Case Study 1 - For much of the country, the situation at the border posed a moral crisis. But PDF

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Case 1 The happy hour sports bar employed Bertha as a bartender. One evening, a young man entered the bar in an obviously drunken state and demanded a beer. Bertha refused to serve him a beer and offered to call him a cab to drive him home. The young man refused the cab and demanded a beer in a loud voice. Bertha once again refused to serve him and told him to leave the bar at once. He then became angry and began pounding on the bar with his fist, demanding a beer. Without a further word, Bertha walked around the bar where the man stood. She quickly put a head-lock and arm-lock on the man, the escorted him out of the bar and into the street, where she released him. A few moments later, the man returned to the bar and demanded a drink. Bertha again walked around the bar and seized the man by the arm to escort him out of the building, but the man refused to move and attempted to strike her with the fist of his free arm. Bertha avoided the swinging arm and seized it as well. She then pinned both arms behind the man’s back and pushed him in the direction of the exit. Once through the door, she gave him a heavy push into the street, where he fell, striking his head against a parking meter. The man suffered a serious head injury as a result oof the fall and bought legal action for damages against the bar owner and Bertha. Discuss the type of case the man might take to the court, and the defences, if any, of Bertha and her employer. Render a decision.

Case 2 The Daily News was a small-town newspaper that frequently reported the local town council meeting in detail. At one of the council meeting, one of the councillors raised a concern about a housing project in the community that was being constructed by Ace Contractors. During the discussing at the council meeting, the councillor stated that the owner of Ace contractors, a John Smith, was a “crook” and should be “kicked out of town.” The daily News reported the discussing in detail, including the comments of the councillor. Smith, in fact, was an honest citizen and not a “crook.” When Smith discovered the newspaper report, he instructed his lawyer to immediately begin a legal action against the newspaper and the councillors. Describe the nature of action, and the councillor might raise in their defence. Explain, with reasons, how the case might be decided.

Case 3 Luxury Fur farms for many years operated a mink ranch in a farming area near a municipal airport. Due to the growth of the city, a new runway was constructed that would allow larger aircraft to use the airport. The runway was constructed in a direction such that aircraft approaching the runway would fly directly over the building that housed the

mink. If cloud or fog condition required the pilots to fly to the south of their normal approach path. Because mink will devour their young if a loud noise occurs, Luxury Fur Farms had the words ‘MINK RANCH” painted on the roof of their barn in large, 20-foot letters that were clearly visible to air-craft in the air. A warning of the existence of the ranch was also reported in the pilot flight information manuals, advising pilots not to fly low over the buildings. Shortly after the new runway was constructed, weather condition required Ace Airlines Flight 120 to approach the airport on a path directly over the mink ranch. The noise of the aircraft caused a great many of the mink to kill and eat their young, and Luxury Fur Farms suffered a substantial loss. At the trial of the case, the pilot of the plane admitted that he was unaware of the location of the mink ranch. Hel also stated that he had not examined the flight information manual that identified the location of the mink ranch Discuss the nature of this case, the claim of Luxury Fur Farms, and the defence, if any, that might be raised by the airline. Render a decision. Case 4 A golf club constructed a driving range on its property that face a number of residential properties located next to the golf course. Golfers using the driving range frequently hit golf balls into the back-yards of the neighbouring residential properties and, on several occasions, broke windows in the houses located on the lots. On one occasion, a golf ball struck and killed a cat that had been sleeping on a bench in one of the backyards. The residential property owners complained to the club about the golf balls being driven into their properties, but the club refused to change the location of the driving range. In response to the complaints, the club stated that the individual golfers that caused the damage should be responsible since they hit the balls into the yards When the club refused to stop the use of the driving range, the property owners decided to institute legal proceedings against the club. Discuss the nature of the action and the arguments of the parties, and render a decision.

Case 5 A fast food restaurant operated a “drive-thru” service that allowed motorist to purchase food iteams and drinks without leaving their vehicles. The restaurant was well known for the quality of the coffee that it served, and much of its business reputation was based on this fact. Restaurant advertising was designed to capitalize on its business reputation which advertised as “the best and hottest coffee in town” One evening, a customer who frequently bought coffee at the restaurant purchased a large coffee from the drive-thru of the operation. When she received the coffee container,

she place it between her knees on the car seat and attempted to drive away. Unfortunately, when she moved her leg to press on the accelerator, the coffee spilled, causing serious burned to both knees. She was unable to work for over a week while her injuries healed and decided to take legal action against the restaurant. Outline the mature of her claim, and speculate as to the arguments that she and the restaurant owner might make to support their respective sides of the case. Render a decision. Case 6 “Ace Andy” was a stock car driver who experienced reasonable success in the non-professional race circuits. He eventually decided to incorporate the business on the advice of his accountant, and transferred his cars, trucks and trailers to the corporation. However, he retained his shop building (which had an estimate value of $300,000) and leased it to the corporation for an annual reantal. The value of the stock cars, trucks and trailers as well the other race equipment had a value of approximately $250,000 . In order to acquire additional capital, Andy who was the president of the corporation, arranged for a bank loan in the amount of $250,000. The bank required the corporation’s financial statements in order to process the loan, and Andy instructed his accountant to prepare them. These were prepared in due course, but the accountant, in error, included the shop building as a corporate asset when in fact it was not owned by the corporation, but by Andy personally. Before advancing the loan to the corporation, the bank discovered the accountant’s error, and Andy was required to personally guarantee the loan to the bank. Sometime later, the corporation found that it needed additional capital for a replacement vehicle, and Andy contacted a friend who was interested in investing in the corporation. The friend offered to invest $60,000, but wished to examine the corporation’s finances before doing so. Andy suggested that the investor contact the bank, as the bank had loaned the corporation $250,000, and it could give the investor any information that he might require about the corporation. The investor contacted the bank for information, but the loans manager was on vacation, and a clerk, who was unfamiliar with the bank loan and the errors in the financial statements, provided the investor with copies of the corporation’s financial statements without comment. The investor examined the financial statements, and decided to purchase $60,000 worth of shares in the corporation. Over the next few months, Andy’s success on the race circuit turned into disaster. Both of his cars were destroyed in track accidents and in the last accident, Andy was seriously injured. As a result, the flow of prize money ended, and the corporation was in financial difficulty. At this point in time the investor discovered that the financial statements were in error, and that land and shop building were not assets of the corporation. Advise the investor, Andy, the bank, and the accountant of their position and rights (if any) at law.

Case 7 Candy Ltd. Manufactures a variety of soft and hard candies that it packages in clear plastic bulk packs for filling candy dispensing machines located in shops and malls. The dispensing machines are owned and operated by Candy Dispensers incorporated, and the corporation paid the shop owners or mall a small rental fee for the space occupied by the dispensing machine. The shop owners or mall assumed no responsibility for the operation of the machines, and Candy dispenser incorporated employee handled the filling of the machines and the removal of the cash. One day, a disgruntled employee at Candy Ltd discovered a large, 2cm long maggo on the shipping dock, and in a fit of anger, took the maggot into the plant and threw it into the packaging machine that was packaging bug and animal shaped candies. The package containing the maggot was shipped to Candy Dispensers Incorporated along with other candies as a part of a large order. In due course, the package containing the maggot ( that by this time had died) was emptied into a candy dispensing machine at Joe’s Variety and Snack Bar, a popular shop[ where students bought snack on their way to and from a nearby school. Lisa and Andrea, two students who often bought candy ay Joes’s Variety, put coins in the vending Machine, and obtained a quantity of the candy. Lisa noticed that one of the candies that Andrea had received was an off looking shape, and commented that it looked like a “dried up caterpillar.” Andrea nevertheless decided to eat it, only to discover that it had a terrible taste. She soon felt ill as a result of toxins in the maggot, and required hospital treatment. As a result, she missed a week of school, and was unable to work at her part-time job for a two week period while she recovered from the “food” poisoning Advise Andrea.

Case 8 For many years the 4 CAB Company operated a taxi service in a major city of 1 million persons. The firm uses an easily remembered telephone number ending in the numeric equivalent of “4CAB.” An unidentified person placed a message on an internationally known subscriber online service, advertising T-shirts for sale bearing highly offensive images and slogans, with a phone number for placing orders. Accidentally or intentionally, this number led to the business telephone of 4 CAB Company taxi service. Almost immediately after the posting, hundreds of calls drowned 4 CAB’s phone lines, complaining about the offensive T-shirts. New advertisements were repeated over a period of seven days during which time 4 CAB Company complained to the online service. 4 CAB Company requested, then demanded removal of the messages. In response, the online service promised “an Investigation.” On the tenth day, with its business brought to a standstill, the 4 CAB Company headed for court, seeking damages from the service provider for business interruption, an ordered to remove the messages, and an order that its telephone number be filtered out of future postings.

Discuss the issues arising here and how you would handle this, if the case came before you as the judge....