Interactive Data Corp. hired Daniel Foley as an assistant product manager at a starting salary of $18,500. Over the next six years Interactive steadily promoted Foley until he became Los Angeles branch manager at a salary of $56,116. Interactive’s officers repeatedly told Foley that he would have his job as long as his performance was adequate. In addition, Interactive distributed an employee handbook that specified “termination guidelines,” including a mandatory seven-step pre-termination procedure. Two years later Foley learned that his recently hired supervisor, Robert Kuhne, was under investigation by the FBI for embezzlement at his previous job. Foley reported this to Interactive officers. Shortly thereafter, Interactive fired Foley. He sued, claiming that Interactive could only fire him for good cause, after the seven-step procedure. What kind of a claim is he making? Should he succeed?
> Sixteen-year-old Travis Mitchell brought his Pontiac GTO into M&M Precision Body and Paint for body work and a paint job. M&M did the work and charged $1,900, which Travis paid. When, Travis later complained about the quality of the work, M&M did some to
> The McAllisters had several serious problems with their house, including leaks in the ceiling, a buckling wall, and dampness throughout. They repaired the buckling wall by installing I-beams to support it. They never resolved the leaks and the dampness.
> Raymond Barrows owned a 17-acre parcel of undeveloped land in Seaford, Delaware. For most of his life Mr. Barrows had been an astute and successful businessman, but by the time he was 85 years old, he had been diagnosed as “very senile and confused 90 pe
> Morell bought a security guard business from Conley, including the property on which the business was located. Neither party knew that underground storage tanks were leaking and contaminating the property. After the sale, Morell discovered the tanks and
> Hasbro used to manufacture a toy called “Wonder World Aquarium”. The toy included a powder that, when mixed with water, formed a gel that filled a plastic aquarium. Children could then place plastic fish in the aquarium and create underwater scenes. C
> During the Spanish-American War, the United States blockaded Cuba. It seized two commercial fishing vessels sailing under a Spanish flag off the Cuban coast. The crew knew nothing about the war and had no arms on board. U.S. officials auctioned off the
> Roy Newburn borrowed money and bought a $49,000 truck from Treadwell Ford. A few months later the truck developed transmission problems. Newburn learned that the truck had 170,000 more miles on it than the odometer indicated. The company admitted the mil
> On television and in magazines, Maurine and Mamie Mason saw numerous advertisements for Chrysler Fifth Avenue automobiles. The ads described the car as “luxurious,” “quality-engineered,” and “reliable.” When they went to inspect the car, the salesman tol
> Ramona Fricosu was indicted on charges of real estate fraud. During a legal search of her home, the police found a computer with encrypted files. Would it be a violation of her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to force her to unencrypt th
> Richard and Michelle Kommit traveled to New Jersey to have fun in the casinos. While in Atlantic City, they used their MasterCard to withdraw cash from an ATM conveniently located in the “pit” - the gambling area of a casino. They ran up debts of $5,500
> Jerome Schneider wrote several books on how to avoid taxes. These books were sold on Amazon.com. Amazon permits visitors to post comments about items for sale. Amazon’s policy suggests that these comments should be civil (e.g., no profanity or spiteful r
> Brockwell left his boat to be repaired at Lake Gaston Sales. The boat contained electronic equipment and other personal items. Brockwell signed a form stating that Lake Gaston had no responsibility for any loss to any property in or on the boat. Brockwel
> For 20 years, Art’s Flower Shop relied almost exclusively on advertising in the yellow pages to bring business to its shop in a small West Virginia town. One year the yellow pages printer accidentally omitted to print Art’s ad, and Art’s suffered an enor
> While conducting a valid search of a computer for evidence of a murder, a police officer discovered child pornography. Is that evidence admissible, even though the warrant was limited to a search relating to the murder?
> Oasis Waterpark, located in Palm Springs, California, sought out Hydrotech Systems, Inc., a New York corporation, to design and construct a surfing pool. Hydrotech replied that it could design the pool and sell all the necessary equipment to Oasis, but c
> 810 Associates owned a 42-story skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. The building had a central station fire alarm system, which was monitored by Holmes Protection. A fire broke out and Holmes received the signal. But Holmes’s inexperienced dispatcher misund
> Lou DiBella was an executive responsible for programming boxing shows on HBO cable network. DiBella signed Bernard Hopkins, the then–middleweight world boxing champion, to participate in a fight televised by HBO. After DiBella’s departure from the networ
> Guyan Machinery, a West Virginia manufacturing corporation, hired Albert Voorhees as a salesman and required him to sign a contract stating that if he left Guyan he would not work for a competing corporation anywhere within 250 miles of West Virginia for
> Melnick built a house for Gintzler, but the foundation was defective. Gintzler agreed to accept the foundation if Melnick guaranteed to make future repairs caused by the defects. Melnick agreed but later refused to make any repairs. Melnick argued that h
> Jack Tallas came to the United States from Greece in 1914. He lived in Salt Lake City for nearly 70 years, achieving great success in insurance and real estate. During the last 14 years of his life, his friend Peter Dementas helped him with numerous pers
> Dr. Ibrahim Khan caused an automobile accident in which a fellow physician, Dolly Yusufji, became a quadriplegic. Khan signed a contract for the lifetime support of Yusufji. When he refused to make payments under the contract, she sued him and obtained a
> Roommates.com operated a website designed to match people renting spare rooms with those looking for a place to live. Before subscribers could search listings or post housing opportunities on Roommate’s website, they had to create profiles, a process tha
> Officer Trottier stopped Marie Winfield for driving 20 miles over the speed limit. He then became suspicious because her son would not make eye contact and she was eating a Powerbar in a “hurried manner.” The officer asked for and Winfield granted him pe
> Sami walks into a restaurant. She is given a menu, which indicates that lobster is $30. Sami orders the lobster. It arrives, and Sami thinks it is very tasty. When the bill arrives, Sami tries to execute a clever ploy she learned about in her busines
> American Bakeries had a fleet of over 3,000 delivery trucks. Because of the increasing cost of gasoline, the company was interested in converting the trucks to propane fuel. It signed a requirements contract with Empire Gas, in which Empire would convert
> In the bleachers… “You’re a prince, George!” Mike exclaimed. “Who else would give me a ticket to the big game?” “No one, Mike, no one.” “Let me offer my thanks. I’ll buy you a beer!” “Ah,” George said. “A large beer would hit the spot right now.”
> CeCe Hylton and Edward Meztista, partners in a small advertising firm, agreed to terminate the business and split assets evenly. Meztista gave Hylton a two-page document showing assets, liabilities, and a bottom line of $35,235.67, with one half due to e
> In Japan, automobile GPS systems come equipped with an option for converting them into televisions so that drivers can watch their favorite shows, yes, while driving. “We can’t help but respond to our customers’ needs,” says a company spokesperson. Alth
> Leslie Bergh and his two brothers, Milton and Raymond, formed a partnership to help build a fancy saloon and dance hall in Evanston, Wyoming. Later, Leslie met with his friend and drinking buddy, John Mills, and tricked Mills into investing in the saloon
> The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, is the biggest shopping day of the year. One major retailer advertised a “Black Friday only” laptop for $150. On Thanksgiving night, hundreds of people waited for the store to open to take advantage of t
> Case law tells us that a course syllabus is not a binding contract—but how about your school’s honor code? Under what conditions could an honor code be a contract?
> Each time employees at BizCorp enter their work computers, the following alert appears: “You are attempting to access the BizCorp network. By logging in, you agree to BizCorp’s Computer Usage Policy and certify that your use of this computer is strictly
> Mickle pleaded guilty to rape. The judge sentenced him to prison for five years and also ordered that he undergo a vasectomy. Was this cruel and unusual punishment?
> Consolidated Edison Co. of New York (Con Ed) sought bids from General Electric Co. (GE) and others to supply it with two huge transformers. Con Ed required that the bids be held open for 90 days. GE submitted a written bid and included a clause holding
> The Tufte family leased a 260-acre farm from the Travelers Insurance Co. Toward the end of the lease, Travelers mailed the Tuftes an option to renew the lease. The option arrived at the Tuftes’ house on March 30, and gave them until April 14 to accept.
> James, the owner of an auto parts store, told his employee, Rickey, to clean and paint some tires in the basement. Highly flammable gasoline fumes accumulated in the poorly ventilated space. James threw a firecracker into the basement, as a joke, intendi
> The town of Sanford, Maine, decided to auction off a lot it owned. The town advertised that it would accept bids through the mail, up to a specified date. Arthur and Arline Chevalier mailed in a bid that turned out to be the highest. When the town ref
> After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government imprisoned suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Officials argued that these detainees did not enjoy constitutional rights because they were not on U.S. soil, even though they were held by Am
> When a Tom Cat Bakery delivery van struck Elizabeth Nadel, she suffered significant injuries, Nadel filed suit. Before the trial, Tom Cat’s attorney offered a $100,000 settlement, which Nadel refused. While the jury was deliberating, the bakery’s lawyer
> Niels owned three adjoining parcels of land in Arizona. Hannah wanted to buy one. Over dinner, the two sketched and signed this agreement: “Binding Contract: Niels agrees to sell one of his three Arizona lots to Hannah. Within 14 days, the parties will m
> Pacific Express began operating as an airline in 1982. It had routes connecting western cities with Los Angeles and San Francisco and by the summer of 1983 was beginning to show a profit. In 1983, United Airlines tried to enter into a cooperative arrange
> Central Maine Power Co. made a promotional offer in which it promised to pay a substantial sum to any homeowner or builder who constructed new housing heated with electricity. Motel Services, Inc., which was building a small housing project for the city
> Each year, the sale of Girl Scout cookies is the major fund-raiser for local troops. But because the organization was criticized for promoting such unhealthy food, it introduced a new cookie, Mango Cremes with Nutrifusion. It promotes this cookie as a
> Ryder leased a truck to Florida Food Service; Powers, an employee, drove it to make deliveries. He noticed that the door strap used to close the rear door was frayed, and he asked Ryder to fix it. Ryder failed to do so in spite of numerous requests. The
> Pennsylvania contracted with Envirotest Systems, Inc., an Arizona company, to build 86 automobile emissions inspection stations in 25 counties and operate them for seven years. This contract is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Envirotest. But Pen
> Gail Norton began dating Russell Hoyt under the mistaken impression that he was single. She later learned that he was married, but he repeatedly assured her he was getting a divorce. Six years later, Hoyt convinced Norton to quit her job so that they cou
> John Stevens owned a dilapidated apartment that he rented to James and Cora Chesney for a low rent. The Chesneys began to remodel and rehabilitate the unit. Over a four-year period, they installed two new bathrooms, carpeted the floors, installed new sep
> You want to lease your automobile to a friend for the summer but do not want to pay a lawyer to draw up the lease. Joanna, a neighbor, is in law school. She is not licensed to practice law. She offers to draft a lease for you for $100, and you unwisely a
> In 1966, Arketex Ceramic Corp. sold land in rural Indiana to Malcolm Aukerman. The deed described the southern boundary as the section line between sections 11 and 14 of the land. Further south than this section line stood a dilapidated fence running eas
> Marina Stengart used her company laptop to communicate with her lawyer via her personal, password-protected, web-based e-mail account. The company’s policy stated: ‘E-mail and voice mail messages, internet use and communication and computer files are con
> Matt Drudge published a report on his website (http://www.drudgereport.com) that White House aide Sidney Blumenthal “has a spousal abuse past that has been effectively covered up…. There are court records of Blumenthal’s violence against his wife.” The D
> Tata Consultancy of Bombay, India, is an international computer consulting firm. It spends considerable time and effort recruiting the best personnel from India’s leading technical schools. Tata employees sign an initial three-year employment commitment,
> Lydia D’Ettore received a degree in computer programming at the DeVry Institute of Technology, with a grade-point average of 2.51. To finance her education, she borrowed $20,516.52 from a federal student loan program. After graduation, she could not find
> At approximately 7:50 pm bells at the train station rang and red lights flashed, signaling an express train’s approach. David Harris walked onto the tracks, ignoring a yellow line painted on the platform instructing people to stand back. Two men shouted
> Asher and Stephen formed a corporation named “Ampersand” to produce plays. Both men were employed by the corporation. Stephen decided to write Philly’s Beat, focusing on the history of rock and roll in Philadelphia. As the play went into production, howe
> Wallace, Inc. adopted a poison pill. Five years later, Moore Corp. offered to buy all Wallace’s stock for $56 a share, which was 27 percent over the existing market price. However, the offer was contingent upon the Wallace board eliminating the poison pi
> Both Viacom and Paramount owned a diverse group of entertainment businesses. QVC was a televised shopping channel. The Paramount board of directors accepted a merger offer from Viacom at a price of $69 per share. QVC and Viacom then entered a bidding war
> Congressional Airlines was highly profitable operating flights between Washington, D.C., and New York City. The directors approved a plan to offer flights from Washington to Boston. This decision turned out to be a major mistake, and the airline ultimate
> Ulrick and Birger started an air taxi service in Berlin, Germany, under the name Berlinair, Inc. Birger was approached by a group of travel agents who were interested in hiring an air charter business to take German tourists on vacation. Birger formed Ai
> Accountants do not have a fiduciary duty to their clients when performing accounting services. Why not?
> Krug International, an Ohio corporation, had a contract with Iraqi Airways to build aeromedical equipment for training pilots. Krug then contracted for Power Engineering, an Iowa corporation, to build the specialized gearbox to be used in the training eq
> Evans built a house for Sandra Dyer, but the house had some problems. The garage ceiling was too low. Load-bearing beams in the “great room” cracked and appeared to be steadily weakening. The patio did not drain properly. Pipes froze. Evans wanted the mo
> Jacobs Builders entered into a contract with Kent to build him a home. The agreement stated that Jacobs would use only certain brand-name materials. Upon completion of the home, Kent discovered that Jacobs had installed high-quality, but not brand-name,
> Westinghouse sold uranium in long-term contracts at fixed prices, betting that market prices would be stable or fall (as they had been). But this was a bad bet: Uranium prices skyrocketed as a result of a cartel. Faced with large losses if it had to fulf
> Located in Bath, Maine, Bath Iron Works builds high-tech warships for the Navy. Winning Navy contracts is crucial to the company’s success—it means jobs for the community and profits for the shareholders. Navy officials held a meeting at Bath’s offices
> Hiring relatives of foreign officials for no-show jobs is a violation of the FCPA. But what about hiring children of government officials into real jobs? Is that also a violation? The U.S. government is investigating JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s practice of hi
> Mary Price went for a consultation about a surgical procedure to remove abdominal fat. When Robert Britton met with her, he wore a nametag that identified him as a doctor, and was addressed as “doctor” by the nurse. Britton then examined Price, touching
> Stephen Muka owned U.S. Robotics. He hired his brother Chris to work in the company. His letter promised Chris $1 million worth of Robotics stock at the end of one year, “provided you work reasonably hard & smart at things in the next year.” (We should a
> Commercial Union Insurance Co. (CU) insured Redux, Ltd. The contract made CU liable for fire damage, but stated that the insurer would not pay for harm caused by criminal acts of any Redux employees. Fire destroyed Redux’s property. CU claimed that the “
> Ken Ward was an Illinois farmer who worked land owned by his father-in-law, Frank Ruda. To finance his operation, he frequently borrowed money from Watseka First National Bank, paying back the loans with farming profits. But Ward fell deeper and deeper i
> Kuhn Farm Machinery, a European company, signed an agreement with Scottsdale Plaza Resort, of Arizona, to use the resort for its North American dealers’ convention during March 1991. Kuhn agreed to rent 190 guest rooms and spend several thousand dollars
> Loehmann’s clothing stores, a nationwide chain with headquarters in New York, was the anchor tenant in the Lincoln View Plaza Shopping Center in Phoenix, Arizona, with a 20-year lease from the landlord, Foundation Development, beginning in 1978. Loehmann
> A disc jockey named Z-Trip made a remix of a Beastie Boys song with the hip-hop group’s permission. Monster Energy (ME), an energy drink company, wanted to use the remix as part of a video promotion. Monster Energy sent an email asking Z-Trip to approve
> Mast Industries and Bazak International were two textile firms. Mast orally offered to sell certain textiles to Bazak for $103,000. Mast promised to send documents confirming the agreement, but never did. Finally, Bazak sent a memorandum to Mast confirmi
> Jacob Deutsch owned commercial property. He orally agreed to rent it for six years to Budget Rent-A-Car. Budget took possession, began paying monthly rent, and over a period of several months expended about $6,000 in upgrading the property. Deutsch was a
> Burglar Bob breaks into Vince Victim’s house. Bob steals a flat screen TV and laptop and does a significant amount of damage to the property before he leaves. Fortunately, Vince has a state of the art security system. It captures excellent images of B
> The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. As a result, same-sex couples were not eligible for the federal marriage benefits given to heterosexual couples. Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer had been tog
> Carter was an employee of the Sheriff’s office in Hampton, Virginia. When his boss, Sheriff Roberts, was up for reelection against Adams, Carter “liked” the Adams campaign’s Facebook page. Upon winning reelection, Sheriff Roberts fired Carter, who then
> Suppose two people are living together: the suspect and a tenant. If the tenant consents to a police search of the premises, then the police are not required to first obtain a warrant. What if the suspect and the tenant disagree, with the tenant granting
> David Lucas paid $975,000 for two residential lots on the Isle of Palms near Charleston, South Carolina. He intended to build houses on them. Two years later the South Carolina legislature passed a statute that prohibited building seaward of a certain l
> In the landmark 1965 case of Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court examined a Connecticut statute that made it a crime for any person to use contraception. The majority declared the law an unconstitutional violation of the right of privacy. Justic
> In 1996, California legalized the medical use of marijuana, even though it was still illegal under federal law. Californians Angel Raich and Diane Monson used homegrown medical marijuana. When federal agents destroyed their plants, Monson and Raich sue
> The Senate recently released a report on wrongdoing at JPMorgan Chase & Co. It found that bank executives lied to investors and the public. Also, traders, with the knowledge of top management, changed risk limits to facilitate more trading and then vio
> I oversee the internal audit function at my company. Although we always use a Big Four accounting firm, we have no loyalty to any one particular firm. We hold periodic bid competitions to get the lowest price we can. At the moment, we are using Firm A
> Twin Creeks Entertainment signed a deal with U.S. JVC Corp. in which JVC would buy 60,000 feature film videocassettes from Twin Creeks over a three-year period. JVC intended to distribute the cassettes nationwide. Relying on its deal with JVC, Twin Cre
> A century and a half ago an English judge stated: “All painters do not paint portraits like Sir Joshua Reynolds, nor landscapes like Claude Lorraine, nor do all writers write dramas like Shakespeare or fiction like Dickens. Rare genius and extraordinar
> Nationwide Discount Furniture hired Rampart Security to install an alarm in its warehouse. A fire would set off an alarm in Rampart’s office, and the security company was then supposed to notify Nationwide immediately. A fire did break out, but Rampart
> Intercontinental Metals Corp. (IMC) contracted with the accounting firm of Cherry, Bekaert & Holland to perform an audit. Cherry issued its opinion about IMC, giving all copies of its report directly to the company. IMC later permitted Dun & Bradstreet
> Judith and John Brooks hired Wayne Hayes to build a house. The contract required Hayes to “provide all necessary labor and materials and perform all work of every nature whatsoever to be done in the erection of the residence.” Hayes hired subcontractor
> David Ricupero suspected his wife Polly of having an affair, so he taped her phone conversations and, based on what he heard, sued for divorce. David’s lawyer, William Wuliger, had the recorded conversations transcribed for use at trial. The parties set
> Darin bought his fiancée Sarah a 3-carat diamond ring for $43,121 from Mandarin Gems. Later, Mandarin supplied Erstad with a written appraisal valuing the engagement ring at $45,500. Years later, the couple divorced and Sarah kept the ring. When she ha
> Police arrested Hank on a warrant issued in a neighboring county. When they searched him, the police found drugs and a gun. Only later did the police discover that when they had used the warrant, it was not valid because it had been recalled months earli
> Woodson Walker and Associates leased computer equipment from Park Ryan Leasing. The lease said nothing about assignment. Park Ryan then assigned the lease to TCB as security for a loan. Park Ryan defaulted on its loan, and Walker failed to make several
> Richard Griffin and three other men owned a grain company called Bearhouse, Inc., which needed to borrow money. First National Bank was willing to loan $490,000, but insisted that the four men sign personal guaranties on the loan, committing themselves t
> Lonnie Hippen moved to Long Island, Kansas, to work in an insurance company owned by Griffiths. After he moved there, Griffiths offered to sell Hippen a house he owned, and Hippen agreed in writing to buy it. He did buy the house and moved in, but two ye
> After filing for bankruptcy, Yvonne Brown sought permission of the court to reaffirm a $6,000 debt to her credit union. The debt was unsecured and she was under no obligation to pay it. The credit union had published the following notice in its newslette
> When Deana Byers married Steven Byers, she was pregnant with another man’s child. Shortly after the marriage Deana gave birth. The marriage lasted only two months, and the couple separated. In divorce proceedings, Deana sought child support. She claimed
> Because of his success in a big case, a lawyer named Melbourne promised his assistant, Barbara . a large bonus. After the case settled, Melbourne met with Barbara to discuss when and how much he would pay her. In the conversation that she secretly record
> Landlord owned a clothing store and agreed in writing to lease the store’s basement to another retailer. The written lease, which both parties signed, (1) described the premises exactly, (2) identified the parties, and (3) stated the monthly rent clearly
> When Steven Simkin and Laura Blank divorced in 2006, they agreed to split their $13.5 million fortune evenly. Two years later, it became evident that Simkin had a problem: his half was invested in Bernard Madoff’s giant Ponzi scheme and he lost million
