Law Homework Help

Subject: Legal Environment Of Business

– Recommended textbook for the subject: Cheeseman, H. R. Legal Environment of Business: Online Commerce, Ethics, and Global Issues. (CHAPTERS 18, 19, 20 & 21)

– Answer the following essay questions:

1. Brendan Bosse and Michael Griffin were part of a group of four teenagers eating a meal at a Chili’s restaurant in Dedham, Massachusetts. Chili’s is owned by Brinker Restaurant Corporation (collectively “Chili’s”). The cost of the meal was $56. The teenagers decided not to pay. They went out of the building, got in their car, and drove away, heading northward up Route 1. A patron of the restaurant saw the teenagers leave without payment. He followed them in his white sport-utility vehicle (SUV). The teenagers saw him following them. A high-speed chase ensued through Dedham side streets. The patron used his cell phone to call the Chili’s manager. The manager called 911 and reported the incident and the location of the car chase. The teenagers’ car collided with a cement wall, and Bosse and Griffin were seriously injured. The Chili’s patron drove past the crash scene and was never identified. Bosse and Griffin sued Chili’s for compensatory damages for their injuries. The plaintiffs argued that the patron was an agent of Chili’s, and therefore Chili’s was liable to the plaintiffs, based on the doctrine of respondeat superior, which holds a principal liable for the acts of its agents. Chili’s filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the patron was not its agent. Is the restaurant patron who engaged in the high-speed car chase an agent of Chili’s? Explain your answer.

2. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power maintains a  pension plan for its employees that is funded by both  employer and employee contributions. The plan pays men and women retirees’ pensions with the same monthly benefits. However, because statistically women live, on average, several years longer than men, female employees are required to make monthly  contributions to the pension fund that are 14.84  percent higher than the contributions required of male employees.  Because employee contributions are withheld from paychecks, a female employee takes home less pay than a male employee earning the same salary. Does this practice violate Title VII? Explain your answer.

3. Immar Medrano was employed as a journeyman electrician by Marshall Electrical Contracting, Inc. (MEC), in Marshall, Missouri. Medrano attended an electrician apprenticeship night class at a community college in Sedalia, Missouri. MEC paid Medrano’s tuition and book fees. Attendance at the course required Medrano to drive 70 miles round-trip. One night, when Medrano was driving home from the class, a drunk driver crossed the centerline of U.S. Highway 65 and collided head-on with Medrano’s automobile. Medrano died in the accident. His wife and two children filed a workers’ compensation claim for death benefits against MEC. Are Medrano’s actions at the time of the automobile accident within the course and scope of his employment, thus entitling him to workers’ compensation benefits? Explain your answer.

4. The union (Union) member-employees of the Erie Resistor Company (Company) struck Company over the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement that was being negotiated between Company and Union. Company continued production operations during the strike by hiring new hires and crossover union members who were persuaded to abandon the strike and come back to work. Company promised all replacement workers super seniority. This would take the form of adding twenty years to the length of a worker’s actual service for the purpose of future layoffs and recalls. Many union members accepted the offer. Union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Is Company’s offer of the super seniority lawful? Explain your answer.

5. Discuss the protections afforded by the Americans with Disabilities Act.