Business law

1-Employment and Labor Law Issues

Demonstrate how the legal environment controls activities between businesses and private citizens, between businesses and competition and between businesses and the employees who work there.

Chapter 9 Content Objective: Analyze various laws governing employer/employee relationships.

Employment at Will – Read the four situations below and answer the questions at the end of each one. Be certain to be complete in your answers and properly indicate your answers to each situation.

1. Richard Mudd, an employee of Compuserve, is called for jury duty in Wayne County, Michigan. His immediate supervisor, Harvey Lorie, lets him know that he “must” avoid jury duty at all costs. Mudd tells the judge of his circumstances and his need to be at work, but the judge refuses to let Mudd avoid jury duty. Mudd spends the next two weeks at trial. He sends regular e-mails and texts to Lorie during this time, but on the fourth day gets a text message from Lorie that says, “Don’t bother to come back.” When he does return, Lorie tells him he is fired. Does Mudd have a cause of action for the tort of wrongful discharge?

2. Olga Monge was a schoolteacher in her native Costa Rica. She moved to New Hampshire and attended college in the evenings to earn US teaching credentials. At night, she worked at the Beebe Rubber Company after caring for her husband and three children during the day. When she applied for a better job at the plant, the foreman offered to promote her if she would be “nice” and go out on a date with him. She refused, and he assigned her to a lower-wage job, took away her overtime, made her clean the washrooms, and generally ridiculed her. She finally collapsed at work, and he fired her. Does Monge have any cause of action?

3. An employer placed a job advertisement for security guards, specifying that applicants had to be U. S. citizens. It also required applicants to present a Social Security card. Was this ad legal? Why or Why not?

4. FedEx refused to promote Jose Rodridquez to a supervisor’s position because of his foreign accent and “how he speaks.” Is FedEx in violation of the law? Why or Why not?

2-Government Regulation

Understand the role that government has in the legal environment and how that impacts business activity.

Chapter 10 Content Objective: Define the role of administrative bodies and regulation in the governmental rulemaking process.

Part I: Answer the questions listed below and be complete in your responses.

1. What was the impact of industrialization on the development of administrative agencies?

2. Describe the main functions of the following agencies:

a. Food and Drug Administration

b. Federal Trade Commission

Part II: Answer the questions listed below and be complete in your responses.

1. What are the main responsibilities of administrative law judges as they carry out the work of an administrative agency?

2. What are the main provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act?