No Fiduciary Duty Owed By Employee - Ranson v Customer Systems Plc

Fiduciary duties are usually imposed on directors, and sometimes those just below board level. They include legal obligations not to set oneself up so there is a conflict of interest between the director and employer, not to profit from one's position at the employer's expense, and to disclose one's own wrongdoing.

Mr Ranson was a divisional manager with responsibility for a team of technicians. Shortly before leaving his job at Customer Systems (CS) to set up his own company, he canvassed work in competition and didn't tell CS what he was doing. These two facts gave rise to a High Court claim based on breach of fiduciary duty which the company argued was implied into his contract of employment.

The question was whether fiduciary duties – usually found in directors'...