Week 5 DQ #1
Give 2 examplesof torts that could impact your business in the workplace. What actions would you propose to eliminate or minimize the impact of the torts you mentioned?
Week 5 DQ #2
As a business person, what challenges do you face in protecting your intellectual property? Give an example from your organization, or from a recent article, on how businesses protect intellectual property.
Week 5 – DQ #3
Tiffany is an accountant who takes a train to work everyday. One day while she was walking to the train stop, and talking on her cell phone, she tripped over a box that a shopkeeper had left in the middle of the sidewalk. Tiffany fell and skinned her knee. The shopkeeper came out and helped Tiffany clean her wound and gave her a band aid. As a result of the delay for the first aid, Tiffany missed her normal train and had to take a later train. The later train became involved in a collision when the train engineer was busy texting on his phone instead of paying attention to the signals. Tiffany was injured in the collision and had to be taken to the hospital. While at the hospital, her doctor accidentally ordered the wrong medication for her, causing a severe reaction. As a result of the reaction, Tiffany lost 2 weeks of work, and the wages she would have made.
Tiffany has brought suit against the shopkeeper for negligence, and she is claiming damages for the 2 weeks of lost wages. Her argument is that if he hadn’t caused her to miss her normal train, none of this would have happened.
Focusing only on Tiffany’s suit against the shopkeeper, is Tiffany entitled to her lost wages from the shopkeeper under a theory of negligence? Why or why not?
Week 5 – DQ #4
Describe the purpose of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and give an example of a positive and a negative impact on US business. The example may be from your experience, or a current article.
Individual Assignment: Employment Law Paper – Due Monday, October 19
Prepare a 1,050- to 1,500-word paper describing employment issues and situations you encountered, explaining and addressing as many of the following items in the paper as they apply to the experience.
Discuss specific employment situations and issues you have encountered.
Include what you know about employment conflicts, questions, grievances, lawsuits, etc., whether encountered personally or encountered by an acquaintance.
Analyze the experienced employment situation.
Describe the legal actions taken to handle or resolve the situations.
Describe the history and evolution of federal employment laws pertaining to each employment situation. Include descriptions and application of such acts as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
Describe in what manner the federal employment laws above were effective in resolving or not resolving each specific employment situation.
Describe which actions, if any, the employers involved in the situation were obligated to perform for certain functions as a result of complying with the federal employment acts.
Explain how the employment situations would or could have been handled if the worker involved in the situation was not an employee, but an agent of the company or a contract laborer. Explain whether or not the protection afforded workers under the Federal Employment Act of 1946 applies to agents or contract laborers.
Describe how the situations would or could have been handled if the worker was a member of a union or a party to a collective bargaining contract.
Properly cite sources according to APA standards, although the employment situations discussed in the paper are based on your personal experiences. Include the week’s assigned reading to support the actions taken by both the employer and the employee in the paper.
Learning Team Assignment: BUG, Inc. Paper – Due Monday, October 19
BUG, Inc., a company based in the United States, designs, manufactures, and sells electronic recording devices. These devices are used by law enforcement agencies to intercept and record sounds and voices. The equipment taps into telephone wires and cell phone transmissions and picks up sounds and voices through the walls of a house or in open-air locations through the use of a remote microphone. Part of the equipment is driven by software written by BUG employees. BUG has exclusive contracts with most state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. BUG is thinking about expanding its sales to international markets. Currently, half of its manufacturing plants are in foreign countries and half are in the United States. The company’s logo is a ladybug wearing a set of headphones.
Write a 1,050- to 1,750-word paper answering the following questions:
oIdentify the different types and major elements of legal protections BUG must have for its intellectual property. Explain why these protections are necessary.
oEarlier this year, WIRETAP, Inc., a competitor headquartered in Canada, sent one of its employees, Steve, to BUG to get the software coding for a new BUG product line. BUG, not realizing Steve was an employee of WIRETAP, hired him to work in its research and development department in the United States. While working at BUG, Steve forwarded any BUG e-mail he received to WIRETAP. This included e-mail between BUG officers, both domestic and abroad, that Steve intercepted using his hacking ability. At the end of each week, Steve contacted his boss at WIRETAP’s headquarters and gave him all the information he obtained about the BUG product line. Identify any international conflict of law issues that might affect any potential civil liability of Steve and WIRETAP.
oWalter, a security guard for BUG, learns that Steve really works for WIRETAP. Walter takes Steve to a small soundproof room where he keeps him for 6 hours. During this time, Walter continues to ask Steve what he is doing at BUG and what information he has given to WIRETAP. Walter tells Steve that he will hurt him if he does not tell him everything. Steve finally tells Walter what he wants to know. Walter then lets Steve go home. Has Walter committed any torts? Distinguish how tort law is different from other areas of law.
oBUG has come to you for advice regarding its international expansion. BUG wants to sell its products via the Internet. BUG is concerned about privacy, security, and infringement issues. BUG is also concerned because a company that buys famous or company name domain names seems to own the rights to the domain name BUG.com. The company is willing to sell the domain name for a high price. Advise BUG on any international conflict of law issues that might possibly affect the company. Be detailed in your response.
oShady Town, U.S.A. has been plagued with a recent crime wave. The BUG plant in Shady Town has experienced vandalized vehicles in its parking lot and some second shift employees have been robbed as they walked to their cars at night. BUG receives shipments of parts and other items from vendors at its receiving and shipping dock located at the rear of each plant. The parking lot and dock areas are well lit; however, some lights are now out. While waiting for the dock manager to return from lunch, a vendor was attacked and robbed of his wallet and the electronic chips he was delivering. Discuss any tort liability BUG may have to the vendor and to the BUG employees that were attacked and BUG’s potential defenses. Explain your answer.
oSally DoGood, a police officer in Shady Town, was sitting in a police van monitoring wiretaps with an older monitor purchased from BUG. The monitor short-circuited injuring Sally. An insulator that might have prevented the possibility of shorts was not included in the original design because it increased production costs. The newer models have the insulator installed. Identify the torts Sally may pursue against BUG and the different types of damages she may request