Charles Pigott observes a divide in the Supreme Court over reasonableness of a contractual decision
The Supreme Court’s decision in Braganza v BP Shipping and another [2015] UKSC 17, [2015] All ER (D) 185 (Mar) marks at least a partial victory for a widow seeking to secure financial compensation following the death of her husband, who disappeared in the North Atlantic in May 2009 while serving as a chief engineer on an oil tanker.
BP decided that Mr Braganza had taken his own life after an enquiry by a team of experts had reached the conclusion that an accident was very unlikely. Given the relatively calm weather and the fact that nobody in the BP fleet had ever fallen overboard from the same class of vessel, it formed the view that suicide was the most likely explanation for his disappearance.
Supreme Court
The issue before the Supreme Court was whether his employers had been in breach of contract in relying on a clause in Mr Braganza’s employment contract which excluded liability to pay survivors’ benefits if his death had been due to his “wilful act”.
