Court Of Appeal Dismisses Claims For Financial Losses

Court of Appeal dismisses claims for financial losses stemming from physiological changes short of physical injury Greenway and others v. Johnson Matthey Plc [2016] EWCA Civ 408

The background

The High Court last year held that no actionable injury in tort arose from claims that former employees of the defendant had developed sensitivity to platinum as a result of exposure to complex halogenated platinum salts. Although the claimants had suffered no physical injury, their sensitisation had required them to be removed from the workplace environment in which the exposure had occurred. They were unable to be redeployed and either resigned or were dismissed. Each suffered financial loss, claiming significant sums for loss of earnings.

Much of the case at first instance concerned a comparison between platinum sensitisation and pleural plaques. The claimants argued unsuccessfully that they...