Legal & Social environment Exam 2

What is a revocation of a contract?

1) mutual cancellation of a contract by the parties to it. 2) withdrawing an offer before it is accepted ("I revoke my offer"). 3) cancelling a document before it has come into legal effect or been acted upon, as revoking a will.

Are illegal contracts enforceable?

A contract or agreement that is considered to be illegal will not be considered a contract at all. As such, a court will not enforce it. It will be void.

What is business necessity defense?

A defense to allegations of employment discrimination in which the employer demonstrates that an employment of a protected class is related to job performance.

What are key defenses to a contract?

Common defenses for breach of contract include illegality, unconscionability, mental incapacity or incompetence, fraud, duress, undue influence

What is consideration?

Consideration is a promise, performance, or forbearance bargained by a promisor in exchange for their promise

How is contract performance discharged?

Contracts can be discharged by performance: complete performance discharges both sides; material breach discharges the breaching party, who has a right to claim damages; substantial performance obligates the promisee to pay something for the benefit conferred but is a breach.

What is a corporation? Compare with other business forms.

Corporations offer the strongest protection to its owners from personal liability, but the cost to form a corporation is higher than other structures. The owners enjoy limited liability protection and are typically not personally responsible for business debts.

What are the types of discrimination in the workplace?

Direct discrimination-appens when an employee is being treated worse than another employee because of a certain disability or underlying reason. There can be multiple reasons, but the most common ones are age, race, creed or sexual orientation. Indirect discrimination- happens when an organization treats everyone the same, but the requirements and practices they put in place disadvantage a certain group of people. Harassment- happens when an employee experiences uninvited behaviour from others in the organisation. This type of behaviour usually violates the dignity of the individual by having them experience intimidation, degradation, humiliation or any kind of offensive behaviour. Victimization- happens when an employee becomes the target of harmful behaviour because they made a claim about workplace discrimination, gave evidence about discrimination happening in the workplace or raised a concern about discriminatory practices at work.

What are minimum wage laws? What if state and federal minimum wages laws conflict?

In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.

What is defamation? What is libel? What is slander?

Libel and slander are both types of defamation. Libel is an untrue defamatory statement that is made in writing. Slander is an untrue defamatory statement that is spoken orally. The difference between defamation and slander is that a defamatory statement can be made in any medium.

What duties to officers and directors owe shareholders?

Officers and directors owe a duty of loyalty to a corporation and its shareholders. They are expected to put the welfare and best interests of the corporation above their own personal or other business interests.

What is sexual harassment in the workplace? What are the types and how can they be proven?

Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature in the workplace or learning environment. Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature in the workplace or learning environment.

What is required for a valid contract?

The basic elements required for the agreement to be a legally enforceable contract are: mutual assent, expressed by a valid offer and acceptance; adequate consideration; capacity; and legality.

What are the major forms of business organizations? Can you compare and contrast the major forms? What are the pros and cons of each?

The organizations are Sole Proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and Limited Liability Companies. Sole Proprietorships: A single person owns these businesses and this person is in charge of managing the company's daily operations. All of a business's assets and any earnings are owned by a sole proprietorship. Additionally, they take full responsibility for all their obligations and debts. Partnerships: A single firm is owned by two or more persons. The law does not discriminate between a corporation and its owners, similar to proprietorships. Partners should have a written contract outlining procedures for making decisions, allocating earnings, and resolving conflicts. There are also rules for admitting new partners, buying out existing partners, and dissolving the partnership if needed. Corporations: One that has been granted a charter by the state where its headquarters is located is regarded by law. It is a distinct legal person, existing independently of its owners.

Why do we have contract law? What purpose does contract law serve?

The primary purpose of contract law, he contends, is to enforce the agreement of the parties. For there to be a contract, substantial agreement must exist and the parties must have freely intended to be legally bound. In interpreting contracts, courts are primarily trying to carry out the intent of the parties.

What is the statute of frauds? Why does it exist? What types of contracts does it apply to?

The statute of frauds is a legal doctrine requiring that certain types of contracts be in written form. The most common contracts covered by the statute of frauds include the sale of land, agreements involving goods worth $500 or more, and contracts lasting one year or more.

What remedies are available for a contract breach?

There are several remedies for breach of contract, such as award of damages, specific performance, rescission, andrestitution. In courts of limited jurisdiction, the main remedy is an award of damages.

What is strict liability in tort law?

a type of personal injury case in which you as the defendant are held liable regardless of whether you were negligent or not. This means that you don't have to have done anything wrong to be held liable. One of the most common types of strict liability tort is product liability

What is a tort?

an act or omission that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts to a civil wrong for which courts impose liability.

What is conversion?

an intentional tort which occurs when a party takes the chattel property of another with the intent to deprive them of it.

What are intentional torts?

can only result from an intentional act of the defendant, ex: battery, assault, false imprisonment, trespass to land, trespass to chattels, and intentional infliction of emotional distress

What is the consequence of being an at-will employee?

employers may alter the terms and conditions of employment relationships without giving notice and without any negative consequences

What is a counteroffer?

functions as both a rejection of an offer to enter into a contract, as well as a new offer that materially changes the terms of the original offer. Because a counteroffer serves as a rejection, it completely voids the original offer. Thus, the original offer can no longer be accepted.

What are major types of torts?

intentional torts (e.g., intentionally hitting a person); negligent torts (e.g., causing an accident by failing to obey traffic rules); and strict liability torts (e.g., liability for making and selling defective products

What is negligence? What are the elements required to prove?

occurs when a person or company fails to live up to their duty of care, the elements required to prove are duty, breach of duty, cause, in fact, proximate cause, and harm.

What is Title VII? What is prohibited by Title VII in the workplace?

prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin; covers the full spectrum of employment decisions, including recruitment, selections, terminations

What role do personnel handbooks play in the workplace?

provides rules and regulations regarding things like dress code, work hours, time-off requests, drug testing, etc.

What are worker's compensation laws? What purpose do they serve?

provides significant and valuable benefit to both employer and employee. The employee is guaranteed a "benefit certain" in the event of an on-the-job injury or occupational disease. The employer pays for this insurance.

What happens if key terms are vague or missing in a purported contract?

the contract may be void

What is malpractice?

the failure of a professional person to act in accordance with the prevailing professional standards (professional negligence)

What damages are available for a tort?

the injured party can receive compensatory damages to compensate for all types of losses, including direct costs for medical car, property damage, or lost wages. It can also include indirect costs such as compensating for pain and suffering or inconvenience.

What is the parol evidence rule in relation to contract law?

the parol evidence rule prevents the introduction of evidence of prior or contemporaneous negotiations and agreements that contradict, modify, or vary the contractual terms of a written contract when the written contract is intended to be a complete and final expression of the parties' agreement.

Who are the parties to a contract?

the promisee and the promisor. A promisor refers to the party that makes the promise, while a promisee is a party that receives the promise. The other party set to benefit from a contract is referred to as a third-party beneficiary.

What is affirmative action?

to ensure equal employment opportunities for applicants and employees. It is based on the premise that, absent discrimination, over time a contractor's workforce generally will reflect the demographics of the qualified available workforce in the relevant job market