CROCS EUROPE BV V ANDERSON

[2012] EWCA Civ 1400, Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Mummery, Lord Justice Hughes and Mr Justice Bean, 30 October 2012

Agency - Breach of contract by agent - Whether breach repudiatory - Effect of Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993, Regulation 3 - Breach of fiduciary duty

In 2005 Crocs Europe appointed Spectrum Agencies of the claimant as UK agent for its footwear. In June 2008 employees of Spectrum posted a set of joke film credits on the internet which was designed to highlight Crocs' alleged poor response to orders from Spectrum. The posting was removed a few days later. Crocs' solicitors wrote to Spectrum saying that the posting was a fundamental breach of duty, and the agency was terminated by Crocs on 3 July 2008. Spectrum claimed compensation of up to £16 million under Regulation 17 of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993. The judge found that there was no repudiatory breach and that Crocs was not entitled to terminate the contract.