...its commitment to stakeholders and as a result pose a threat to its profitability. Since 2001 Amazon’s list of legal complaints continue to grow. The spectrum of the company’s legal issues touch the overseas market, and national competitors. It is necessary for Amazon to implement a strategic initiative to minimize, closeout, and prevent future litigation. Those initiatives must include actions the company can take to protect better the corporation in the future (ehow, 2012). Of the 26 pending litigations the company faces, 22 relates to patent infringements. One litigation involves a subsidiary of Amazon. The claim by litigants is that the subsidiary failed to disclose that the underwriters allegedly solicited and received excessive commission from investors. The report identifies two lawsuits of failure to remit sales and use taxes, and one international lawsuit pertaining to failing to pay tariffs on digital media. The final lawsuits...
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...Memorandum To: Lawsuit files From: Andrew Lederman Date: 3/6/2016 Re: Accounting for Lawsuit Damages Facts Our company has been named as a defendant in a pending lawsuit. The plaintiff is suing for $5 million in damages, the attorneys believe that the losses could amount anywhere in the range of $1 million and $3 million, with no amount in the range more likely than the next. Issues 1. Is the lawsuit considered a loss contingency? 2. Will the loss be accrued, and if so for what amount? 3. What disclosures should be made in the company’s financial Statement? Analysis – Issue 1: Is the lawsuit considered a loss contingency? FASB Accounting Standards (ASC) 450-20 provides information on contingencies, covering the definition of a loss contingency as well as providing examples of loss contingencies. Contingencies are described in (ASC) 450-20-20 as follows: Contingency: An existing condition, situation, or set of circumstances involving uncertainty as to possible gain (gain contingency) or loss (loss contingency) to an entity that will ultimately be resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. As can be seen the company has an existing situation (lawsuit) involving uncertainty (estimated range of $1-3 million in damages) which could make it considered a contingency. FASB goes on to describe loss contingency as a “set of circumstances involving uncertainty as to possible loss”, making this a loss contingency. FASB Accounting Standards...
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...RI-25, this opinion was decided May 18, 1989. A conflict of interest will arise when a lawyer can’t represent a client when they have a personal situation between the two that will adversely affect the lawyer’s representation of a client. A client was working with two separate law firms on unrelated matters. The client was dissatisfied with the representation they received from one firm, and filed a malpractice suit. Later those two firms merged into one firm. This opinion looks to address three questions: 1. Can the successor firm can continue to represent the same client using any member, including the sued lawyer? 2. Can the successor firm represent the client in the pending matters through members excluding the sued lawyer? 3. Can the successor firm represent the client with respect to one or more matters pending at the time of filing of malpractice suit against the individual lawyer and predecessor firm using lawyers who were not members of the predecessor firm? The lawyer must examine the situation impartially and carefully in a thought out manner, and arrive at a conclusion that the interest of the client in the ongoing matter as well as the future representation of the client will not be adversely affect. The test should consider how the confidentiality of the information protected by the lawyer-client privilege, as well as other secrets of the client will be handled in the future. The lawyer must believe the clients interest will not be adversely affected. If the lawyer...
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...2012, it has been estimated that an average 5,000 lawsuits filed against Wal-Mart each year. “According to Forbes magazine when an employee starts his shift at 9A.M, three lawsuits will be filed against the company by the time he or she takes a coffee break at 10:30 A.M” (Riper, 2005). Walmart management has violated several employment laws, and they were aware for many years that they had problems companywide concerning Fair Labor Standard Act, but they still chose to ignore it without any sufficient action. The following are just few highlighted and noted violation Walmart has made: * Extensive violation of Child labor * Sexual discrimination (different wages and promotion standards for men and women) * Exploitation of illegal immigrants. * Violation of state regulation, requiring time for breaks and meals. An internal audit of Walmart for one week of time record indicated the following: * 60,767 missed breaks * 15,705 lost meal times * 1,371 instances of minors working long hours or during school hours. Despite the knowledge of this violation's by the management, they still continued to take place till someone filed a lawsuit against the organization. Since 1999 Walmart has settled multiple lawsuits amounting in excess of $500 million. Even with these lawsuits the company hasn't changed the way it handles the employee issues. As of now Walmart has 76 wages, hour and overtime cases still pending against them. Women Vs Wal-Mart Betty Dukes...
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...are held accountable for the allege acts of them performing their duty. How has the unethical behavior affected the organization, the individual, and society? These affect the police organization in not professional way. One way is that it makes them look guilty that all charges were drop against the homeowners. The way, today’s society looks at an issue such as that is admission of guilt. Any time a party settles out of court, it makes it look like that parties involve was wrong for what they did. Now the department will now to have spend money on additional training for their employees. This will results in doing one interviews with each officers discussing pros and cons. This may result in additional monetary outcomes such as a lawsuit is pending from the homeowners against the city. See when...
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...December 31 2007, your company determined that a loss in connection to the claim was probable. • The company estimated a loss between 15 and $20 million USD. • $17 million USD was named as the most likely amount of loss. • A jury trial took place on September 2009. • On September 24 2009 the jury found in favor of W. • The judgment required your company to pay W $18.5 million USD. • In November 2009, your company filed an appeal. • In December 2010, the court of appeals overturned the jury verdict and the $18.5 million judgement. • On January 6th 2011 W filed a petition for re-hearing. • On February 10, 2011, the appellate judges declined W’s petition. • On February 28 2011, the company’s management determined that the lawsuit was closed. Specific Issue 1: For the year ended December 31 2007, financial statements, what amounts should the company record as a liability? Options: The company could record the liability at 15 million, $17 million, or $20 million. Before deciding what amount to accrue, we should determine if the contingency qualifies for accrual. According to ASC 450-20-25-2, a loss contingency must be accrued if “the information available…indicates that it is probable that… a liability had been incurred at the date of the financial statements, and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated.” Your company’s management has determined that the loss is probable, and has estimated a range for the amount of loss. Based on this information...
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...Pegasus’ other accessories such as SkateSails. The aftermarket skate accessory market has been largely ignored. Although there are several major manufacturers of the skates themselves, the accessory market has not been addressed. This provides Pegasus with an extraordinary opportunity for market growth. Skating is a booming sport. Currently, most of the skating is recre- ational. There are, however, a growing number of skating competitions, including team-oriented competitions such as skate hockey as well as individual competitions such as speed skate racing. Pegasus will work to grow these markets and develop the skate transportation market, a more utilitarian use of skating. Several of Pegasus’ currently developed products have patents pending, and local market research indicates that there is great demand for these products. Pegasus will achieve fast, sig- nificant market penetration through a solid business model, long-range planning, and a strong management team that is able to execute this exciting opportunity. The three principals on the management team have over 30 years of combined personal and industry experience. This extensive experience provides Pegasus with the empirical information as well as the passion to provide the skating market with much-needed aftermarket products. Pegasus will sell its products initially through its Web site. This “Dell” direct-to-the-consumer approach will allow Pegasus to achieve higher margins and maintain a close relationship with the...
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...A sports bar named Reed Pierce’s bar in Jackson Mississippi had a case of pregnancy discrimination when they fired a waitress unfairly. Melody McKinley was four month pregnant when she was simply taken off the schedule. She was also told “the baby is taking its toll on you” ("U.s. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission", 2013). She had never asked to cutback on shifts and was also not under any medical restrictions while pregnant. The settlement was a two-year decree that required the bar to implement policies and training to prevent pregnancy discrimination and monetary relief for $20,000 for McKinley. Intesa Sanpaolo is a bank that operates in New York. Giuseppe had gone on FMLA leave do to many health issues including depression. After being on leave he for five months Intesa sent Giuseppe a letter asking if he was going to return to work or if he was going to abandon his position at the bank. The back received a letter from Giuseppe’s attorney stating that “has not at any time evinced or expressed an intention to 'abandon his position.' Rather, he has been sick and unable to work, with an uncertain prognosis and a return to work date that is indeterminate at this time” (Nowak, 2013). The bank then terminated Giuseppe’s employment. He later sued the bank and their response was that he requested an indefinite leave. They expressed that this was an accommodation, which was not required by the employer since it was an unreasonable request. Even though the New York law mentioned...
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...➢ Style of Case and Citation: Wal-Mart Stores Vs. Johnson 106 S.W.3d 718 (Tx.2003) ➢ Court Rendering Final Decision: Trial Court ➢ Identification of Parties and Procedural Details: The plaintiff is Monroe Johnson. The defendant is Wal-Mart. Monroe Johnson is suing Wal-Mart based on injuries he sustained during an incident at Wal-Mart where a store employee dropped many reindeer on him. ➢ Discussion of the Facts: An employee of Wal-Mart dropped reindeer on Monroe Jackson. He sustained a cut on his arm and the employee bandaged him up. He may no threats of suing and stated he was fine. Hours later he was uncomfortable in his neck and his arm and could not sleep. He saw his physician the next day and was prescribed painkillers. Six months later still in pain he sued Wal-Mart. 17 months after the initial incident he finally had a surgery that fixed his neck. ➢ Statement and Discussion of the Legal Issues in Dispute: . The statements are that Monroe Jackson was injured at Wal-Mart. The manager took statements and photos; however, did not retain the reindeer that landed on the consumer. When the court was presented with the case there were two very different accounts of how large the reindeers were and it could not be accounted for. The court ruled in favor of Mr. Johnson on the basis that Wal-Mart did not retain the reindeer because it would have been detrimental to their case therefore causing fault against Wal-Mart. ➢ Subject...
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...by the BP oil spill, including legal options for businesses and individuals looking to get back on their financial feet after the oil spill. (For in-depth information on filing a claim with BP's $20 billion compensation fund, see Nolo's article BP Oil Spill: Filing a Claim With BP's Compensation Fund.) The BP Oil Spill: Types of Lawsuits The BP oil spill has already prompted the filing of thousands of lawsuits. Businesses and workers have seen their livelihoods suffer or even disappear in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas. Families and individuals in the Gulf region worry about the health hazards posed by the chemicals used to disperse and clean up the oil. And, with its dubious distinction as the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, the BP oil spill has inflicted immeasurable devastation on the Gulf's coastline, wetlands, wildlife, and ecosystems. Here's a look at the different kinds of lawsuits being filed over the BP oil spill (with links to more information from Nolo where relevant). * Lost business profits and individual income losses. Thousands of businesses and workers in the Gulf region have filed lawsuits against BP, seeking repayment for profits and income that were lost because of the oil spill. These plaintiffs include companies and employees in the commercial...
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...Interactions Josh Herricks LAW/421 June-6-2013 Luke Martin Legal and Ethical Issues in Resolving International Interactions When an individual or a company is going to involve themselves in international transactions and or resolve a problem he or she should be educated with the laws and understand the foreign culture that he or she is doing business with. Without knowledge of the laws and the customs of a country it could mean that the business transaction will end before it started. It does not matter how small the international transaction, how good the partnership is, and if he or she thinks that nothing will ever happen during international transaction it is him or hers responsibility to make sure they are protected from any lawsuits and any litigations occurring. Businesses that take part in international transaction need to remember the transaction can be challenging. Both parties of an international transaction should come to an agreement on what is the choice of law and what forum selection will be used. The choice of law is to help eliminate confusion and helps coming to an understanding. The forum selection is a decision on how the conflict will be resolved such as arbitration, litigation, jurisdiction of the courts, and procedures. More issues are the culture will be different in a foreign country and if there are any religious views that he or she follows. In the United States men and women are treated equally. Men and woman have the choice on what they want...
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...as maintain order when it has gotten out of order (Llewellyn, 213),” they are also be used to punish the most minor crimes and torts. Each year, about 18 million to 30 million civil cases are considered in both federal and state courts (Pflepsen). Moreover, the United States of America has more than 70 percent of the lawyers in the entire world with half of them doing what non-lawyers do in the other parts of this world (Pflepsen). Yet, the mere fact that the United States has more than a third of the entire world’s lawyers shows that there is a high demand for litigation services, as demonstrated by the number of civil cases that are brought to federal and state courts. Some people have different views toward this previously mentioned lawsuit numbers. Given that there are different varieties of crimes that people can be punished in courts for, such as assault and battery, false imprisonment,...
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...Question 1: What financial impact do you think the lawsuit could potentially have on Wal-Mart? If the law suit was successful the company would have to pay all the compensation amount which was around 86 million dollars to its entire 1.6 million female employees .Which in short would be a big blow to the company’s financials, and also with the deteriorating image caused by the issue they might possibly lose out on an considerable amount of customers leading to further financial implications. It would also result in higher prices in the store because the company would try to make up for all the loss incurred cause of the particular suit. Question 2: What are the major moral complaints of the females suing Wal-Mart? Do you believe these moral complaints are justified? Why? The major complaints launched by the women were that the company (wal-mart) discriminated against female employees in promotions pay, management training and job assignments. The women stated that promotions in wal-mart were biased towards men, where men were promoted much faster and at a much frequent rate then women. They also stated that there was a pay gap between men and women where two people of different gender on the same positions were paid differently and women were often paid fairly lower than the men. I think feel the complaints are valid. If you are in a job and you see other coworkers getting hired whom are less qualified than you are then I think that the complaints are valid. If more than...
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...and government to pay closer attention to food labels, especially dietary supplements. The food industry is highly competitive and the high regulations could cause severe profit margin decreased in companies who do not legally represent themselves appropriately. Claims against companies in the food industry There are several areas where companies need to watch out for. The world is changing into this environmental friendly monster, which is outstanding, and it is affecting the food industry in the claims companies have to deal with. State consumer protection acts are other avenues where lawsuits can develop. “Food and beverage companies often face litigation in more than one jurisdiction, with more than one plaintiff, represented by separate sets of plaintiffs’ counsel” (http://www.sidley.com/productsliabilitylitigationfoodindustry/). In some cases, settling these lawsuits out of court is the best approach because of the negative publicity it could cause, but it’s just another example if the importance in having proper legal representation in the food industry. Food industry litigation example Companies in the food industry are spending thousands of dollars annually in order to keep the price down with litigation...
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...Importance of Training for Employees Anonymous HRM 326 Importance of Training for Employees The effectiveness of an organization greatly depends on how resourceful are its employees and how well prepared they are to meet challenges at work. Many organizations request the services of outside consultants to identity and implement trainings to improve the performance of its’ employees. Nowadays, the diversity of cultures in the United States, the complexity of the law system, and the challenges employees face regularly in their work places, are forcing organizations to train their employees to overcome these challenges. Trainings in legal requirements, diversity, and employee’s growth have become necessary for organizations to maintain the effectiveness of the employees. The main focus of this paper is to discuss how important are these subject areas to the development of employees professional and personal needs. Also the paper will focus on what benefits organizations acquire by implementing these types of employee trainings. Employees’ Legal Requirements During Training There are many potential situations during training that can adversely affect the reputation of an organization and can make employees vulnerable to legal actions (Noe, Chapter 10, 2008). Some of these adverse situations that can occur during training are employees getting injured during training events, not including all genders and races in the training, providing...
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