BUSS205,”B”, LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS

September 28, 2025 Claire B 0 Comments

LASELL COLLEGE

BUSS205,”B”, LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF
BUSINESS

SPRING 2013

STEVEN B. BORIS

WEDNESDAYS 5:00 P.M. TO 7:30 P.M.

WOLFE 102

OFFICE HOURS:
BY APPOINTMENT

E-MAIL:SBORIS@LASELL.EDU

TELEPHONE:
(508) 872-2710 Ext. 14

FINAL EXAMINATION

STUDENT’S NAME
__________________________________________________________

Instructions: Carefully read the
entire exam. Answer the question
asked. Spot issues. Argue in the alternative, if appropriate. Write
legibly and on the back of the pages if necessary. Use short sentences. Proof
read. Grading: 100 points with Question 1 having 34 points and Questions 2
-12 having 6 points each (6 x 11 is 66).
Lastly, have a great summer!

A group of four (4) people decide to operate a whale watch
business on Cape Cod. The mission is to create a tourist business that is
environmentally friendly. Each brings
something different to the enterprise:

A. Able
is recently retired from the United States Coast Guard and is a licensed
Captain allowed to operate large offshore vessels that carry as many as 200
passengers. Able will be in charge of
the businesses’ vessels and will train deck hands and supervise all other
vessel captains. He is putting no money
into the venture. He will work full time
for the venture.

B. Baker
is an environmental scientist with a Ph.D. in marine biology. Baker will recruit and supervise the graduate
student marine biologists who will accompany all trips. During the trips, the grad students provide
commentary on the whales, their behavior, etc.
She is putting no money into the venture. She will work full time during the summer for
the venture, but will work only part time during the school year as she is a
full time college professor.

C. Charlie
is an entrepreneur. He will manage day
to day operations, including hiring and training of summer and permanent staff
(except grad students and captains), purchase and financing of vessels,
wharfage (leasing dock space), arrange office space, bookkeeping and marketing
and advertising. Charlie is investing $500,000.00 in the venture.

D. Delta
is a venture capitalist (investor). She
lives in Norway. She is investing
$500,000.00 in the venture. Delta will
have nothing to do with the day-to-day operations of the venture.

In order to generate enough money to buy three (3) used
whale watch boats, the group must borrow $2,250,000.00 from a bank. The bank will take a $750,000 security
interest (a mortgage) on each vessel and will require a $750,000 promissory
note for each vessel payable with interest over ten (10) years.

Question 1. What type or types of business entity(ies) do
you recommend Able, Baker, Charlie and Delta create? Explain your answer. BE CREATIVE.

_____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Question 2. The bank requires that Able, Baker, Charlie
and Delta sign the vessel mortgages and promissory notes in their individual
names. Able forgets to sign the papers
and in the rush of getting the financing the bank fails to note this fact. If the bank were to foreclose on one of the
mortgages, Able may be able to assert which legal defense?

_______________________________________________________________

Question 3. Same as 2 above except Baker signs but later
says that although she put her name on the paper, she had no intention of
guaranteeing the business debt when she signed.
If the bank were to foreclose on one of the mortgages, is Baker’s belief
a good defense?

_______________________________________________________________

Question 4. A statute of the United States (federal)
passed by Congress states that it shall be a civil offense to pilot a vessel
within fifty (50) yards of a whale known to the operator of the vessel. From what source of law may the U.S.
government pass such a statute?

______________________________________________________________

Question 5. Delta says that the business(es) should be
non-profit. After all, she reasons, we
are teaching parents and their kids about whales, their habitat and their
protection. Support or attack Delta’s
idea. Explain your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________

The whale watch venture is up and running. Baker places an ad on Craigslist for graduate
students to act as naturalist narrators on whale watches. The ad says:

Biology—especially
marine biology– graduate students wanted!
Qualified grad students wanted to serve as narrators onboard Cape Cod
whale watch vessels May through September.
Must be familiar with marine mammal behavior. Earn $200 per day talking about whatever you
think would be interesting for the passengers to learn! You must provide your own khaki shorts, white
polo shirt and deck shoes. We’ll give
you a distinctive hat to wear. Send your
resume to info@whalewatch.net.

Elana submits her resume and is offered the work. After disembarking from a mid-day cruise, Elana
uses her own car to drive into town to get a gift for her Captain. On the way back to the wharf, Elana
negligently causes an auto accident and seriously injures the driver of the
other vehicle. Elana is from New Hampshire and as no car insurance.

Question 6. Is the whale watch venture responsible for
Elana’s action? Explain your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________

Office space is needed by the whale watch venture. Charlie negotiates with the owner of
commercial office space close to the wharf.
The owner emails Charlie a proposed lease which states the monthly rent
as, “$1,000.00 per month plus utilities.”
Charlie emails the owner right back stating, “OK, we want the space, all
lease terms are OK but you pay the heat and we will pay the other
utilities.” Charlie then loses battery
power and his smart phone shuts down. The
owner then emails Charlie right back and states, “OK, we have a deal.” The owner then has second thoughts. He emails Charlie, “Never mind, do not want to
lease out the space after all.” Charlie
then plugs in his smart phone and reads the string of emails.

Question 7. Is there a binding contract for the office
space? Explain your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________

Question 8. Able says to the other members of the group,
“I think we need a logo and I think it should be a cartoon drawing of whale
with a tour boat balanced on top of water shooting out of the whale’s spout!” What type of intellectual property, if any,
is the quoted language?
___________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

The front of every whale watch ticket states, “read the back of this ticket.” The back of every whale watch ticket states:

“I hereby release the
company from any and all claims of any nature arising out of my whale watch
cruise.”

Question 9. A 16 year old student buys a whale watch
ticket and goes on a cruise. He slips on
a wet deck and suffers a serious injury.
Will the above ticket language bar his claim? Explain your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________

Business has been brisk for the whale watch venture. A bookkeeper is hired as an employee. The
bookkeeper has no written employment contract. Able tells the bookkeeper to pay
the deck hands as salaried employees and not keep the time sheets the deck
hands complete each day. By treating the
deck hands as salaried employees, there is no risk of having to pay them
overtime if they work more than 40 hours in one week. The bookkeeper tells Able that it is not fair
to do that because the deck hands were all hired as hourly workers and some of
them do work more than 40 hours per week.
Able fires the bookkeeper on the spot.

Question 10. Is the discharge of the bookkeeper a wrongful
discharge? Explain your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________

Question 11. Assume
the bookkeeper has a written employment contract. Several weeks after she is hired, Charlie
asks her to sign an addendum to the contract that states, “all disputes related
to your employment shall be resolved only by arbitration.” No other terms of her employment are
changed. The bookkeeper signs the
addendum. She then sues her employer in
court for wrongful discharge. Must the
case be dismissed and sent to arbitration?
Explain your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________

Question 12. Assume the case of the bookkeeper does go to
trial in a court.

a.) What is the role of the jury?
_________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

b.) What is the role of the judge? ___________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

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