In Kidd v Axa Equity & Law Life Assurance Society plc and another [2000] IRLR 301 HC, the High Court held that the duty of care in respect of the provision of references extends to taking reasonable care not to give misleading information.
An employer did not act in breach of its common law duty of care in providing a reference for a former employee which stated that, when he had taken voluntary severance, he was suspended from work because of a charge of gross misconduct, but that disciplinary proceedings had lapsed automatically when his employment terminated, holds the Court of Appeal in Bartholomew v London Borough of Hackney.
An employer giving a reference is under a duty to the subject of the reference to take reasonable care in compiling it, or in obtaining the information on which it is based, holds the House of Lords in Spring v Guardian Assurance plc and others.
In Lawton v BOC Transhield Ltd the High Court rules that an employer owes an ex-employee a duty of care when giving a reference to a prospective employer. But the court holds that the defendant company was not negligent in the particular circumstances as there was ample evidence to support the opinions expressed in the reference.