Reading v. Attorney-General case brief summary

Reading v. Attorney-General (H.L. 1951) [Disgorgement]

o   Facts

§  Reading was a sergeant in the Royal Army during WWII

§  Reading, dressed in uniform, boarded a truck and conducted it through Cairo

§  This occurred on several occasions for which Reading was paid a total of 20,000 pounds.

§  The Crown later seized these amounts

§  Reading brought suit to recover the seized amount

o   Holding/Disposition

§  Dismissed

o   Reasoning

§  If a servant, in violation of his duty of honesty and good faith, takes advantage of his service to make a profit for himself, in this sense, that the asserts of which he has control, or the facilities which he enjoys, or the position which he occupies, are the real cause of his obtaining the money, as distinct from being the mere opportunity for getting it, that is to say, if they play the predominant part in his obtaining the money, then he is accountable for it to the master.

§  It matters not that the master has not lost any profit, nor suffered any damage.

§  Nor does it matter that the master could not have done the act himself.