Braganza v BP Shipping Limited and another

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• published: 18 Mar 2015
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[2015] UKSC 17 UKSC 2013/0099 Braganza (Appellant) v BP Shipping Limited and another (Respondents) On appeal from the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) (England and Wales) This appeal considered whether in establishing whether an employee has committed suicide, an employer must direct himself as to the need for cogent evidence to justify such a finding. It also considers whether the reasonableness of the exercise of a contractual discretion should be decided by reference to the decision-maker’s reasoning process, or only to the result reached. In this case Mr Renford Braganza, the husband of the Appellant, was the Chief Engineer of the MV “British Unity”. In the early morning of 11 May 2009, while the British Unity was mid-Atlantic, he disappeared from the vessel. The Respondents (BP) instituted an investigation into his disappearance, conducted by a team of five specialists. The investigation eventually concluded that the more likely explanation for Mr Braganza’s disappearance was suicide. The General Manager then determined that Mr Braganza had killed himself, and that that in his opinion this constituted a “wilful act, default or misconduct” such that Mr Braganza’s contractual death benefits were not payable to the Appellant. The Appellant brought a claim in negligence under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, and a contractual claim for her husband’s death benefits. Only the latter was the subject of appeal. The Supreme Court by a majority of 3-2 allows Mrs Braganza’s appeal.