BLAW EXAM 1

Example

AOL, LLC, mistakenly made public the personal information of six hundred fifty thousand of its members. The members filed a suit in California, alleging violations of federal law and California state law. The member agreement between AOL and its members included a provision declaring Virginia as the location of any court dispute. AOL asked the court to dismiss the suit on the basis of that "forum-selection" clause in its member agreement. Under a previous decision of the United States Supreme Court, a forum-selection clause is unenforceable "if enforcement would contravene a strong public policy of the forum in which suit is brought." California courts previously have held in other cases that clauses similar to the AOL clause contravene a strong public policy.

Roger has worked for an agency, the Federal Reserve, for ten years. Recently, Roger has heard rumors that multiple employees have contracted COVID-19, a highly contagious and potentially dangerous disease, although they have recovered completely. Nevertheless, Roger is still concerned about being around these people, so Roger asks his employer, the Federal Reserve, for a list of these employees. The Federal Reserve refuses, so Roger files a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the information. Under the FOIA, will the Federal Reserve provide Roger this list?

No, this information is confidential and personal.

Samantha has been the top salesperson at her company for the last six months in a row. Samantha has been using high-pressure techniques to meet the unrealistically high sales quotas in her division, including marking up the price so she can offer a good discount to the customers, lying about the quality of the product, and telling customers that the items are one-of-a-kind when they are not. Her manager, Samuel, is aware of the tactics Samantha is using but does not say anything because Samantha makes their division look great. Here, the parties guilty of unethical behavior include:

Samantha and Samuel.

What if the United States Supreme Court had not issued the prior opinion and California courts also had not decided that those clauses contravene a strong public policy?

What if the facts were different?

Rando and Shania are involved in an automobile accident. Rando decides to sue Shania for his injuries, so he files a complaint, a formal pleading that starts the lawsuit and sets out the allegations that Rando has against Shania. Rando has the complaint, along with a summons, served on Shania to give her notice of the lawsuit. If Shania does not respond to the complaint:

a default judgment may be entered against her.

Andre is involved in a business dispute with his former partner, Ned. Instead of filing a lawsuit, Andre and Ned decide to use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to settle their dispute. Andre and Ned choose to present their case to a neutral third party, and that third party will decide the case. The form of ADR that Andre and Ned have decided to use is:

arbitration.

The United States Supreme Court decision is ________ on the California courts.

binding

Sanchez and Yan entered into a contract that required Sanchez to deliver twenty textbooks to Yan's bookstore every month by the 15th of the month. Six months after Sanchez and Yan entered into this contract, Sanchez breached the contract by not delivering the textbooks to Yan's bookstore. After Sanchez breached the contract, Yan sued Sanchez for her damages. Yan must choose the appropriate court in which to file her lawsuit. To do this, Yan needs to be sure the court has:

both subject matter and in personam jurisdiction in the case.

Jayne is opening her own bakery. As she develops her company policies, she is concerned about the morality of her actions and how those actions will affect her employees, her stakeholders, and herself. Jayne studying the rightness or wrongness of her actions as they apply to her business constitutes the study of:

business ethics

The system of prior court opinions is called ______

case law

This case would be a case of __________ in California.

first impression

For the past year, Zegrida has been writing a historical fiction novel based on the experiences of her family as they immigrated to the United States from Latvia during World War II. When finished, she contacted a publisher and was shocked to discover that her book had just been published two weeks ago with Fran, a business acquaintance of Zegrida, listed as the author. Two months ago, Zegrida had asked Fran to review the book and give feedback, but instead, Fran published the book under her own name. Zegrida plans to sue Fran for copyright infringement and is trying to decide in which court to sue. Zegrida must sue Fran:

in federal district court because the suit involves a copyright issue.

Alexander, the CEO of Westwind Baby Furnishings, received a report from one of his quality inspectors about a possible defect in the Baby Sleeptime Crib Westwind had just started to market. The report said the bed was not safe for older babies, because there was a chance it would collapse if the baby climbed up onto the railing. Westwind had manufactured 20,000 Baby Sleeptime Cribs and would lose a great deal of money if it could not market the cribs. Alexander decided to proceed with the sale of the cribs anyway, to maximize company short-run profits. Possible consequences Westwind could face for such unethical conduct include:

lawsuits, large settlements and bad publicity.

Dion is head of the National Security Agency, a subagency of the Department of Defense. Dion has held the position for years and feels comfortable that he is secure in his position. However, after Dion holds a press conference where he directly contradicts a statement the president made, he receives a letter from the president removing him from his position. Dion objects to the firing, stating that he can only be removed from office "for good cause." If Dion sues for being wrongfully removed from office, he will:

lose because the president has the power to appoint and remove officers of executive federal agencies.

Without the prior guidance, the California courts likely would look to ________ authorities to help them reason through a decision.

persuasive

f the California court turns to prior court opinions to determine if it should dismiss the suit, it is looking for ___________.

precedent

In deciding whether to dismiss the suit, the court in California first should look to ________ sources of law, or sources that establish the law.

primary

If the court cannot find any sources of law that establish or direct their decision to dismiss the suit, the court should then turn to ______ sources of law for guidance.

secondary

Karishma and Stephen, co-owners of Roundtree Corporation, are discussing a new benefits package they are considering for their employees. The proposed plan is more expensive for the company than the current plan but will offer better benefits to the employees. Stephen wants to decide based solely on the effect on the owners of the corporation, while Karishma's position is that the employees should be taken into consideration as well. Stephen is more concerned with the _____________ theory of management, and Karishma is more concerned with the __________ theory of management.

shareholder; stakeholder

Phyllis has worked as a mechanic for Boeing Corporation for the last ten years. Phyllis recently found out she is pregnant, so she requests a transfer to another position that does not require as much lifting. Boeing refuses to transfer Phyllis and fires her instead. Phyllis files a complaint with the EEOC for a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and that agency, the EEOC, decides the case in Boeing's favor. After exhausting all administrative remedies, Phyllis files a lawsuit in federal court, which will:

show deference to the agency's decision on both questions of law and fact, upholding the decision unless it is unreasonable.

The California court will follow the decision of the United States Supreme Court because of the doctrine of __________.

stare decisis

Mary and Hanna, who are Tennessee residents, were traveling through Mississippi when they were involved in an automobile accident with Franco, who is a resident of Mississippi. Franco sues Mary, who was driving the car, in federal court in Mississippi and asks for $100,000 to reimburse him for his medical bills and lost wages. In deciding the case, what law will the federal district judge apply?

state law

Another resource for the court are the_____________ passed by the United States ____________ and the state _________________________.

statutes Congress legislatures

Rhea, a 45-year-old supervisor in a women's retail clothing store, recently learned that a younger co-worker was promoted to a position she had applied for. Rhea has more experience and more time with the company and has always gotten excellent scores in her annual reviews. Rhea files an action with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for age discrimination. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issues an order in favor of Rhea. This decision of the ALJ is:

the final order in the case unless the store appeals.

Juan owns a manufacturing company that wants to expand its line of plastics. To expand and still make a profit, pollution into the local river will be significantly increased. In evaluating his decision, Juan tries to determine whether expanding the company's line of plastics would produce the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. In doing so, Juan is following the ethical principle known as:

utilitarianism

Because of the United States Supreme Court opinion and the prior California cases regarding clauses of this type, the California court _________ enforce the clause in the contract.

will not

Because of the precedent set, the California court _______ dismiss the suit and the case will be heard in _______ .

will not California

Harold is the owner of Fairway Lawn Service, which provides lawn-care services to residential and commercial customers. Harold regularly sprays his customers' lawns with a pesticide that contains glyphosate. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues a citation to Harold for commercial use of the pesticide. The EPA says glyphosate can only be used in residential applications. Harold knows that this has not been the law in the past, so he searches the EPA website for information about glyphosate. Harold finds nothing that indicates glyphosate cannot be used in commercial applications, so Harold demands a hearing to dispute the citation he has been issued. Harold will probably:

win because the EPA did not give notice of the rule change regarding glyphosate.