BUS 206 Project Three Guidelines and Rubric

Competencies

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:

• Apply relevant aspects of law to current business situations
• Differentiate between matters of law and matters of ethics in business situations

Scenario

The Friendly Dawg is a retail pet supply store owned by Dave Dawgs. Dave has worked in the store since high school and took over running the store after his father died two years ago. Originally, the store sold only pet food and supplies, such as bird cages, water bowls, pet beds, and so on. Upon taking ownership, Dave added fish tanks with fish for sale. Recently, he built a kennel and cages in a former storage area in the rear of the store to sell live animals, such as snakes, birds, dogs, and cats. Landlord Lou came by during renovations and asked what was going on. One of Dave’s employees explained that The Friendly Dawg was expanding its inventory and needed the space. Landlord Lou told the employee, “Very exciting! Good luck!”

A few weeks later, landlord Lou began receiving complaints from the neighboring tenant, the Sunshine Yoga, that the noise from the dogs and parrots was very disruptive.

The signed lease between Dave Dawgs’s deceased father and Lou describes the business as a pet supply store only and does not mention selling live animals. The lease specifies a rent in the amount of $500 a month. Sunshine Yoga does not have a written lease. The owner of Sunshine Yoga, Jasmine, met Lou one night in a bar two years ago where he verbally offered to rent her the space for $300 a month. Jasmine claims that landlord Lou told her that night that she could rent from him forever and that he would never evict her.

Lou called Dave, asking him to quiet the animals. Dave said he would try, but the complaints from Jasmine continued. Dave also demanded that Lou improve the air-conditioning system, claiming it was too hot at the rear of the store for his animals, which agitated them. Landlord Lou refused, claiming that air-conditioning was not meant to cool that area of the store and that it was not his job as a landlord to take care of live animals.

Dave stopped paying his rent, claiming that he was not obligated to do so because Lou was breaching his obligation under the lease to maintain the property in good repair. The next day, a dangerous snake escaped through the air vents and slithered into the neighboring yoga studio, frightening Jasmine, and she had a heart attack.

After recovering, Jasmine stopped paying her rent, claiming that the premises were unsafe due to the presence of wild animals. She also claimed that she has been very depressed and anxious because of the ongoing situation. She contends that she has lost clients because of the noise coming from The Friendly Dawg.

The Friendly Dawg has been a good tenant, enjoys a strong customer base, and pays more in rent than Sunshine Yoga. Sunshine Yoga has always been late with rent, and Jasmine constantly bothers Lou over minor issues.

Directions

Write two papers. You can submit them as two separate papers or combine them into one. In the first paper, you will analyze the implications and nature of the lease contracts between the parties. In the second paper, you will define tort law and analyze what tort claims and defenses exist. Be certain to elaborate and explain.

Contract Law

Evaluate the potential rights, claims, defenses, obligations, and remedies for each party from the perspective of contract law. Determine whether landlord Lou has a right to evict either party. Use reliable resources, such as the textbook and other course resources, to support your evaluation. Specifically, in your evaluation, include the following components:

1. Contract between The Friendly Dawg and landlord Lou
   1. Analyze the scenario to determine whether a valid contract still exists between The Friendly Dawg and landlord Lou.
      1. Explain the elements of a valid contract, and identify which contract elements, if any, exist between The Friendly Dawg and landlord Lou.
   2. Explain any potential rights, claims, defenses, obligations, and remedies available to both landlord Lou and The Friendly Dawg in this scenario.
      1. Support your analysis by referencing specific legal principles or laws.
2. Contract between Sunshine Yoga and landlord Lou
   1. Analyze the scenario to determine whether a valid contract still exists between Sunshine Yoga and landlord Lou.
      1. Explain the elements of a valid contract, and identify which contract elements, if any, exist between Sunshine Yoga and landlord Lou.
   2. Explain any potential rights, claims, defenses, obligations, and remedies available to both landlord Lou and Sunshine Yoga in this scenario.
      1. Support your analysis by referencing specific legal principles or laws.
3. Grounds to evict
   1. Based on your analysis of each party’s rights and obligations, describe whether landlord Lou has the grounds to evict either The Friendly Dawg or Sunshine Yoga.
   2. Support your conclusions by referencing specific legal principles or laws.
4. Include a References section and cite your sources using APA style.

Tort Law

Evaluate the implications of tort law in this scenario and what legal claims Sunshine Yoga might have. Use reliable resources, such as the textbook and other course resources, to support your evaluation. Specifically, in your evaluation, respond to the following prompts:

1. Tort law: Define what tort law is and how torts may affect business practices.
2. Relevant tort laws: Identify tort laws relevant to the scenario, specifically the incident involving the snake.
3. Legal claims:
   1. Identify what legal claims Sunshine Yoga might have against The Friendly Dawg and landlord Lou based on those tort laws and related legal principles.
   2. Support your conclusions by referencing the applicable tort laws and related legal principles.
4. Include a References section and cite your sources using APA style.

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit the following two papers. You can include both of these papers in one document or submit them as two separate documents.

Contract Law

Your submission should be a 3- to 5-page Microsoft Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

Tort Law

Your submission should be a 2- to 4-page Microsoft Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

Project Three Rubric