Category: Business Law

This week we will be discussing the ethical dilemma between street crime and white-collar crime. First, you should read about the Ford Pinto case. Familiarize yourself with the facts of the case, and the outcome.
Use Google – the search words Ford Pinto Lawsuit should bring up a ton of information
Then, you should read Section 3 of Chapter 10.
1. You are to draft arguments that Lee Iacocca should have been prosecuted criminally.
2. Choose opposing posts and defend your position.
Please respond to the Posts Below
Thomas
In the Ford Pinto case, Lee Iacocca’s criminal prosecution would probably be unnecessary due to the absence of concrete evidence linking him to deliberate misconduct. It is possible that Iacocca was more concerned with making strategic decisions as an executive in charge of a big company like Ford than he was with the specifics of the Pinto’s design. Even if it was a morally dubious choice, Iacocca may not have had a direct influence on the decision to put money above safety (Rossow, 2015). Moreover, compared to today, the regulatory climate governing automobile safety standards was less strict in the 1970s, which made it difficult to prove that Iacocca had committed certain legal crimes. Given the complexity of business decision-making and the absence of defined legal norms at the time, it could be challenging to show his direct involvement and intent to hurt customers in order to pursue criminal charges against him. If there was any misconduct connected to the Pinto case, civil remedies like fines or settlements could be a more suitable course of action than criminal prosecution. In civil action, it is not necessary to establish unlawful intent without a reasonable doubt in order to resolve disputes and compensate damages (Rossow, 2015). It is also critical to take into account the larger ethical framework that surrounded business decision-making in that time period. despite the fact that Ford’s cost-benefit analysis of the Pinto’s safety problems is heavily criticized, it is essential to acknowledge the moral inconsistencies and conflicting interests at play (Rossow, 2015). Given the facts, seeking civil instead of criminal action against Iacocca seems to be a more appropriate course of action, reflecting the complexity of the case while providing for responsibility and justice. References Rossow, M. (2015). Ethics: An Alternative Account of the Ford Pinto Case. Dawn Jenkins
Lee Iacocca was part of a large team at Ford. Many people were involved in making decisions about the Pinto, not just him. It’s hard to blame just one person for these team choices. To charge someone with a crime, you require strong proof that they did something wrong on purpose. Finding evidence that Mr. Iacocca ignored safety on purpose would be very difficult because so many factors and people were involved. Back in 1971 when the Pinto was built, the rules about car safety were not as strict as they are now. It is not fair to judge past actions by today’s standards. Lee Iacocca did many good things for the car industry and for Ford. It is important to recognize his positive contributions, not just focus on the Pinto issue.
Government agencies that check if cars are safe had no problem with the Pinto being sold. This suggests that the Pinto met the safety standards of that time, which makes it difficult to blaming Mr. Iacocca alone.
In essence, arguing against criminal prosecution for Lee Iacocca in the context of the Ford Pinto saga requires an appreciation for the complexities of corporate decision-making, the stringent requirements for proving criminal negligence, the historical context of automotive safety standards, and the broader implications of regulatory compliance and individual contributions to industry practices.
WC 225
Reference:

The final project includes two parts, which should both be included in the same document.
Part one is to prepare a case brief of the Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent (2nd Cir. 2012) 696 F.3d 206 case (Louboutin case.pdf) Download Louboutin case.pdf), using the F-I-R-A-C format.
Part two is to write responses to the following seven questions:
Identify the court that decided the case;
Describe the basis of the court’s jurisdiction over the parties’ dispute;
Describe the type of relief Louboutin sought;
Did Louboutin seek a legal or equitable remedy?;
Do you believe Yves Saint Laurent’s shoes call into concern any ethical issues given their similarity to Louboutin’s shoes?;
Based on class discussion concerning intellectual property rights, do you think the appellate court got its decision right? Why or why not?; and
If you were starting a shoe company, what business organization/form would you prefer to use? What are the pros and cons of your preferred business organization/form?

The key to this discussion is stare decisis, not abortion! Therefore, please leave personal attacks, religion, and politics out. This case was selected in order to focus your attention on legal reasoning, despite your personal beliefs. In the realm of law and ethics, you will be expected to address controversial issues. This assignment will help you rely upon facts, data, and legal precedent, instead of personal convictions. Therefore, any posts that fail to address stare decisis as the main issue will be deleted.
Answer the following based on the instructions above and below:
If your last name starts with the letters L – Z, draft arguments that Roe v. Wade is not settled law under the concept of stare decisis.
For response Post to peers: If your last name starts with the letters L – Z, choose an opponent’s post, and draft arguments in opposition to your opponent’s arguments.
You must have a minimum of THREE posts, with CITES, on THREE different days.
At least three posts must be within 150 words and 250 words, with citations (do not use wikepidia.com as a source!)
If you are not familiar with the details of Roe v. Wade, you can read about it at:
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1971/1971_70_18/
This website has the U.S. Supreme Court opinion, audio transcripts of the oral arguments, and summary of Justice opinions.
Threaded Discussions are like mini-classroom presentations. Each week a question will be presented for your consideration. You must submit your first post by Thursday; your other posts must be posted between Thursday and Sunday. All three posts must be on three separate days, and must be supported by a reference (i.e. a citation to your source). Your posts should be very formal, with proper use of citations, grammar, and spelling. Casual conversations should be limited to the Open Bar.
This is the CRITERIA that your posts will be graded on:
The depth of understanding you display
The accuracy of your cites (citations are mandatory)
Your writing skills (grammar / spelling)
Proper word count (between 150 – 250 words ONLY)
The quality of your interaction with other students in the discussion
Basic calculation of your grade:*
3 posts that meet the criteria
100
2 post that meets the criteria
90
1 post that meets the criteria
80
3 posts that do NOT meet the criteria
75
2 posts that do NOT meet the criteria
70
1 post that does NOT meet the criteria
65
No posts at all, or of opinion alone
0
* Note: This grading chart is a basic calculation for you to follow. Your final grade will depend on the effort shown, the actual number of posts submitted, and the quality of interaction.

There are two parts for this Contract. We are looking for the ability to read and comprehend the contract so the appropriate contract clause can be applied to the questions connected with each contract. In order to answer the contract fact scenario, you will also need to be able to identify the legal concept that is applicable to the situation described. This is an analysis so please treat it as such. Your personal opinion is not appropriate.
There are correct answers for the prompt. If a student discusses a different legal theory for answering the prompt, partial points will be given. In cases of complete or partial answers, textbook references are mandatory to support the remedy proposed by the student. A textbook reference that has no bearing on the remedy or legal arguments will be counted as “no text”. For example, if any contract has an issue of risk of loss, referencing the text on contract formation will not meet the requirement. The sections of the textbook that you have read contain all the information you need for this analysis. You should only use Chapter 35.
Please remember to reference the applicable parts of the contract that you are using to answer the prompt.
A student will be given 6 points for the textbook reference, 6 points for the contract reference (the actual section), with 27 points for the analysis itself.
The remaining 6 points will be given as a spelling/grammar score. Following is the prompt.
Residential House Lease
The following prompt is based on the Residential House Lease found in the Contracts Module. Please reference the Lease by section number as you answer the prompt. Remember to reference the textbook by chapter and section. Essay (2 complete paragraphs with text references to support your answers)
Tamika, the landlord, refuses to fix a small leak in the roof that was there prior to the current tenant. Sam, the current tenant, has just discovered the leak after a heavy rain. The consequence is that black mold has been forming in the attic for quite some time. Sam still has significant time remaining on his lease. Sam has notified Tamika in writing by email of the mold and leak issue but has received no response. He is concerned about the premises becoming unsafe to live in. It has been 14 days since he emailed her his notification. What are all of Sam’s options if Tamika declines to do the repairs?
Please discuss all remedies Sam may seek. Please remember to reference the lease and text to support your analysis.

lease review the detailed information given in the first Module – How to Navigate this Course.
There are two parts for this Contract. We are looking for the ability to read and comprehend the contract so the appropriate contract clause can be applied to the questions connected with each contract. In order to answer the contract fact scenario, you will also need to be able to identify the legal concept that is applicable to the situation described. This is an analysis so please treat it as such. Your personal opinion is not appropriate.
There are correct answers for the prompt. If a student discusses a different legal theory for answering the prompt, partial points will be given. In cases of complete or partial answers, textbook references are mandatory to support the remedy proposed by the student. A textbook reference that has no bearing on the remedy or legal arguments will be counted as “no text”. For example, if any contract has an issue of risk of loss, referencing the text on contract formation will not meet the requirement. The sections of the textbook that you have read contain all the information you need for this analysis. You should only use Chapter 35.
Please remember to reference the applicable parts of the contract that you are using to answer the prompt.
A student will be given 6 points for the textbook reference, 6 points for the contract reference (the actual section), with 27 points for the analysis itself.
The remaining 6 points will be given as a spelling/grammar score. Following is the prompt.
Residential House Lease
The following prompt is based on the Residential House Lease found in the Contracts Module. Please reference the Lease by section number as you answer the prompt. Remember to reference the textbook by chapter and section. Essay (2 complete paragraphs with text references to support your answers)
Tamika, the landlord, refuses to fix a small leak in the roof that was there prior to the current tenant. Sam, the current tenant, has just discovered the leak after a heavy rain. The consequence is that black mold has been forming in the attic for quite some time. Sam still has significant time remaining on his lease. Sam has notified Tamika in writing by email of the mold and leak issue but has received no response. He is concerned about the premises becoming unsafe to live in. It has been 14 days since he emailed her his notification. What are all of Sam’s options if Tamika declines to do the repairs?
Please discuss all remedies Sam may seek. Please remember to reference the lease and text to support your analysis.

The city of St. George, Utah requested bids on an airport construction project. Wadsworth Construction submitted the lowest responsible bid. The city council moved to “award the bid to Wadsworth Construction with the condition and understanding we can negotiate down to a price wherein we can meet budget. If this is not acceptable. rebid the project.” Nothing was signed. The city cut $100,000 from the project price to bring it within budget. Wadsworth stated that he felt confident he could do the reduction, but was not prepared to discuss specifics. The next day he returned with a proposal, but the parties never reached an agreement regarding reduction of price. Subsequently, Wadsworth claimed it had a contract for the project, which the city breached by rebidding it. The city claims no contract ever existed.
Who wins and why? Please argue both sides and research/ refer to all appropriate legal sources (federal/ state/ local laws, codes, statutes) to argue from a legal standpoint, and then discuss your personal views.

YOU MUST READ ALL OF THE CASE ( below. UTILIZE ALL OF THE FACTS AND FOLLOW ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT. Mandatory General Education Global Citizens Assignment – worth 20 points (Concise writing Instructor Note : it is more often requested and read in todays world – executive summaries- AND is more difficult to make your argument in fewer words). Please reference all sources used including AI and be very careful not to plagiarize this source, It will show up in my Canvas gradebook. Also keep in mind professors all over the world are testing AI and have found both factual errors on something as objective as math problems AND emotional and political bias in a lot of writing. This assignment calls for a legal analysis not an emotional analysis.
Due date:3/9 before 9am. No late assignments will be accepted . 250-300 in a formatted Word document must be turned in on Canvas under Assignments using 12 point font and double spacing. Please write a legal memo and you must use the IRAC format described on Page 16 of your text. This means at least four paragraphs that are titled for the MANDATORY IRAC acronym ( you must see Modules on Canvas or click this link for . YOU MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN THIS BLUE LINK ABOUT IRAC OR YOU WILL LOSE POINTS. This is not an essay about how you feel, it is about making a case or advocating for your chosen client using the law. This fact pattern may contain several legal issues. Limit your memo to 1 issue according to your word count. Only relevant facts to your chosen issue should be included in the fact/issue section of your memo- this will keep this section short. Keep in mind that a well- reasoned legal argument always points out the merits of the opposing case and then differentiates that argument by using facts and law to support the client’s position. YOU must include the merits of the oppositions case in your memo. A copy of the grading rubric is attached to the syllabus. Only one .doc or .docx type document submission can be accepted via canvas. SLO GEA 1
Step 1: Closely review Chapters 4, 32,33 in your text. Also look for current cases in the press involving similar situations. The USF library has Lexis/Nexis and Westlaw available for your use.
Step 2: Carefully read, assume and analyze this fact set:
CAL hospital group owns the majority of all the private hospitals in the State of CALYORK. In the midst of the Covid pandemic it has mandated, with the assistance of the Hospital workers union, that represents all hospital workers except the Physicians, that all hospital employees must be vaccinated twice and boosted twice by March 1, 2023. After this date all employees out of compliance will be terminated. The hospital group treats about 55% of the CALYORK hospitalized citizens on an annual basis. The hospital is currently working with 70% of the staff that is typically required to maintain full operations of its facilities.
The employees all worked diligently through 2020 – 2022 treating all patients at the hospitals, prior to vaccine availability. Many (80%), including some fully vaccinated and boosted, are protesting and are threatening to walk out on March 1st if the employer does not eliminate the mandate. All claim that their health records are protected under HIPPA laws and their employer has no right to review those records. Some claim they have medical or religious reasons for not submitting to a vaccine. A large majority out of conformity with all 4 jabs, claim they have been infected with Covid, recovered and have antibody tests showing that their immunity levels exceed typical vaccine immunity by 17 times. Those having recovered from Covid with 1-3 of jabs have 17-27 times the immunity over the fully vaccinated. A small minority are simply fearful of the short and long term side effects regarding fertility, heart disease, auto immune diseases. These hospital workers are acutely aware that the vaccine has proven to neither prevent Covid infection, nor prevent the spread of the infection. In other words, history has shown that the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike may contract Covid or any variants known to date and may both also be contagious carriers of the disease or the variants known to date. They are also aware of the various treatments that have been successful on patients treated early in the diagnosis. Many of these treatments include inexpensive generic medications (now banned in the state of CALYORK by political leaders) as well as expensive newly patented medications and antibody infusions.
Issue 1: In the interim, the employees have brought an invasion of privacy, religious discrimination, and wrongful termination lawsuit against the CAL hospital group.
Issue 2: CALYORK will be revoking the license and criminally prosecuting all physicians who voiced skepticism about the safety or efficacy of the vaccine for everyone and those physicians who publicly suggested that early, successful treatments could be obtained by practicing physicians outside of the highly regulated CALYORK hospital system. The State of CALYORK claims that any physician advice that is contrary to the governments vaccination, mask and treatment mandate is inciting the public to behave recklessly with their health and that those physicians are spreading “misinformation” intentionally, therefore these physicians should be jailed.
For Spring 2024 everyone will address this Issue. Issue 3: The state of CALYORK requires all employees to relinquish 10% of their paycheck each pay period to the union in order to maintain their employment status. This is referred to as an “union shop” state. Many states do not have this mandate for workers, those are “right to work states or open shop states”. The employees would like to have the state union dues mandate removed since their union has acquiesced to mandates imposed by the employer without a majority vote of its members. The employees feel that the union is not protecting their jobs or representing their best interest. The Anti- dues employee group will bring a lawsuit against the Union and state claiming that the 10% payment violates their 1st amendment right to speech, association and contract as well as their 5th amendment right to due process and property. Step 3: Write a Legal Argument
This fact pattern includes three issues. Address only issue 3. Then pick which side you will represent. You may either represent the CAL Hospital group (employer) or the CAL employee group for the first mandate issue. For the second issue you may choose to represent the practicing physicians who have advised patients against vaccine or provided early treatments to their covid patients or the State. For the third issue you may choose to represent either the Union or the anti-dues employees represented by the Union that do not want to pay their dues in the suit against the CALYORK statute. Pick only one issue
Use the IRAC memo method to write your legally supported memo. Your feelings are not relevant in this exercise and while a feeling argument may win the case in the District of CALYORK ( California and New York both have similar issues as the facts presented here) , it will not stand on appeal to the Supreme Court where you must use the existing law to support your position. You will receive zero points for failing to use the IRAC format.
Step 4: Save a Copy and Submit on Canvas under Assignments before the due date and time listed above.

Create a question based on this and then answer it and give a description :
Piercing the corporate veil
When corporate owners use the entity to perpetuate a fraud, circumvent the law, or in some other way accomplish an illegitimate objective, a court will “pierce the corporate veil”, exposing shareholders to personal liability.
How do you feel about the courts piercing the corporate veil of a small family corporation where the officers used the corporate credit card for business expenses as well as home expenses due to lax company procedures? Also answer these two questions:
Are the courts in the right or wrong for piercing the corporate veil of a small family business who used the corporate credit card on personal expenses?
Should Close Corporations be Expected to Follow the Same Guidelines as a Corporation that is Much Larger?

Instructions
Allison operates a pizza establishment and has run into difficult economic times. Just when Allison feels that her business is finally going well, a new pizza place opens nearby. Allison cannot stand the thought of again facing bankruptcy for a business that she has worked so hard to start. Allison contacts the suppliers of the new pizza place and tries to convince them not to deal with the new place. The creditworthiness of the new restaurant is lied about, and the moral character of the owner is called into question. What torts has Allison committed? What defense(s) might she assert? What ethical issues are presented by Allison’s behavior? How can they be resolved?
Thoroughly explain your answer. Fully describe the applicable laws, and then apply them to the material facts. Explain your analysis. If you make assumptions of fact, fully explain them. Remember to address every reasonable legal issue fully.
For Assignment 2, a simple essay format is acceptable. Write at a university level, being thorough and scholarly at all times. Your paper should be a minimum of 2 pages, double-spaced, not including the reference page, and contain APA citations.
Grading
This assignment is worth 100 points and due on Sunday. For more specifics on how this will be graded, refer to the rubric below.

The purpose of this assignment is to apply legal and ethical analysis to important employment or labor issues and use that analysis to develop recommendations for the implementation of legally and ethically proper employment practices in a business.
Refer to the concepts presented in Chapters 18 and 19 of the textbook to address the questions related to the Part 1 Essay and the Part 2 Memo. Your instructor will provide you with the prompts to be used for each part.
Part 1 Prompt – Essay: Legal Issues Relating to Employment, Labor, or Employment Law
Part 2 Prompt – Memo: Advising on Employment Law Issues
Part 1 should have a minimum of 750 words. Part 2 should have a minimum of 500 words. The total minimum word count for this assignment is 1,250 words.