Legal Liability Analysis: Contract, Negligence, Fiduciary Duty, and Employment Discrimination Cases
Overview
This coursework analyzes four distinct legal scenarios involving potential liability claims across business law domains. The paper examines a breach of trust claim against an accounting firm, negligent misrepresentation in financial statements, employment discrimination under Title VII, and partnership liability in a consumer injury case.
What this coursework covers
- Zapper Inc. v. Price Touche: Analysis of breach of trust liability when accounting firm's profitability assessment proves inaccurate
- Tara v. Young Price: Examination of accountant liability and foreseeability in negligent financial statement preparation
- Vasquez v. Starwood Hotels: Title VII disparate treatment claim analysis based on racial discrimination in hair policy enforcement
- Mark and Shania partnership liability: Determination of partnership existence and joint liability for fraudulent advertising and product harm
Preview
Student's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Business Law
Business Law
Questions:
- Zapper Inc. hired the accounting firm Price Touche to determine if constructing an apartment building was financially feasible. After Price determined that the building would be profitable, Zapper started construction. Before the structure was complete, it burned to the ground. Although Zapper rebuilt it, the apartment building turned out not to be profitable, at least in part because of the delay in construction. There are four potential bases for liability – contract, negligence, breach of trust, and violation of fiduciary duty. Which apply here?
In this case, the potential base of the liability is a breach of trust. In this case, Zapper Inc. trusted Price Touche to determine whether the apartment building would be profitable, and the former assured the latter that the building would be profitable. In the long run, it turned out that the building was profitable as Price Touche had assured Zapper Inc. Although it might not have been intentional or with malice, there was an aspect of breakage of promise or confidence from Price Touche, resulting in a breach of trust.
- Tara bought stock in Flying Feet. In doing so, she relied on financial statements prepared by Young Price for the company. The accounting firm was negligent and Flying Feet crashed into bankruptcy. Can Tara recover from Young.
In this case, Tara can recover her investment from Young. To begin with, Young did not know that Tara was using their financial statements to buy the stocks by Flying Fleet.