose not to support the claimant. This would expose the Council to risks of an employment dispute given the duty of care that the Council owes to her as an employee, as set out above.