Assignment 1 for Business Law II
Medgar Evers College
© 2014 Tobias Pinckney
Read Chapter 32 of the Text: Agency Formation and Duties
1) What is the difference between an employee and an independent
contractor? What criteria do the courts use to tell the difference?
Read Chapter 33: Agency Liability and Termination (for next week)
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the corporate structure of McDonald’s?
2.. In what ways is McDonald’s Corporation accused of violating
workers’ rights?
3. Why does it matter whether or not McDonald’s Corporation is a joint
employer of workers in McDonald’s restaurants?
4. What is the best argument for McDonald’s Corporation not being a
joint employer?
5. What is the best argument for McDonald’s Corporation being a joint
employer?
6. Explain the facts of the lawsuit contending over whether or not
Browning-Ferris Industries is a joint employer.
7. What was the regional NLRB decision? Do you agree with it?
8. How do McDonald’s Corporation and Brown-Ferris industries differ
as employers? Should there be any legal differences in their status as
joint employers?
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9. In a paragraph or two, write a brief opinion describing whether
or not McDonald’s Corporation should be a joint employer for the
purpose of resolving the alleged labor violations.
EXTRA CREDIT: Search the NLRB website for the Browning-Ferris
Industries d/b/a Newby Island Recyclery & FRP-II, LLC. d/b/a/
Leadpoint Business Services. (http://www.nlrb.gov/case/32-RC109684) Read any of the briefs or the regional decision to add new
perspective to joint employer liability.
Additional Work for Next Week:
Read and write a case brief for the 4th Circuit Opinion in Young v. United
Parcel Service, 707 F.3d 437 (4th Cir. 2014).
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Mistake Contracts Questions
(from the Contracts Emanuel Law Outline)
1. Jack agrees to sell Giant a goose for $20. Both parties think the goose
is a regular goose, which Giant wants for breeding.
(A) Before the goose is transferred or the $20 paid, the goose begins
laying golden eggs, which makes her priceless. Jack refuses to uphold
the agreement, and Giant sued to enforce the contract. Will a court force
Jack to sell for $20?
(B) Assume instead that before the goose is transferred or the $20
paid, both Jack and Giant witness the goose laying eggs that are gold in
color. Giant says, “Wow, that’s bizarre. What do you suppose those eggs
are made of?” Jack replies, “I don’t know, but I think it’s some alteration
of the albumin content. Anyway, you can still have her for $20 if you
want her,” Giant, who believes Jack’s assessment, agrees to go through
with the deal. Shortly thereafter, Jack finds out the eggs are actually
made of gold and refuses to consummate the sale. Will a court enforce
the agreement?
2. After doing some spring cleaning in his wine cellar, Gatsby decides to
sell several bottles of wine from the Magenta region of France. He
enters into a contract with Daisy to sell the wine for $250. Both believe
this to be the fair market value of the wine at the time. In actuality,
wines from the Magenta region have gone up in value recently and the
collection is really worth $500. Gatsby learns of this just before the sale
is completed, and he seeks to avoid the sale. Can Daisy enforce the
contract?
3. Mike Angelo, newly arrived in the United States from Italy, develops
an immediate fascination with baseball. He visits “Leo’s Locker,” a
baseball memorabilia store, to check out some baseball cards. The
owner, Leo diVinci, has a slogan, “I love to dicker” – so he doesn’t put a
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price tag on anything. Mike spots an old card with a famous name on it,
and offers Leo $5,000 for it. Leo realizes that Mike has mistaken the
player on the card – Babe Root, of the 1929 New York Spankies (an
amateur team) for Babe Ruth, whose card would be work $5,000. Leo
quickly accepts Mike’s offer, knowing the card is worth about fifty cents.
Leo writes up a contract that they both sign, and Mike goes to the bank
to get the $5,000. When he tells the bank teller about his find, the teller
laughs hysterically, telling him of his mistake. Mike reneges on the deal.
Leo sues. Mike defends on grounds of mistake. Who wins?
4. Shah Jihan is building himself a monument and needs a rock-cutting
machine. He sees Mimzeh’s ad in the Bargain Trader Newspaper for a
rock-cutting machine for $10,000. Shah goes to Mimzeh’s house and
inspects the machine. Mimzeh accurately answers all questions Shah
asks. Shah offers Mimzeh $10,000 for the machine, which she accepts.
Before the transaction takes place, Shah finds out the tock cutter will
not cut marble, which, unbeknownst to Mimzeh, is the type of stone
Shah uses. Can Shah avoid the contract due to his mistake?
5. James Beardless, Army chef, solicits bids for a custom-built food
processor with a work bowl large enough to hold 500 lbs. of chipped
beef.
(A) For this part, assume that Beardless receives bids on the project of
$90, $600, $700, and $800. The $90 bid was from the Come-N-Get-It
Food Supply House. Come-N-Get-It intended to bid $900, but made a
careless clerical error in its bid. Beardless is impressed by Come-N-GetIt’s very low bid. Beardless thinks that Come-N-Get-It must be a very
efficient producer; he doesn’t suspect that the bid’s lowness may be due
to clerical error, and be therefore doesn’t re-confirm the price (though a
reasonable person in Beardless’ position would have done so). Soon
after Beardless accepts, Come-N-Get-It tells Beardless that it made an
error, and that its bit should have been for $900. Can Beardless enforce
the $90 bid price?
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(B) Say instead that the bids were for $500, $600, $700 and $800, with
Come-N-Get-It’s bid coming in at $500. Come-N-Get-It actually meant to
bid $650, but made an error when adding up the figure for its estimate.
Beard has no suspicion that they may have been an error ( and a
reasonable person would not have had such a suspicion). Beardless
accepts the offer of $500 and now Come-N-Get-It wants out. Can
Beardless enforce the $500 bid price?
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