Citizens Publishing was a family-owned corporation that published the Ellwood City Ledger and another local newspaper. Bud Dimeo had been the company’s sole photographer for over 35 years. When the needs for daytime photography declined, Citizens began requiring Dimeo to work at night and on weekends as well. Citizens also occasionally employed stringers, meaning independent photographers who were paid per-photo. Teamsters Local No. 261 was certified as the representative for certain Citizens’ employees, including photographers but excluding stringers. While the company and union were negotiating a contract, Dimeo retired, and Citizens assigned most of the night/weekend photography to stringers. The union filed a ULP charge with the NLRB, claiming that Citizens unilaterally changed the terms and conditions of employment without bargaining, by giving to stringers work previously done by Dimeo, a bargaining unit member. On July 23, fully 18 months after contract negotiations had started, the union met with employees and informed them that the NLRB intended to issue a complaint based on Citizens’ use of stringers. The members voted to strike, and walked out on July 24. The paper continued to publish, using family members, supervisors and non-striking employees. The following February, six months into the strike, Citizens reassured the union that that none of the replacement workers were considered permanent; the strikers could return if they wished. The parties met to bargain on March 14. The union representative indicated the union was prepared to return to work. Company representatives took a break to caucus; when the returned, they informed the union that all replacements were permanent. In other words, the strikers had lost their jobs. The next day, Citizens informed the replacement workers they were permanent. The NLRB found that the union’s job action was a ULP strike and ordered Citizens to offer the union members their jobs back. Citizens appealed. Issue: Was the job action a ULP strike? Holding: Judgment for NLRB affirmed. Excerpts from the court’s opinion: An employer violates §8(a)(5) if, without bargaining to impasse, it effects a unilateral change of an existing term or condition of employment. By unilaterally changing the employees' terms and conditions of employment, an employer minimizes the influence of organized bargaining and emphasizes to the employees that there is no necessity for a collective bargaining agent. [The court reviewed the evidence and held this was an unfair labor practice strike.] Required: a. What difference does it make whether a strike is an economic strike or a ULP strike? b. What specific facts support the court’s holding?
> Christianne Carafano is a film actor under the stage name Chase Masterson. Someone posted a profile of her on the Matchmaker.com Internet dating service. This phony profile stated that Carafano was “looking for a one-night stand” and for a “hard and domi
> Duke Power used a high school completion requirement and an intelligence test in hiring and promotion. The result was that fewer minority applicants qualified for jobs at Duke Power. Griggs sued under Title VII. Issue: Does Title VII proscribe tests that
> When they applied for life insurance from Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company ("Farm Bureau") in 1999 Wyoming resident Gary Pehle and his wife Renna did not know they were infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus ("HIV"). Farm Bureau collected the i
> Hardingham was a recovering alcoholic. Defendant United Counseling Service (UCS) gave him a job as an emergency services counselor. Halpin, UCS's executive director, learned that Hardingham was again drinking. Halpin and other UCS employees went to Hardi
> Prosenjit Poddar killed Tatiana Tarasoff. Tatiana's parents claimed that two months earlier Poddar had confided his intention to kill Tatiana to Dr. Lawrence Moore, a psychologist employed by the University of California at Berkeley. They sued the univer
> Victor Hernandez had worked for more than 20 years as a custodian at a public power plant and had received training in health and safety rules from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). He took a second job as night custodian at an el
> Maria Parajon sued Diana Pereda for injuring her in a car accident. During voir dire, Parajon’s lawyer asked potential jurors: “Is there anybody sitting on this panel now that has ever been under the care of a physician for personal injuries, whether you
> Caldwell agreed with Duke/Fluor Daniel (D/FD) to install a power plant cooling system in Aiken, South Carolina. The contract stated that Caldwell would pay liquidated damages of $5,000 per day if the system was late. Marley agreed to ship to Caldwell all
> Exxon marketed gasoline to retailers in three ways. Franchisees (who owned local gas stations) were required to purchase a minimum number of gallons per month at the dealer tank wagon price (DTW) set by Exxon. Jobbers (distributors who could resell to de
> J. Sanders, Inc. had a contract with the federal government to install the heating system at a federal prison camp. The company negotiated with Superior Boiler Works to purchase three large commercial units. On March 27, Superior sent a proposal to Sande
> Ivan Tepper, the CEO of Delta Star, met with the sales manager at Michael’s, a flooring company. In a verbal agreement, he hired Michael’s to install carpet in the entryway of his office suite, and tile in his personal office and the office of Nash, his
> Sarah Jones, a high school teacher and Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader, was the subject of several posts on TheDirty.com, a gossip website run by Nik Richie. Anonymous submissions accused Jones, among other things, of being promiscuous with many football
> ProCD sold SelectPhone, a database containing information from 3,000 telephone directories. It sold the software to consumers for $150; business paid a much higher price. Every box containing the consumer version of SelectPhone was wrapped in plastic shr
> LAN Systems, Inc. (“i.LAN”), helps companies monitor their computer networks. NetScout Service Level Corp., formerly known as NextPoint Networks, Inc. (“NextPoint”), sells sophisticated software that monitors networks. In 1998, i.LAN and NextPoint signed
> Gene and Martha Jannusch owned a food concession business and believed they had agreed to sell it to Lindsey and Louann Naffziger. When the Naffzigers backed out, the Jannuschs sued. The trial court ruled that there had been no meeting of the minds, and
> Christopher Rottner’s computer began malfunctioning – its performance decreased, and the Internet speed was sluggish. Searching for a solution, he found a free trial of PC TuneUp online from AVG. AVG claimed that the software would boost Internet speed,
> Ethel Flanzraich, 78 years old, slipped and fell on property owned by Robin’s Wood and broke her left arm and left leg. Flanzraich sued, claiming Robin’s Wood employee, Anthony Monforte, had negligently painted the stairs on which she fell. Robin’s Wood
> Legends are Forever, Inc. (Legends) trademarked the slogan “Legends are Forever.” When Nike used the slogan in an ad campaign featuring basketball player Kobe Bryant, Legends sued Nike. But, during discovery, Legends repeatedly failed to comply with Nik
> Michael Brooks desperately needed financing for his company, BrooksAmerica, so he agreed to a sale-leaseback agreement with Terminal Marketing Co. Terminal would pay BrooksAmerica $250,000, and in exchange would obtain title to BrooksAmerica's computers
> MSC owned a shopping center and leased space to Tenet for use as an outpatient surgery and general medical practice. According to the lease, Tenet could assign with the consent of the lessor, and said consent would not be unreasonably withheld. MSC sold
> The California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and Delaware North Companies (DNC) entered into a contract giving DNC the right to operate a concession stand at a state park in San Diego for 10 years. Four years into the contract, DNC assigned it
> Miller listed her home for sale. On August 4th, Norman made an offer, specifying that it must be accepted by 5:00 p.m. on August 5th. Miller received the offer, made several changes, signed it, and returned it to Norman. Norman did not respond. On August
> The state of Alaska entered into a contract with Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a private company, to house Alaska’s inmates. The contract required CCA to abide by the terms of a settlement agreement between the state and its inmates known as
> Juzwiak was a tenured teacher at Hightstown High School in New Jersey. He received three emails from someone who signed himself “Josh,” with the address, “Josh Hartnett “. The teacher did not know anyone of that name. These emails said: 1. Subject line:
> After his wife left him, Anthony Elonis changed his Facebook name to “Tone Dougie” and began posting self-styled rap lyrics containing violent language and imagery about his friends and family. Elonis always posted disclaimers stating that the lyrics wer
> Donna and Alan Smith wanted to raise emus, which are flightless Australian birds that look like ostriches. The creatures reproduce rapidly in almost any terrain and are sold for their meat, which is high in protein and low in fat, and for their oil, leat
> For years, Hai Yun, a Chinese instrument manufacturer, made high-quality drums for Armadillo, which was a major distributor of musical instruments in the United States. Armadillo put great time and effort into developing a new line of drum kits called “D
> Byblos sold off price designer clothing manufactured by an Italian parent company. Morris & Sons was a Chicago retailer that had been selling men’s and women’s clothing for 40 years. Aaron Krichevsky, the president of Morris, contacted Patricia Saracini,
> Edward and Kelly Kiesel bought a trailer from James Lile, the owner of Lile’s Trailer Sales. That same day, the Kiesels used the trailer. The next morning, after an all-night rain, the Kiesels noticed water inside the trailer, near the door. The next tim
> Zion Temple First Pentecostal Church ordered new choir robes from Brighter Day Bookstore, a retailer that sold robes manufactured by Murphy Cap & Gown. When Brighter Day delivered the robes to the Zion Temple, the church members found many faults. They
> Burton is a Vermont-based designer, manufacturer, and seller of snowboards. ViQuest is a manufacturer of injection-molded products based in Shanghai, China. Burton and ViQuest contracted for ViQuest to manufacture Burton’s snowboard bindings. The agreem
> In setting rules for Internet infrastructure, the FCC ruled that broadband ISPs are not common carriers and, therefore, not subject to rules that require equal treatment for all their customers. However, the Commission later became concerned that ISPs mi
> Machado Ford published the following newspaper ad: “Buy a New Ford and Get $3,000 Minimum Trade-In Allowance.” Izadi attempted to purchase a new Ford Ranger valued at $6,595 for $3,595 in cash plus his trade=in (assuming the minimum trade=in allowance).
> James Huff was the chairman of the Kenton County Airport Board, which manages the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). While at a conference in Italy with his wife Bertha and a colleague named Larry Savage, Huff used his iPhone to ca
> Deborah Ehling, a registered nurse and paramedic who worked at the Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) reacted on her Facebook page to a shooting. Her Facebook privacy settings limited access to just “friends.” Management members were not
> Chelsea Chaney was a seventeen-year-old high school student in Fayette County, Georgia. At a county-wide Internet safety seminar, Curtis Cearley, the District’s technology director, presented a PowerPoint slideshow to illustrate the permanent and often-e
> While attempting to pass several cars on a two-lane road, Campbell drove into oncoming traffic. An innocent driver swerved to avoid Campbell and died in a collision with a third driver. The family of the deceased driver and the surviving third driver bot
> Late one night, an anti-abortion protestor named Robert Thomas climbed into a dumpster located behind the Women's Advisory Center, an abortion clinic. He found documents indicating that the plaintiffs were soon to have abortions at the clinic. Thomas gav
> Organon fired John Soldau, then sent him a letter offering to pay him double the normal severance pay, provided Soldau would sign a full release for any claims he might have against the company. Soldau signed the release and deposited it in the nearest p
> The plaintiffs sued Netscape, claiming that its SmartDownload software illegally captured private information about files they downloaded from the Internet. Plaintiffs downloaded the SmartDownload software from a page on Netscape’s web that promoted the
> Bayway Refining and Oxygenated Marketing and Trading A.G. (OMT) were both in the business of buying and selling petroleum products. Bayway agreed to sell OMT 60,000 barrels of gasoline, and OMT faxed a confirmation letter stating that it represented the
> Matthew Gabriel was a student in Professor Pumo’s immunology class. Professor Pumo’s syllabus outlined course requirements and stated that “plagiarism will not be tolerated.” After grading the first assignment, Professor Pumo realized that many papers ha
> David Chase was a television writer-producer with many credits, including a detective series called The Rockford Files. He became interested in a new program, set in New Jersey, about a “mob boss in therapy,” a concept he eventually developed into The So
> When a Tom Cat Bakery delivery van struck Elizabeth Nadel, she suffered significant injuries, Nadel filed suit. Before the trial, Tom Cat’s attorney offered a $100,000 settlement, which Nadel refused. While the jury was deliberating, the bakery’s lawyer
> Eileen Norkunas owned a home in Baltimore, Maryland. The Groves and the Cochrans expressed an interest in buying the house. The two couples drafted a handwritten letter, stating: Letter of Intent We, Rebecca Cochran, Robert Cochran, Hope Grove and Robert
> An offer is an act or statement that proposes definite terms and permits the other party to create a contract by accepting those terms. Sometimes we forget that by making a valid offer, we give that power to the other person. Sometimes corporate officers
> Attorney James Mason represented Nelson Serrano, who was accused of killing four people in Central Florida. But Serrano had an alibi: On the day of the crime, hotel surveillance in Atlanta had captured him on video – both before and after the murders. Th
> Elijah Turley was a steelworker at the Lackawanna company’s plant near buffalo, New York. For over a decade, he was the only African-American in his department. For the last three years of his employment, Lackawanna employees tormented and degraded Turle
> Sharon Yeagle was the Assistant to the Vice President of Students Affairs and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. One of Yeagle’s duties was to help students apply to the Governor’s Fellows Program. The school newspaper published an arti
> A union representing workers at Truitt Manufacturing Company requested a raise of 10 cents per hour for all members. The company countered with an offer of 2.5 cents, arguing that a larger increase would bankrupt the company. The union demanded to examin
> For 12 years, David Brune taught theater and drama at the Dalton School, an elite private school in New York City. Like other Dalton faculty, he worked on a renewable one-year contract. The school chose Thoroughly Modern Millie as the middle school’s an
> Exide Technologies issued repeated warnings to Robert Peterson for driving forklifts too fast and violating other safety rules. After he was injured in a forklift crash, Exide granted him FMLA leave for 10 days while he recovered. Peterson’s manager fire
> The voters of Washington State passed the Medical Use of Marijuana Act (MUMA) which stated that: Humanitarian compassion necessitates that the decision to authorize the medical use of marijuana by patients with terminal or debilitating illnesses is a pe
> The Tufte family leased a 260-acre farm from the Travelers Insurance Co. Toward the end of the lease, Travelers mailed the Tuftes an option to renew the lease. The option arrived at the Tuftes’ house on March 30, and gave them until April 14 to accept. O
> The Rosenbergs owned a Dairy Queen in Grand Forks, North Dakota. They agreed in writing to sell the Dairy Queen to Mary Pratt. The contract required her to pay $10,000 down and $52,000 over 15 years, at 10 percent interest. Two years later, Pratt assigne
> Mary Johnson signed a contract with Mayflower to perform repair work on her home for a fee of $25,900. Mayflower arranged for Johnson to pay for this work by borrowing money from Sterling Resources. The note she signed with Sterling had an unconscionably
> Steven Vlohotis was a salesman for NESCOR, a home improvement company. He convinced the Antunas to sign a consumer credit contract with NESCOR to install vinyl siding and windows. The contract provided that the Antunas would pay for the improvements in i
> Creative Ventures, LLC (Creative) borrowed nearly $3 million from defendant Jim Ward & Associates (JWA) to buy property in California. Creative signed promissory notes, payable to JWA. Thereafter, JWA sold this entire loan to 54 individual investors (Inv
> Maude Rosenbaum wanted to post bail to get out of prison. Harvey Bowen agreed to post bail of $7,500 in return for a $7,500 promissory note signed by Rosenbaum and secured by her house. Bowen was not a licensed bondsman and therefore, under state law, wa
> Stratford Skalkos was a manager at Avon Products. He issued Avon checks to pay his personal debts. So that no one in the company would know what he was doing, he disguised the name of the payees. For example, to pay his American Express bill, he issued a
> Brican LLC was running a scam. The victims were dentists who wanted to lease multimedia systems (called Exhibeos”) for use in their waiting rooms. Each Exhibeo consisted of a computer and a television which could, say, demonstrate proper flossing techniq
> Christina Blasco entered into a “payday loan” with Money Services Center (MSC). MSC loaned Blasco $500 and return Blasco left MSC with a signed check for $587.50 which it promised not to cash for two weeks. (Note that Blasco is laying 17.5% interest for
> A court in Nevada entered an award in favor of Mark and Janet Brandell for $435,066.82 against United Productions, Inc. (UP) and Harry R. Jones. When UP and Jones failed to pay the judgment, the court ordered both of them to appear and answer questions c
> Robert D. Potts was a partner at Deloitte & Touche. He served as the concurring partner for audits of Kahler Corp. Kahler owned the University Park hotel, which it listed in its financial statements as “an asset held for sale” although the hotel did not
> Arthur Andersen audited Enron Corporation’s financial statements. When Enron’s financial and accounting problems began to surface at the beginning of August, a senior accountant at Enron told two Andersen partners that Enron could face severe accounting
> The town of Sanford, Maine, decided to auction off a lot it owned. The town advertised that it would accept bids through the mail, up to a specified date. Arthur and Arline Chevalier mailed in a bid that turned out to be the highest. When the town refuse
> For 19 years, Ernst & Ernst audited a small brokerage firm, First Securities Company of Chicago (First Securities). Leston B. Nay was president of the firm and owned 92 percent of its stock. He convinced some customers to invest funds in “escrow” account
> ABAT was a Delaware corporation operating in China that designed and manufactured lithium batteries for use in consumer products. Because its stock was listed on a U.S. stock exchange, ABAT was required to file financial statements with both the U.S. Sec
> Grant Thornton (GT) audited Winstar, a broadband communications company that provided businesses with wireless internet connectivity. Winstar was one of GT’s largest and most important clients, but only 12 percent of the company’s fees came from auditing
> The First National Bank of Keystone could do nothing right. For five years, it issued risky mortgage loans on which borrowers defaulted. Keystone Management lied about the value of the loans. When the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) began
> Steven Leber (Leber) was the trustee of the Steven E. Leber Charitable Remainder Unitrust (“Trust”) which, at its peak, had assets of $4 million. The Defendant, Paul Konigsberg (Konigsberg), was a certified public accountant and the named partner of Koni
> Oregon Steel Mills, Inc. was a publicly-traded company whose financial statements were audited by Coopers & Lybrand, LLP for many years. When Oregon sold the stock in one of its subsidiaries, Coopers advised Oregon—incorrectly and negligently, as it turn
> In 1960, The New York Times ran a full-page advertisement paid for by civil rights activists. The ad described an “unprecedented wave of terror” by the police of Montgomery, Alabama, against civil rights protesters. It stated that the police had assaulte
> It was late night at the Del Lago hotel bar. Bradley Smith and 40 of his closest fraternity brothers had been partying there for hours. Around midnight, guests from a wedding party made a rowdy entrance. One of Smith’s friends brashly hit on a young woma
> Maria Kerkoulas owned the Pub Zone bar, frequented by many motorcycle gangs, and knew from her own experience and conversations with police that some of the gangs, including the Pagans, were dangerous and prone to attack customers for no reason. Kerkoula
> The defendant, attempting to heal the plaintiff, left him blind in one eye. The plaintiff has sued in trespass, a forerunner of today’s tort action. The defendant made a procedural argument, claiming that the plaintiff should have brought an action of co
> Discovery in civil litigation is rarely the subject matter for legal dramas on television or in the movies, so the discussion of discovery will be unfamiliar to many students. Students should understand its role in our adversary system as defined in the
> Microsoft Libya hired a Libyan citizen, Mahmoud Kedkad, to work as a Marketing Lead in Tripoli. Kedkad signed a one-year employment agreement (2010 Contract) providing that: This contract is subject to the prevailing labor law applicable in Libya. The L
> Oak Ridge FM, Inc. and Dick Broadcasting Company (DBC) entered into a contract that gave DBC a right of first refusal to purchase all the assets of Oak Ridge’s radio station WOKI-FM. The agreement also provided that: No party may assign its rights, inte
> Heritage wanted to buy a substance called TBCC from Phibro but, because of uncertainty in the industry, the two companies could not agree on a price for future years. It turned out, though, that the price of TBCC tended to rise and fall with that of copp
> Scott Minkler alleged that when he was a child, his Little League baseball coach, David Schwartz, had molested him. During the period when these terrible events occurred, David was living at the home of his mother, Betty Schwartz, and some of the episode
> Jones Brothers Construction was the general contractor on a job to expand American Airlines facilities at O’Hare International Airport. Jones Brothers invited Quake Construction to bid on the employee facilities and automotive maintenance shop (“the proj
> Dr. Robert Mayo was a tenured faculty member of the engineering department at North Carolina State University (NCSU). In July, he informed his department chair, Dr. Paul Turinsky, that he was leaving NCSU effective September 1. Turinsky accepted the resi
> William J. Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers, Inc. sold fine art and antiques at public auctions. Albert Rabizadeh wanted to buy a nineteenth-century Russian silver and enamel box, with an estimated value of $4,000, that was to be sold at one of J
> Mr. and Ms. Ahrens wanted to buy a trailer court owned by Charles Dodd. The Ahrenses drafted and signed a contract to buy “Blue Bell Trailer Court” for $305,000. The contract stated that the trailer court included 31 acres. Dodd held the deed to a 33.72-
> From May 1992 through January 1993 plaintiff Bed, Bath & Beyond negotiated with defendant La Jolla Village Square Venture Partners (“La Jolla”) for a lease of retail space in La Jolla Village Square, a shopping center La Jolla was then in the process of
> Adam Curry was an MTV video disc jockey (“VJ”) and host of the popular Headbanger’s Ball and MTV Top 20 Video Countdown. In the early days of the Internet, when VJs had big hair and many major companies (including MTV) were not yet online, Curry dreamed
> In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the FBI questioned more than 1,000 people with suspected terrorist links. It then detained those it deemed to be “of high interest,” most of whom were Arab Muslim men. Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani Muslim, was arrested and c
> As introduced in the chapter opener, Howard Browning and Lynn Poirier were a couple. Early on, they promised to share any lottery winnings equally. Fourteen years after that oral promise, Poirier purchased a winning ticket and collected one million dolla
> Tommy and Eleanor Daves gave their daughter Lisa Baker the deed to a two-acre property with a house on it, keeping for themselves a life interest in the parcel. When they died, the property returned to their daughter. Two years later Tommy and Eleanor di
> A tenant had rented land from Richardson. However, Campbell claimed the property was really his. Unless the tenant could prove that Richardson owned the land, he would have no right to stay there. Richardson's tenant offered a deed (which was then calle
> A former colleague recruited Luke to join his new company as a director, leading a team of about 30 people. Luke was replacing Jill, who had been fired for failing to deliver on an important project. The team he was to lead suffered from low morale and a
> Rob is in the business of buying dental practices. He finds solo practitioners, buys their assets, signs them to a long-term contract and then improves their management and billing processes so effectively that both he and the dentists are better off. Ro
> As IT professional describes how short-term thinking threatened him and his company: The CIO of my company was the kind of boss who expected people to do as they were told. Everyone in the company kowtowed to him, even his peers. Years before, he had in
> Wesley Autrey was standing on a train platform with his two young daughters, and a man he did not know. Suddenly, this man had a seizure, causing him to fall on the tracks. Autrey heard a train approaching, and knew he had only seconds to act. Leaping on
> When Orlanda graduated from college, she got a job as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. After two years working in technical support, one of her customers offered her a job at his company. It turned out that her new firm was in shambles, but, after
> James is on the management team of a health insurance company called HIC. At a team meeting, the CEO announces that from now on, HIC will not hire smokers, and all employees will be regularly tested for nicotine. This policy would reduce the firmâ&
> The Stored Communications Act (SCA) protects the privacy of electronic communications stored by service providers (that is, by companies offering an internet connection). This statute prohibits the government from accessing a user’s electronic files with
> Although International Shoe manufactured footwear only in St. Louis, Missouri, it sold its products nationwide. It did not have offices or warehouses in the state of Washington, but it did send about a dozen salespeople there. The salespeople rented spac
> Throughout the early 1990s, Royal Dutch Petroleum, a Dutch company, and Shell, a British company, were engaged in oil exploration and production in Nigeria. When local residents protested the oil companies’ practices, the firms allegedly paid the Nigeria
