Background: Springfield Sports, Inc. is a sports equipment and memorabilia store in the state of Columbia, U.S.A. Springfield Sports sells sports trading cards and autographed photos, baseballs, bats, footballs, jerseys and other sports equipment and clothing. Homer owns 100% of the stock in Springfield Sports, Inc., and is the President of the corporation. Flanders is the corporation's Treasurer and Secretary and he also works at the store. Marge, Bart, Lisa and Barney are employees but do not own any stock or hold any corporate positions. Bart is a 16 year old student who works part-time at the store.
Question 1. One day Barney was re-stocking the shelves with heavy trophies when the shelf collapsed. All the trophies fell on Barney's arms, and both his arms were broken in the accident. Which of the following is true about Barney's situation?
A. If Barney can prove that the shelves were defective, Barney can sue Springfield Sports in the Superior Court of Columbia and recovery his medical bills, his lost wages, and get compensation for his pain and suffering.
B. If Springfield Sports can prove that Barney carelessly knocked one of the shelf supports away right before the accident, and that Barney's carelessness was the proximate cause of the accident, then Barney will recover nothing from Springfield Sports.
C. Regardless of who is at fault for the accident, Barney will recover his medical bills and a portion of his lost wages, but cannot recover compensation for his pain and suffering
D. None of the above are true.
Question 2. After Barney's accident described in question, both his arms were put in casts and Barney could no longer stock shelves or work the cash register, which were essential functions of his job. Which statement most accurately summarizes Springfield Sports' obligations to Barney until his arms heal?
A. Springfield Sports must give Barney all the time off work he needs, at full pay, to heal his arms.
B. If there are other jobs at Springfield Sports that do not require Barney to use his arms, Springfield Sports must reassign Barney to that job until he is healed.
C. Springfield Sports can make Barney take a lie detector test to see if he was drunk at the time of the accident; if he was, then Barney can be terminated, but otherwise, Springfield Sports has to hold Barney's job open for him when he is healed.
D. Springfield Sports can terminate Barney after the accident, and does not have to re-hire him when his arms heal.
Question 3. Homer spent his time away from work on his hobby, model trains. His train set was very large and consisted of rare and one-of-a-kind trains. One day, while visiting with a fellow train hobbyist Smithers, Homer said, "When I retire in two years and sell Springfield Sports, I'm also going to sell my trains and spend the rest of my years traveling on real trains." Homer then told Smithers that he was the only person he planned to offer his trains to because he knew Smithers would take good care of them. Smithers said he looked forward to the day when he could buy the trains. Smithers then spent the next two years and most of his savings building a new 2,000 square foot room onto his house to make room for the trains. When Smithers told Homer that he was building the new room, Homer smiled and said nothing to stop Smithers from proceeding with his plans. Homer also heard that Smithers had borrowed money from his elderly aunt to buy the trains. However, halfway through construction of his new "train room," Homer was going to give the trains to Barney because he felt bad about Barney's accident. Which of the following statements is most accurate regarding Smithers' rights?
A. Smithers can use the legal theory of promissory estoppel to force Homer to sell the trains to him instead of giving them to Barney.
B. Smithers cannot stop Homer from giving the trains to Barney, but he can sue Homer for breach of contract to recover the value of the trains.
C. Smithers can sue Barney for interference with prospective economic advantage for the value of the trains.
D. Smithers has no plausible causes of action in this scenario.
Question 4. Mr. Burns, a local industrialist, heard about how successful Springfield Sports was (despite its occasional legal problems), and approached Homer with an offer. Mr. Burns wanted to open up two new locations in nearby Shelbyville and Capitol City. Mr. Burns said that he would give Homer 40% of the profits from the stores in Shelbyville and Capitol City if he could use the name "Springfield Sports" and a picture of Homer's face in the advertisement of those two stores. Homer said yes, that sounded good to him. Mr. Burns opened up the stores, and two months later presented Homer with a check for $500, saying that was 40% of the profit that the two stores had generated to date. Homer was disappointed but cashed the check. Later, he found out that the stores had actually made over $50,000 in profit during those two months. If Homer sues Mr. Burns, which of the following causes of action can Homer reasonably anticipate will succeed?
A. Breach of fiduciary duty
B. Fraud
C. Breach of contract
D. All of the above