21-05-2025
Wetherspoon ‘not responsible for bouncers who beat up customers'
A builder who successfully sued JD Wetherspoon after being assaulted by a bouncer has been ordered to pay back around £200,000.
Bernard Burger, a 41-year-old construction manager, was left with a broken and dislocated hip after a contracted doorman attacked him outside a pub in Guildford, Surrey, in August 2018.
Mr Burger, who had been refused entry to the pub for allegedly being too drunk, had to undergo emergency surgery and remained in hospital for three days.
He sued JD Wetherspoon and, after a trial in 2023, a judge found the chain 'vicariously responsible' for the bouncers, awarding him £71,300. The judge also ordered the pub group to pick up Mr Burger's legal costs – estimated at well over £100,000 – on top of its own costs.
However, Mr Burger has now been stripped of his right to the payout from Wetherspoon after a High Court judge ruled that the firm should not have been held responsible for the actions of the bouncers, who were employed by an independent security company.
The initial county court trial in central London heard the attack happened after Mr Burger had enjoyed a barbecue at his home with two friends before heading into Guildford for drinks.
On arriving at the Rodboro Buildings Wetherspoon pub, they were informed that they were too intoxicated to enter. A heated discussion ensued, mainly involving bouncers and one of Mr Burger's friends, before they began to leave.
But as he started to head off with his back turned, Mr Burger was attacked by Samuel Haeger, one of the bouncers, before another also waded in and restrained him.
Footage played in court contained 'harrowing audio' in which Mr Burger could be heard screaming in pain as his hip was dislocated and fractured, said Recorder Tom Shepherd, the judge of the county court trial.
Despite being under no threat, Mr Haeger had 'jumped towards the claimant, with his knee or leg connecting with the claimant's back so as to cause him to fall on the pavement face down', said the judge.
He had then been left lying with a dislocated and fractured hip on the floor, screaming 'my leg, my leg', while being told to 'get up then' by the door staff.
'Vicariously liable'
The judge described the assault as 'appalling' and 'cowardly', for Mr Burger had posed no threat and was not displaying aggression.
Mr Burger told the court his injury had a serious impact on his life and he is expected to require two hip replacements during his lifetime.
He sued both Wetherspoon and Risk Solutions BG Ltd, the company's contractor for door staff, obtaining a default judgment against Risk Solutions.
However, after Risk Solutions was issued a winding-up order, the case proceeded against Wetherspoon, in which Mr Shepherd found the company 'vicariously liable' for the actions of the independent bouncers manning its door.
The ruling has been overturned after an appeal by the pub chain, with its lawyers arguing that the county court judge was wrong to find that the contract between it and Risk Solutions was 'akin to employment'.
Giving judgment at the High Court, Mr Justice Sweeting said the agreement between Wetherspoon and its contractor was that Risk Solutions would be responsible for the 'direction, management and control of their employees'.
'It was expressly agreed that [Wetherspoon] would not be responsible for the direction, instruction, management, or control of the operatives of Risk Solutions,' he said.
