Reading:

Warner, D., Siedel, G., Lieberman, J., & Martina, A. (2012). The legal environment and business law: Executive MBA edition v. 1.0.

• Chapters 23-24

Session 5 Case Study

Topic: Employment Discrimination

Allpro Services, Inc. is a financial services company that specializes in investment and retirement planning advice for its clients. It is located in a large metropolitan area where it has access to a large and diversified potential workforce. One of its departments deals specifically with tax planning and is currently under the guidance of Mrs. Geraldine Norris, its manager. Mrs. Norris comes from a military background and her mannerisms are quite abrupt and rough. In fact they are so rough that many of Allpro’s clients have complained to upper-level management. Allpro has decided that the image of its firm requires that a female manager act like a female and that it might be better if Mrs. Norris was not in a managerial position.

While she was manager, Mrs. Norris was involved in another office situation. As supervisor of the tax department she hired a number of accountants including a few young men. After a few weeks she decided that she would like to become more friendly with them. She invited Bill, one of the young accountants, to go out to dinner and a movie. He politely refused. She continued to ask him out and he continued to refuse. He was getting so upset from her advances that he considered quitting.

Bill also had a problem with his health. He was a diabetic, but his diabetes was controllable with insulin. Mrs. Norris had considered firing Bill because his insulin injections required at least 60 minutes of his work day which disrupted many special projects.

You are called in as a special Human Resource consultant and are asked to address the following issues as they relate to the above facts:

• Does Mrs. Norris have any legal issues with Allpro as they relate to her mannerisms? Explain.
• Does Bill have a case against Allpro with respect to Mrs. Norris’ advances? How could Allpro have protected itself? Be specific.
• Does Bill have a discrimination case against Allpro under the ADA of 1990 with respect to his diabetes? Be sure to include any recent court decisions when giving your advice.

Overall paper length is 1.5 – 3 pages.

Session 5 Final Project

Your Final Project will be composed of two separate papers on two different issues.

In a two to three page paper discuss the following scenario (30 points):

Tilly Gertz is interested in starting a new business. Tilly has developed her business plan and is ready to implement her ideas. However, Tilly lacks the necessary finances to begin her business. Along with a lack of finances, Tilly worries about the potential liability involved with starting a new business. Tilly would hate to lose all that she has personally accumulated to date in the event of a successful lawsuit against her. She is considering a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation as the organizing structure of her new venture.

• Which type of business would best serve Tilly’s needs at this given time?
• Discuss the pros and cons of each type of business organization that Tilly may use.
• Discuss the liability and protection involved and how financing could be obtained for Tilly.

In a 4-6 page paper draft a contract (70 points):

Draft a contract approximately four to six pages in length, 1) providing all essential terms to comply with the laws of contract formation plus to provide some clarity as to all terms, 2) providing for all foreseeable contingencies that you can reasonably anticipate (including Acts of God), and 3) delineating all types of possible remedies for breach based on the following facts:

You own a new restaurant called “Bill’s Mexican and Irish Food”. You have agreed to buy all the buffalo meat you need from “Fresh Exotic Meats “. You plan to only use them for all your buffalo meat as long as they meet your requirements that the buffalo meat is all natural and speedily delivered to you fresh each business day. You never want to deal with any meat that has been frozen or has been anything in it that is not natural to range fed buffalo.

You add the details (including price, shipment, review, etc.), and the remedies…and everything else. Remember, you have the restaurant so you are writing the contract in terms that are best for the buyer of the buffalo meat. (But do not be oppressive to the seller – after all, you want to have a good supplier.) Construct any details that you wish that are not inconsistent with the basic facts. Prior to drafting the contract, you may want to list the issues for the contract considering the other party, the other side’s attorney, accountant, and CEO.

Be sure to be clear, providing a number of contingencies and remedies if there is a breach. Remember that drafting a contract is a little bit of a science in legal terms and an art – you can and should look at some model contracts to help you put this together.

You cannot use APA format for a contract. Use legal formatting, which you can research, if necessary, by searching for samples on the internet, or seeing the samples provided in this course.

You will be graded on the quality of your contract. Some criteria which will be considered by your instructor when grading will be:

• Providing all essential terms to comply with the laws of contract formation plus to provide some clarity as to all terms.
• Providing for all foreseeable contingencies that you can reasonably anticipate (including Acts of God).
• Delineating all types of possible remedies for breach based on the facts.