Player violence, or violent players? Vicarious liability for sports participants

This article analyses two recent English cases concerning the law on vicarious liability for acts of violence and considers their significance in respect of on-field acts of violence in sports participation. It provides an overview of how the law of negligence has developed in the specific context of sports injuries (including application of the volenti principle) and critiques the application of vicarious liability to sports cases. This is followed by a consideration of the wider law on vicarious liability for violent employees through a review of Lister v Hesley Hall Ltd [2002] 1 AC 215 and deeper consideration of Mattis v Pollock [2003] IRLR 603 (which has to date been the subject of little, if any, academic comment). The article continues with an analysis of how those decisions have changed the legal landscape in respect of violent sports participants, looking in particular at reported cases from three jurisdictions in which that issue has been raised.