Recently we’ve discussed how the foreseeability of the potential harm caused by a person’s actions can make them liable for negligence. Recent horrific events in Garland and Waco, Texas bring up a related question: can a business owner ever have a duty to protect his customers from the wrongful – even criminal – acts
The Top 3 Things Tom Brady Can Learn From Blue Bell Creameries: “Nothing is More Important To Us Than Maintaining Your Trust”*
Take it Seriously. A week ago, when asked about the “elephant in the room,” New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady replied before 4,000 cheering and laughing Patriots fans “Where? When I digest it fully, I’ll be sure to let you know how I feel about it… This is like a Patriots pep rally.”
Paying Child Support: Are Your New Hires Being Honest?
Knowing that his old high school friend Iman Dedbeet had just been taken to the cleaners by his ex-wife Goldilocks in a nasty divorce, Johnny Clueless decided to help Iman out by hiring him as his general sales manager at Clueless Automotive. Johnny knew that Goldilocks got full custody of Dedbeet’s kids and that Dedbeet
Avoiding Job Applicants who Smoke: Is Snuffing out Smokers Discrimination?
Faced with increasing healthcare costs and wanting to be a good role model, Gus Grohcer of Canned Foods 4 Less advises all prospective employees that he does not hire smokers and tests for nicotine, making all job offers “contingent upon passing a pre-hire drug screen including nicotine test.” During the ninety day probationary period, Chimm
Safety Over Convenience: When Should Employers Investigate their Employees’ Mental State?
Stephen F. Austin is the CEO of Alamo Lines, a bus line servicing Central Texas. One night, a young, promising driver, David Boone, confessed to Stephen that he was suffering from severe depression and suicidal thoughts. Boone did not mention that his depression was due to the breakup of his romantic relationship with co-worker, Samantha
Partner Liability: Out of the Woods?
Debbett Runnup Partnership, a Texas general partnership, was sued by Widgets R Us in 2010 for failing to pay Widgets R Us invoices. Judgment was granted to Widgets in 2012 against Debbett Runnup for $300,000. After chasing Debbett for over three years, Widgets’ lawyer Plinn T. Agreshun realizes that Debbett is penniless. Knowing that partners
The Coming Silver Tsunami: Families May Lose 70% in Wealth Transfer
Record Wealth Transfer. Over the next 30-40 years about $12 trillion from those born in 1920s and 30s will be transferred to the baby boomers, and the boomers are expected to transfer some $30 trillion to their heirs, with more than an estimated $59 trillion transferred from 93.6 million American estates from 2007 to
A Measle-ly Lawsuit: Can Parents Who Don’t Vaccinate their Children be Sued?
Yearning to leave the frozen wasteland of Dallas, Texas behind her if just for a moment, Penny McCrathy, an outspoken anti-vaccination advocate, took her unvaccinated children to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Not knowing that her children had been exposed to measles by a foreign tourist, Penny brought them back to Texas and sent them back
Selling What You Don’t Have…What Happened to my Super Bowl Tickets?
Thursday before Super Bowl XLIX in Phoenix Ima Goen Nomattawatta, a huge Patriots fan, found an online broker Izzure Scalp with Super Bowl tickets for $2,500 apiece. Not believing that he could get 4 tickets at only $750 above face value, Nomattawatta quickly called three buddies, found flights and non-refundable hotel rooms, and all four
Sony vs. N. Korea – Let Capitalism Fight Totalitarianism!
Cyber terrorism, North Korea, Sony, extortion, free speech, The Interview, international relations, journalistic ethics, cyber security… can it get any better than this?
Implausible – a C grade comedy movie The Interview about two hapless TV journalists recruited by the CIA to assassinate a sitting world leader North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.
Appalling –