Critically Evaluate Relation To The Common Law Duty Of Care

Duty of Care
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Introduction
A tort can be defined as any act whose compensation is through the awarding of damages. The three elements that constitute a tort are; the duty of care, the going against the same duty, and finally, the harm that ensues thereafter. When it comes to the relations between employees and employers, there is usually a degree or level of responsibility that each owes to the other. This is what is termed as the duty of care. Basically, each party is under the duty and obligation to provide some valid or truthful information to do with the skills and abilities of either. The duty of care therefore requires that there is some honest, just and reasonable reference of an individual. Employers are under the duty to be as honest as possible when it comes to the representation of both their current and former employees, to avoid giving inaccurate or biased feedbacks or reviews about them, which might in turn lead to misinterpretation.
Discussion
Liability usually comes up when there is any form of negligence or mistake from one party in a tort (Moffat, 2006). Subsequently, the issues raised under tort through negligence, usually come about as a result of the failure by the responsible parties or entities to provide due care as they are supposed to, hence leading to substantial damage on another party. In the setup of a university, there are also instances where the particular duty of care is also enshrined and ought to be upheld accordingly (MacDonald, 2005). Ever since the case of Donohue vs. Stevenson, where the claimant prevailed against the defendant, there has been the expansion of issues to do with tort, to other areas as well (Coates & Morrison, 2016).
In the university setup, there is always the risk of lawsuits posed by the decisions made by the administration to either provide personal information of its former employees, to prospective employers. This is especially so, if it is done without the consent of the former employee in question. It is usually typical for the human resource departments of most organizations not to share information or give reference to their former employees, to third parties (Smith, 2017). Universities, however,play a crucial role in the employment of their former students. While tarmacking, students often rely on the references and reviews given by their former universities, to their prospective employers.
The kind of reference given by the university, however, is where the liability comes in. For example, a former student at the University of Sussex will choose the university and rely on it for reference, since he or she has a firm trust in the institution. He or she therefore expects a great reference from the institution (Cook, 2009). A student might be taken as a consumer in a university setup, while his instructors might take to be his employers since they give the work to be done. The professor also indirectly determines the fate of the student in terms of the grades, the future employment prospects, as well as also being a possible source of reference for the student.
From this end, therefore, there is the duty of care from the professor, who should in a way or the other, not be biased in being a source of r...