Green Machine, Inc.

Green Machine, Inc., a company devoted to producing eco-friendly household products, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Colossal Corporation. Green Machine's most famous and best-selling product is the Eco-Widget—a handheld, solar-powered device that recharges a variety of electronics on the go, including cell phones, laptops, and tablets. Colossal Corporation has uncovered an incident of theft at Green Machine: Approximately one month ago, over 400 Eco-Widgets were stolen from Green Machine's Adelphi, Maryland warehouse.

Shortly after the theft was discovered, Colossal Corporation's internal investigator, Ivan, found an online advertisement for the sale of exactly 400 Eco-Widgets. Ivan called the contact on the website and set up a meeting with the seller, Greg Smith. When Ivan, under the guise of being an interested purchaser of the widgets, inquired about Greg's distributor, Greg did not hesitate to reveal that he purchased the widgets from Rachel Jones, his long-time business associate. Ivan inspected the 400 Eco-Widgets, and confirmed they were indeed the same products that were stolen from the warehouse. He then requested a price quote from Greg and asked Greg to hold the products for him for seven days. Greg agreed.

Ivan arranged a meeting with Rachel the very next day, during which he pretended that he wanted to buy electronics from her. He asked Rachel if she had any Eco-Widget distributors she could recommend. Rachel said that she works directly with a Green Machine sales agent named Sam Simpson, and that she recently purchased 400 Eco-Widgets from him at a discounted price. Rachel also said that Sam is quite interested in expanding his business with her, and would provide Ivan with a great deal.

After his meeting with Rachel, Ivan checked the personnel records at Green Machine and identified Sam Simpson as a low-level warehouse employee who has been with the company for over 10 years. Sam's personnel record is spotless, with no prior personnel issues and no complaints. Sam is in charge of night security at the warehouse, and has no history in sales. As a night security guard, Sam is responsible for protecting the warehouse from theft, and is not permitted to sell products. After further investigation, Ivan found company e-mails between Rachel and Sam in which Sam posed as a sales agent. Reading the e-mails, it became obvious that neither Rachel nor Greg knew that the 400 Eco-Widgets were stolen. Ivan then collected video from all of Sam's shifts and was able to locate a film of Sam packing the Eco-Widgets into his personal car and driving them out of the warehouse parking lot.

Your task is to research the legal issues surrounding the stolen property. It is up to you to decipher which laws have been broken, and what the potential remedies are. The vice president wants you to prepare a narrated PowerPoint to present this information to the senior leadership team. Because of the sensitive nature of this case, the vice president has asked you to operate with total confidentiality and without involving the legal department.

PLEASE SEE NEXT PAGE FOR QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO THIS CASE AND POWERPOINT REQUIREMENTS

Can Colossal Corporation terminate Sam without any notice or a hearing? Why or why not? This question relates to employment-at-will.

Did Sam, Rachel, or Greg commit any crimes and, if so, which crimes did each person commit? Fully explain your answer for each person as you explore the subject of business criminal law.

Did Sam, Rachel, or Greg commit any torts and, if so, which torts did each person commit? Read about the law of torts in order to make your determinations.

What defenses, if any, might the relevant persons allege in defense to the torts and crimes identified in questions 2 and 3? Fully explain your answer for each person as to both torts and crimes.

Can anyone collect damages? Who can collect and whom would they sue? Detail the specific damages that may be available to potential plaintiffs as you read about tort damages.

  • Include a title slide, with your name on it, introducing the presentation
  • On the presentation slides, include only the major bullet points for each issue
  • Include no more than 20 slides
  • Include a script for narration to provide supporting rationale for each major bullet point in the notes section of PowerPoint.
  • Title your files using this protocol: yourlastname_GreenMachinePowerPoint_date
  • The final slide must present a clear summary of your major conclusions and any recommendations

This project is intended to introduce you to the differences between civil and criminal law, the distinction between torts and crimes, the contours of employment at will, legal defenses and tort damages. You are asked to answer the questions in a narrated Power Point presentation by applying the law to the particular facts of each hypothetical.

You can research the law in Maryland and to incorporate the law of Maryland into your presentations to answer the five questions (the scenario is set in Adelphi, MD). Note that the law of Maryland may differ slightly from the general black-letter law and illuminate several crimes or torts designations not included in the black-letter law resource material.

You are required to research the legal issues surrounding the stolen property and reflect on how the facts and the law come together, analyze possible arguments and determine which are most reasonable and formulate arguments addressing all issues raised by the narrative.

Can Colossal Corporation terminate Sam without any notice or a hearing? Why or why not? This question relates to employment-at-will. What is the employment-at-will doctrine? Which governing law are you applying? Does the Maryland law or Black Letter Law in classroom resources differ? If so, how? Does Sam have any viable defenses?

Did Sam, Rachel or Greg commit any crimes and, if so, which crimes did each person commit? Fully explain your answer for each person as you explore the subject of business criminal law. To accomplish this you must articulate the elements of the crime each person committed and determine if each party sufficiently meets those elements. If so, what is their obligation to the crime victim? Which governing law are you applying (Maryland law or Black Letter Law in classroom resources)? Does Sam, Rachel or Greg have any viable defenses to the various crimes committed?

Did Sam, Rachel or Greg commit any torts and, if so, which torts did each person commit? Read about the law of torts and its various forms in order to make your determinations. To accomplish this you must articulate the elements of the tort each person committed and determine if each party sufficiently meets those elements. If so, what is their obligation to the tort victim? Which governing law are you applying (Maryland law or Black Letter Law in classroom resources)?

What defenses, if any, might the relevant persons allege in defense to the various torts and crimes identified in questions 2 and 3? Does Sam, Rachel or Greg have any viable defenses if they sufficiently meets the elements of the various torts or crimes? Fully explain your answer for each person as to both torts and crimes. Which governing law are you applying (Maryland law or Black Letter Law in classroom resources)?

Can anyone collect damages? If so, what type of damages and from whom would they collect? Whom would they sue? Detail the nature of the specific damages that may be available to potential plaintiffs as you read about tort damages. Fully explain your answer for each person as to what type of damages and from whom would they collect? Which governing law are you applying (Maryland law or Black Letter Law in classroom resources)?

Remember the problem solving benchmarks discussed in Week One’s hybrid class and the analytical framework: issue identification, issue analysis, conclusion and recommendation (IRAC). You analysis must:

Exhibit the capacity to identify the legal issues

Exhibit the capacity to research and evaluate legal issues, draw conclusions and provide recommendations

In addition to ensuring the substance of the five questions is accurate, you should also ensure that the formatting and mechanical requirements of the assignment are satisfied. You are asked to abide by the formatting requirements but be particularly careful to ensure that the narration contains an introductory slide which sets a sufficient context of the case, it contains a slide that presents a clear summary of your major conclusions and any recommendations and it must end with a references slide. Lastly to convey your message effectively you must speak fluently in a concise, grammatically correct, organized, precise and persuasive manner.