...NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief Adriana Astte Carolina Mercado Liliana Mejia Rodriguez LAWP/531 March 28, 2013 Professor Ken Marc NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief Legal Encounter 1 What liabilities and rights do NewCorp and Pat have in this situation? What legal principles, such as statutory or case law, support those liabilities and rights? Liabilities include: wrongful termination, a breach of contract, and freedom of speech violation. Issue: NewCorp fired Pat without notice of unsatisfactory performance after being vocal at the local school board meeting. Explanation: Vermont is an at-will state; therefore Pat is an at-will employee giving NewCorp the right to fire Pat. That means that employees can leave the employment or be terminated without reason. However, according to Kohn (2012), the at-will doctrine applies “only in cases where there is no oral or written contract for an ascertainable or definite term of employment.” NewCorp’s personnel manual included a section on unsatisfactory performance. Pat signed the contract to show understanding of the policies. Pat also acknowledged that if performance was poor, Pat would have a chance to improve by being placed on a corrective action plan. This contract implied that if any employee was not meeting expectations would have a chance to develop. Given the situation that Pat and the family had just relocated from another city implies that NewCorp would have covenant of good faith which “limits employer...
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...NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief In the interest of the company and for the benefit of the employees who are involved in the following legal encounters and those who are not we are making the recommendations of how best to deal with each situation in a manner that will reduce the possibility of going to court or having to seek further legal counsel. It is believed to be the best advice that can be offered based on the information provided in each of these scenarios. Understand these are only recommendations resulting from the limited available information and our best understanding of the applicable case law related to each situation. Legal Encounter 1 Wrongful termination. Pat was hired to manage real property, after 90 days Pat was informed he was to be terminated the only explanation being “things were not working out”. New Corp is an at will employer and Pat signed an acknowledgment of this at the time he was hired. Pat may claim the company is not following the disciplinary action process laid out in the employee manual however this is not a legitimate argument because he is not being terminated because of some disciplinary action. There is a possibility of Pat claiming the termination is the result of his stance on some issue at a school board meeting however he was not pointed out or identified in any way as an employee of New Corp so there is no action that can be linked to his position or statements at the meeting. {OSHA No Basis for Public Policy Exception...
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...Scenario 1 In the employee manual, it clearly states that if an employee’s performance is unsatisfactory that the employee will be put on a corrective action plan. This presents a liability issue for NewCorp. One of NewCorp’s managers did not follow the proper steps to let an employee go. This is a legal problem and the employee does have a clear position for a lawsuit. It would be my suggestion that NewCorp would try to rectify the problem before said employee seeks legal advice. If NewCorp would wish to avoid a costly lawsuit the best alternative would be a form of alternative dispute resolution to negotiate a settlement. Scenario 2 As a supervisor Sam is under the rules of management. It is unethical for a supervisor to enter into a relationship with a subordinate. There are the possibilities for the subordinate to say they were afraid for their job if they did not go along with the supervisors advances. That being said, when Paula ended the relationship and Sam continued to pursue her, Paula should have brought this to the attention of HR. This is a potential sexual harassment case and could cost the company a lot of money, time and effort if it is taken to trial. The situation is also a potential discrimination case and could lead to even more PR problems. It is my suggestion that Paula be offered a position in another department to avoid the discrimination case and avoid any further contact with Sam. It is also my suggestion that Sam be put on a probationary period...
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...The Three Encounters 1 The Three Encounters of NewCorp Pamela A. McCullough University of Phoenix The Three Encounters 2 The Three Encounters of NewCorp FastServe Inc. is a 25 million dollar branded sports Apparel Company with an employee roster of 350 people working in the company in direct marketing. The company has two online marketing and distribution channels which they opened up for boys and girls. They now moved 10 percent of the workforce to manage the online distribution. In the simulation it states that technology began to pose problems for FastServe Inc. soon after the website went live. FasteServe inc. wanted their target audience to be Generation Y and although the 3-D ‘drape-n- see” mannequins on the site attracted that market it was hard for them to download from the site causing people not to buy any items from the site. This then became a problem which made it hard for technological investors to be feasible. Since this form of selling the merchandise was not working FastServe Inc. decided to move out of online distribution. The fallout of this decision was expected and the online division had to be downsized. Now the only thing to do is to keep employees based on their job performance and skill levels and give them a new job definition. All other employees will have to be released. The senior Management in the Human Resources department has to consider the legal implications of the decisions of the company....
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...NewCorp legal issues NewCorp does not have an in-house legal counsel and utilizes Team B staff members to serve as associate legal counsel. Primary responsibilities include advising and recommending courses of action to management covering a range of legal encounter scenarios. Team B members analyze each scenario and provide management with associated legal principles, potential liability concerns, and courses of action. During the past week the Team has received three scenarios and management wants a substantive collaborative effort within one week. Scenario One Pat has been working for three months when his boss discharged him with 30 days of severance pay, because of unsatisfied work performance. NewCorp Personnel Manual was provided to Pat upon his acceptance of employment. NewCorp personnel manual provides an outlined process for dealing with unsatisfactory job performance and provides a corrective action plan. Pat never was approached by his boss on any job performance issues (University of Phoenix, 2011). “Any divergent words or nonexistence of other legal clauses may demonstrate that the employer was obligated to have adequate cause prior to an employee's layoff or dismissal” (Employee Issues, 2009). The law has put limitations on employment at will as it is fallen into unpopularity because employees rely on the conjecture that they have an indispensable job safety provided to them through promises, measures, and policies that side with what is written in...
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...University of Phoenix Material NewCorp Legal Scenarios The following legal encounters involve NewCorp, your employer. You are required to provide a brief answer to questions asked at the end of each encounter. Your supervisor expects a substantive answer, not a recommendation to refer matters to an attorney. Your supervisor does not want to spend money on legal advice until after you provide an assessment. Legal Encounter 1 NewCorp hired Pat as manager of real property in Vermont. This position is responsible for activities related to maintaining leased office space. Pat supervised 51 employees and lower-level supervisors, and he dealt with tenants who leased commercial space. Pat relocated from another city 300 miles away, moved his family, and sold and bought a home. His wife quit her job to seek employment in Vermont. After Pat worked for three months with NewCorp, his supervisor explained that things were not working out and that Pat would be discharged with 30 days of severance pay. Pat was surprised because his employer gave no previous indication of any problem. NewCorp’s personnel manual, which had been provided to Pat upon his acceptance of employment, outlined the process for dealing with unsatisfactory employees: Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance/Corrective Action Plan If the job performance of an employee is unsatisfactory, the employee will be notified of the deficiency and placed on a corrective action plan. If the employee’s performance...
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...NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief LAW 531 April 16, 2012 NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief Question 1: What liabilities and rights do NewCorp and Pat have in this situation? What legal principles, such as statutory or case law, support those liabilities and rights? Answer: State of Vermont is an “at-will” employment state. The definition of “at-will” means the employer or employee can terminate the contract at any time without liability to other party. This gives NewCorp the right to fire, hire, or terminate for any or no reason as long as it is not illegal. When the employer terminates the contract it is a revocation of authority and when the employee terminates the contract it is renunciation of authority. NewCorp used revocation of authority to discharge Pat and did not violate any rights. Pat acknowledged that the contract he signed clearly said that NewCorp observed employment at will with respect to discharge. Written employment agreements are always enforceable in the court of law (Cheeseman, H. (2010). On the other hand when Pat signed and accepted employment he received the NewCorp personnel manual. In the manual he found that NewCorp has the policy or process in place for dealing with unsatisfactory employees. This gives Pat an implied impression that NewCorp “at-will” policy is limited. If Pat gets legal help and shows that he relied on the provision of the manual in continuing his employment with company or that the law of promissory estoppel applies, Pat could...
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...NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief Many organizations in the United States of America do not have the budget for staff counsel within their company. NewCorp is a business that has found themselves in legal matters and is seeking an assessment on ways to handle these circumstances from a consultant in the organization before refering matters to an attorney and incur costs. This assignment reviews three scenarios involving NewCorp. We will examine liabilities the organization and complainant are subject to as well as any statutory or case laws relevant to support the findings. Legal Scenario One Legal scenario one explains that NewCorp relocated an employee named Pat to manage the real property division of the business. After 90 days of employment NewCorp determined that Pat was not an appropriate fit for the position and terminated him with 30 days of severance pay. Pat feels as though he was wronged because he was not given the opportunity to improve through a corrective action plan as promised upon hire. Because of this, Pat believes that NewCorp should not be able to discharge him at will and believed that this action was taking place because of statements made outside the workplace. NewCorp and Pat both have rights in this scenario. Fortunately for NewCorp they are located in Vermont that is considered an “at will” state. This means that an employer can terminate an employee for any reason at any time as long as it does not relate to a Title VII protected class that includes...
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...specifies duties and responsibilities on both sides. NewCorp and its employees have an agency relationship, which NewCorp is the principal and the employees are the agents. NewCorp currently faces three encounters. In lieu of obtaining legal advice, NewCorp has requested Team C to make the following assessments regarding the legal risks and opportunities involved in these three legal encounters. The assessments will include the liabilities from NewCorp’s perspective as well as the employee’s perspective along with the regulatory and compliance requirements. The assessments will also reference some of the legal principles in this week’s reading materials that support our decisions. Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment Encounter 1 NewCorp hired Pat as a manager of real property, which includes responsibilities for the activities related to maintaining leased office space in Vermont. Upon employment, he signed an understanding that the company observed employment “at will” in respect to discharge. He was also given an employee handbook that outlined the company’s process for dealing with unsatisfactory employees, which stated that an employee would be notified of unsatisfactory performance and placed on a corrective action plan. If the employee’s performance did not improve to a satisfactory level within the specified time frame, the employee could be terminated. After three months of employment with NewCorp, Pat’s boss explained to him things were not working...
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...NewCorp Legal Scenarios Employment laws and regulation are created to protect the rights of employers and employees. The relation between employer and employee creates a variety risks that affects both parties. Businesses have to analyze the consequences of dismissing an employee, and take the appropriate measures to prevent legal issues; however, some agents are not aware of employment regulations and make decisions that violate the rights of employees, which create big risks for the organization. This context consists of legal encounters involve NewCorp; as an employee of the company, one is require to provide an assessment to latter refer matters to an attorney to save money on legal advice, and have a brief answer to the questions asked in each encounter. Legal Encounter 1 What liabilities and rights do NewCorp and Pat have in this situation? NewCorp have the rights to dismiss an employee at will; however, the company can be liable of wrongful discharge. Pat has the right to know the indication of the problem and to a corrective plan to improve his deficiencies before he is dismiss. What legal principles, such as statutory or case law, support those liabilities and rights? Employment at will is a doctrine supported by statutory law, and wrongful discharge is supported by case law. NewCorp hire Pat as a manager, Pat signed an agreement that show his understanding that NewCorp observed employment at will and it can discharge anyone without a motive; however, part of...
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...opportunities involves in three NewCorp legal encounters. The decision for each counter will be supported by legal principles from management of employee conduct and employment discrimination (Jennings, M. M, 2006). In Legal Encounter 1, In a principal and agent relationship, NewCorp exercises a great deal of control over Pat Grey. Pat is in high level of supervision and control. His scope of employment is about three months. NewCorp’s liabilities and risks: If Pat Grey’s contract is writing, the authority of discharge must be in writing. In this case, the discharge order gave by oral instead of writing. Pat informed upon his employment, he signed and understood that NewCorp observed employment at will. This provides the right for NewCorp to terminate Pat Frey’s employment even Pat is a contract employee. Pat Grey’s boss informed Pat about his term of leaving without any indication of his deficiency or clear business-related reasons for this dismissal. At same time Corrective Action Plan (CAP) was not in place. This action did not following NewCorp’s personnel Manual. This is potentially considered as a wrongful discharge suit. Pat Grey risks and opportunities: Pat understood the employment at will upon his employment. He believed his unpopular behavior in school broad meeting contributed to the NewCorp decision to discharge him . Since on formal business related notice or CAP was not in place, He believed the discharged from NewCorp would not be performance-related...
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...NewCorp Scenarios Legal Brief Three legal encounters that NewCorp is contending with are unsatisfactory performance and corrective action plan, sexual harassment and discrimination, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance Legal Encounter 1 NewCorp hired Pat in Vermont causing Vermont state law to apply to this legal encounter. NewCorp had Pat sign a document stating that NewCorp must issue a corrective action plan but failed to uphold this contract by eliminating him from position with 30 days of severance pay. Pat feels he was wrongfully discharged because his supervisor had a different view on a school panel board but Pat claims needs to be supported by the termination papers that were filed in the human resources department. Vermont is an at-will state which means that an employee can be terminated for any reason, at any time. However, the document that Pat signed is an enforceable contract that the state will deem enforceable for Pat’s benefit (Kohn, 2008). Pat will be given his managerial position with NewCorp and will be placed on corrective action as outlined in the document both NewCorp and Pat signed. To help protect NewCorp from further issues, managers and supervisors should turn in written documentations of coaching’s conversations and corrective action that is signed by the employee to show that NewCorp have done everything in their power to protect their employees before termination is a necessary option. Legal Encounter 2 ...
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...Legal Encounter 1: Newcorp hired Pat Grey as manager of real property for Newcorp in Vermont, responsible for activities related to maintaining leased office space. In that role, Pat supervised 51 employees and lower-level supervisors, and dealt with tenants who leased commercial space. For the job, Pat relocated from another city 300 miles away, moving his spouse and children, selling and buying a home, and dealing with a spouse having to quit her job to seek employment in the new state. After Pat had been on the job for three months, his boss explained that things did not seem to be working out, and said that Pat would be discharged with 30 days severance pay. Pat was surprised because his employer gave no indication of any problem on the job. Newcorp's Personnel Manual, which had been provided to Pat upon his acceptance of employment, outlined the process for dealing with unsatisfactory employees: Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance/Corrective Action Plan If the job performance of an employee is unsatisfactory, the employee will be notified of the deficiency and placed on a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). If the employee performance does not improve to a satisfactory level within the specified period of time, termination will follow. Pat acknowledged that upon employment, he signed an understanding that the company observed employment at will with respect to employment and discharge, but believed that the above provision limited Newcorp's freedom to fire him...
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...the legal principles and remedies behind the three scenarios described in the simulation. Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment Legal Encounter One NewCorp hired Pat Grey as a property manager. NewCorp fired Pat after three months. Pat thinks it is not related to performance but other outside issues. NewCorp maintains that it is not working out with Pat, so he is let go. Legal Issues 1. Doctrine of promissory estoppels. 2. At-will Employment. Vermont is an “at will state.” According to the definition of “at will” on the Department Of Labor, Vermont, (n.d) website, An employer may terminate an employee for any reason as long as it is not one of the protect classes e.g.: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or mental, or physical disability. NewCorp has not terminated Pat for any of these reasons. Retaliation or discrimination against employees or applicants who have alleged employment discrimination is unlawful (Cheeseman, 2010). Pat has not made any employment discriminations complaints. Pat has also acknowledged signing a statement of employment at-will so he should be aware that he can be let go anytime for no reason. Pat can still establish a claim for wrongful termination under promissory estoppels. He will have to prove the termination breached a specific promise made by NewCorp (Cheeseman, 2010). According to NewCorp’s employment offer there was no promise of anything other than employment “at will” to Pat. I do not find breach of...
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...the legal principles and remedies behind the three scenarios described in the simulation. Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment Legal Encounter One NewCorp hired Pat Grey as a property manager. NewCorp fired Pat after three months. Pat thinks it is not related to performance but other outside issues. NewCorp maintains that it is not working out with Pat, so he is let go. Legal Issues 1. Doctrine of promissory estoppels. 2. At-will Employment. Vermont is an “at will state.” According to the definition of “at will” on the Department Of Labor, Vermont, (n.d) website, An employer may terminate an employee for any reason as long as it is not one of the protect classes e.g.: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or mental, or physical disability. NewCorp has not terminated Pat for any of these reasons. Retaliation or discrimination against employees or applicants who have alleged employment discrimination is unlawful (Cheeseman, 2010). Pat has not made any employment discriminations complaints. Pat has also acknowledged signing a statement of employment at-will so he should be aware that he can be let go anytime for no reason. Pat can still establish a claim for wrongful termination under promissory estoppels. He will have to prove the termination breached a specific promise made by NewCorp (Cheeseman, 2010). According to NewCorp’s employment offer there was no promise of anything other than employment “at will” to Pat. I do not find breach of...
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