Agency and Employment Law.html

Agency and Employment Law

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination against members of a protected class in employment decisions.  Title VII, judicial decisions, administrative agency actions, and other legislation restrict the ability of employers and unions to discriminate against workers on the basis of  race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, or disability.  Recent issues requiring the attention of employers and their legal teams include employee surveillance, drug and genetic testing, and harassment based on sexual orientation. Whistleblower statutes prohibit retaliation against employees who complain to governmental agencies about the working conditions that may violate the law.

New doctrines have been developed by courts that limit an employer’s traditional right to discharge an employee for any reason.  Expect to see continued scrutiny of employer’s social media policies and electronic monitoring as these and other new forms of communication permeate the workplace.  Managers who fail to adopt and enforce policies to ensure compliance with these laws put their companies at risk of fines, other penalties and damage to the organization’s reputation.

With the increased use of personal electronic devices and social media, employees and employers face important questions concerning privacy.  Both parties often find gray areas when trying to determine their rights.  The evolving law in employee privacy can have a tremendous impact on employers and employees. 

To deepen your understanding of the concepts introduced in the lecture, consider reading some additional scholarly articles on this topic.  To get you started, review the following articles, available in the SUO Library.  These materials provide information that will assist you in completing assignments in this lesson.

• Ciocchetti, C. (2011). The eavesdropping employer: A twenty-first century framework for employee monitoring. American Business Law Journal, 48(2), 285–369. doi:10.1111/j.1744-1714.2011.01116.x
• Peerce, M. J., & Shapiro, D. V. (2010). The increasing privacy expectations in employees' personal email. Journal of Internet Law, 13(8), 1–21.
• Riedy, M. K., & Wen, J. H. (2010). Electronic surveillance of Internet access in the American workplace: Implications for management. Information & Communications Technology Law, 19(1), 87–99. doi:10.1080/13600831003726374

Product Liability.html

Product Liability

Product liability is incurred by manufacturers and sellers of products when product defects cause injury or property damage to consumers.  Product liability encompasses tort theories of negligence and strict liability, as well as breach of warranty.

Manufacturers can be liable for negligence in if they breach the duty of care in designing, manufacturing or providing adequate warnings for products.  Purchasers, users and bystanders are covered as long as they did not misuse the product and were not negligent.  

A manufacturer or seller is liable for breach of warranty if the quality, characteristics and safety of a product are not consistent with express or implied warranties.  Parties covered vary by state. 

Manufacturers, distributors and retailers may be liable for strict liability.  Strict liability elements require that the

• product was defective when sold.
• defendant is in the business of selling the product.
• product must be unreasonably dangerous.
• plaintiff must suffer physical harm to self or property.
• defective condition is the proximate cause of the injury or damage.
• goods must not have been changed substantially from time of sale to injury.

Product liability refers to the liability incurred by manufacturers and sellers of products when product defects cause injury or property damage to consumers, users, or bystanders. Product liability can encompass tort recovery theories of negligence and strict liability, as well as breach of warranty.

Let’s review a scenario to learn about various aspects of product liability.

Additional Materials

View the PDF transcript for Determining Product Liability

Torts and Crimes.html

Torts and Crimes

A tort is a wrong committed against an individual.  Tort law provides a mechanism to compensate injured parties who suffer a loss as a result of the wrongful actions of another party. 

Torts are often associated with physical injuries, such as those suffered by a person in a car accident.  A business tort is defined as wrongful interference with another’s business rights and.  include concepts such as unfair competition and wrongful interference contractual relationships.

Negligence is an unintentional tort that occurs when someone suffers an injury because of the failure of another party to comply with a legal duty.  To succeed in a negligence lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove all four elements of duty, breach, causation and damages. 

A crime is a wrong committed against society.  Criminal charges are prosecuted by the state or the federal government, not the party that was wronged.  Criminal law is a powerful tool for controlling corporate behavior and encouraging ethical conduct.  Crimes generally occurring in business situations are called white-collar crimes.

Primary areas of concern for managers include:

• Embezzlement
• Bribery
• Securities fraud
• Violation of intellectual property rights

• Insider trading

Torts are civil wrongs that result in a breach of a legal duty and causes harm to another.  There are two types of torts, intentional and unintentional.  An injury or loss is considered an intentional tort if the act was intentional, such as hitting someone with a baseball bat.  Injury or loss is considered unintentional or negligent if the act was the result of carelessness such as bumping into someone in a crowd and causing them to fall.  

Additional Materials

View the PDF transcript for Intentional Torts and Negligence