• CO1 Assess the legal environment of business.
• CO2 Explain how ethical frameworks shape business decisions.
• CO10 Assess laws applying to antitrust and consumer protection.

Assignment Prompt:
The following five (5) companies have been in the news due to either a consumer protection or antitrust problem.  Select ONE of these companies from the first column as the subject of your paper. You are provided source links in the table about the company to get you started. You will need to do more research about the company as well as the ethical frameworks and applicable law.

Company

Fact sources to get you started

Comments/additional sources

Southern Rail, U.K.

(Consumer issue)

Little, S. (2018, January 16). Southern Rail voted UK’s worst train service for third year in a row. Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/southern-rail-uk-worst-train-service-2017-third-year-row-which-thameslink-great-northern-a8162516.html

Additional citation for you for facts:

Stauffenberg, J. (2016, August 18). Two girls hit as ceiling collapses on Southern Rail train. Independent.  Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/southern-rail-train-ceiling-roof-collapse-commuters-two-girls-injured-hit-a7197541.html

For other issues, think creatively:  explore employment, workplace safety (a subset of employment), tort of negligence (what duty is owed passengers?), defamation, —- remember this company is in U.K.

Google

(Antitrust)

Google faces antitrust fine from EU over Adsense. (2019, March 15). Pymnts. Retrieved from  https://www.pymnts.com/news/regulation/2019/google-antitrust-fine-eu/

Note this is EU antitrust law.

Google is rich ground for finding other areas of law to discuss. Consider such topics as privacy, contract, defamation, intellectual property, employment

Rent-A-Center Business

(Consumer)

Eiserer, T. & Smith, M. (2018, May 23). That couch you’re sitting on could land you in jail. WFAA. Retrieved from https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/that-rented-couch-youre-sitting-on-could-land-you-in-jail/287-556666587

and

Complaints and accusations of abusive collection practices  pile up against Rent-A-Center. (2017, November 15). MarketWatch. Retrieved from https://www.marketwatch.com/story/complaints-and-accusations-of-abusive-collection-practices-pile-up-against-rent-a-center-2017-11-15

This is in Texas. You might take a look at possible prosecution of Rent-A-Center in California. Not clear this is all the same umbrella company, a franchise, or just common practices by same type companies in TX, but I suspect it is RAC.  Take a look at the second article I listed in VA. Tons of issues here. For other the legal topics, consider contract, defamation, trespass, criminal law,  and other torts (research these how these apply)

Apple

(Antitrust)

Spotify v. Apple

Vincent, J. (2019, March 13). Spotify files antitrust complaint over “Apple tax.” The Verge. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/13/18263453/spotify-apple-app-store-antitrust-complaint-ec-30-percent-cut-unfair

And

Lapowsky, I. (2019, March 13). Spotify’s Apple complaint cuts to a core antitrust issue. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/spotify-apple-complaint-warren-antitrust-issue/

For the other topics, look into Apple’s employment practices,  contract practices, privacy protections, corporate social responsibility, ethical code, etc.

Heritage Pharmaceuticals

(Antitrust)

Associated Press. (2016, December 15). 20 states sue 6 makers of generic drugs, alleging conspiracies to manipulate prices.  L.A. Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-generic-drug-antitrust-20161215-story.html

This has morphed from a couple of drugs to a cartel of 300 drugs involved. See this one:

Rowland, C. (2018, December 9). Investigation of generic ‘cartel’ expands to 300 drugs. Washington Post.  Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/investigation-of-generic-cartel-expands-to-300-drugs/2018/12/09/fb900e80-f708-11e8-863c-9e2f864d47e7_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.69e8e9f9d684

For other areas of law,  look into employment, contract, ADR, securities, intellectual property

When you have selected your company, research and cover the following points in a well written essay. Use APA format and topical headings.

1. In an introductory paragraph identify the company, the topic and a well crafted thesis statement.
2. Briefly describe the company and the nature of its business and corporate business environment.  Do not spend a lot of time on the history of the company, but do describe sufficiently to create meaningful context. This should only need to be a paragraph.
3. Research, define and discuss the legal issues and regulatory environment for the company’s consumer or antitrust issue. (i.e., What are the laws involved?) Include case law.
4. Ethical dilemma and frameworks: Identify the ethical dilemma that the company presents with respect to its antitrust or consumer problem. This should be encapsulated in a single sentence.  Evaluate two ethical frameworks with respect to the company’s management’s decisions that led to the situation. One of these should be the ethical framework you identify as the framework the company followed in its decision-making.  The other should be a contrasting framework that might have produced a different situation for the company.
5. Other legal topics that relate to the company’s business: Also, clearly define and evaluate three (3) additional legal topics (NOT antitrust or consumer protection) that we covered this term — and that are  explained in your text and required readings, and apply them to the company’s business.  (Hint: Review the legal topics in the textbook and cite to the the text in your analysis. We covered many subjects. Examples: contracts, torts, product liability, bankruptcy, securities & stocks trading, employment issues, defamation, privacy, ADR, etc.  Include illustrative case law.)
6. General recommendations for business leadership and managers that you have learned from this study (not just for the company you have selected, but for running a business).
7. Conclusion.
8. References list

Further Guidance:

1. Reflect on the class discussions and the text, required readings, articles that you have read during the class and use the information, and other academic sources
2. Write a well-supported analytical essay critiquing the company, its operations, and the ethical dilemma it caused. Discuss the legal issues and concepts identified  and make recommendations for management. LENGTH:  – See RUBRIC.
3. Number of sources:  See RUBRIC.  Exemplary level of performance states 7 sources, at least 2 of which from library and none of which from excluded sources.
4. Proper citation and references formatting must be in APA 7th Ed.
5. Papers that do not include appropriate in text citations will lose points.
6. Dictionaries, encyclopedias — including Investopedia — Wikis, and the like, and Internet generic quick-answer websites are not acceptable to populate your Reference list. Use your text, required readings, and other scholarly sources.
7. Review the Grading Rubric.
8. Organize your paper with appropriate subheadings.
9. Do not write in 1st or 2nd person.  Paper must be written in 3rd person.
10. Do not use contractions.
11. All sources on References list must be correctly cited in the text of the paper and vice versa

Grading Rubric