Business Law 20201: Assignment Pt 2
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LAWS1018: BUSINESS LAW
Case Study – Part 2 (20%) – 1,000 words
Due 5 pm Friday May 1
Instructions for the Presentation and Submission of Written Assignments
The assignment must be submitted as a double lined space Word document (NOT A PDF). It
is not an essay; therefore, you do not need an introduction and conclusion.
Answer each question in concise, clear sentences and paragraphs using the numerical value
for each question as a guide for how much you need to write.
Please ensure that you clearly label which questions and parts of questions that you have
answered. Marks will be deducted where clear labelling is not provided.
Referencing
Wherever possible, appropriate authorities (cases and/or legislation) should be referred to
in support of your statements and assertions. Your written work may use the referencing
style set out in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, published by the Melbourne
University Law Review Association (for which there is a link on the Business Law Moodle
course site) OR you may use the Harvard system of referencing.
Word Count
Students must try not exceed the word count on the assignment. The penalty for going
above the word count is 5% per 100 words, or part thereof. However, the word count does
not include headings, footnotes and list of references. Footnotes can only be used for
referencing purposes and must not contain any lengthy text or discussion.
Assistance
Your teacher is NOT required to examine any draft copies of your assignment answers,
however, you can ask questions about the assignment before the due date, for example, by
emailing your teacher. If you miss any ‘Zoom’ or recorded sessions about the assignment
then it is your own responsibility to ‘catch up’ and locate any relevant information on
Moodle about the assignment task and/or referencing requirements.
Turnitin
All written assignments must be submitted through Turnitin by the due date with a cover
sheet that includes your name and your student ID number. A penalty of 5% will be
Business Law 20201: Assignment Pt 2
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deducted for each calendar day the assignment is late, unless a formal application for
extension of time has been granted prior to the assignment submission date.
Read the following factual accounts and answer ALL of the questions with reference to the
principles of law covered in:
Topic 5: Agency Law
Topic 6: Dealing with Customers and Competitors
Topic 7: Contract Law – Part 1
Question 1
Jules owns a Wedding DJ Service, called ‘Forever Together’, which he operates on most
weekends in city venues and select country locations. He sometimes hires assistants,
especially if the wedding is large and/or held in a more remote country venue, such as a
winery. One of these assistants is Dom, a musician who is always looking for extra work to
supplement his patchy income. Jules has business cards which he freely hands out to his
assistants encouraging them to advertise his DJ Services. The business cards have the
following information printed on them:
Forever Together
Wedding DJ Services
Unforgettable memories
Tailored to your individual needs
We guarantee the best fun for you and your guests
Contact: djservices@forevertogether.com
About six months ago Jules and Dom had a misunderstanding over the arrangements for a
DJ event to be held on a Sunday morning at a city hotel. Dom was sure that he would not be
needed for the Sunday morning event; however, Jules was depending on Dom to assist him.
When Dom did not show up Jules was angry and left a heated message on Dom’s phone
telling him he was ‘fired’ and never to expect any work as his assistant again.
In the meantime Dom decided to set up his own wedding DJ service, however, since he did
not have enough money to buy the necessary equipment he decided to borrow it by
pretending that ‘Forever Together’ was his business; and since he still had the business
cards for ‘Forever Together’ this would make the process even easier.
Deciding that his business would acquire a reputation for the loudest sound he placed an
order with ‘Sound Unlimited’, music equipment suppliers, under the ‘Forever Together’
name, for a new sound system costing $40,000.
Since ‘Sound Unlimited’ had been a regular supplier to ‘Forever Together’ in the past and
had dealings with Dom before on behalf of Jules they agreed to supply the system to Dom
with full payment to be made within 28 days of delivery.
Business Law 20201: Assignment Pt 2
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Dom was unable to get any DJ work within the short term, especially since Jules already had
a monopoly over the wedding DJ events, so he was unable to pay for the sound system. In
fact both Dom and the equipment seem to have vanished, the rumour being that Dom is
now producing his own music under a fictitious name.
While ‘Sound Unlimited’ understands that Jules was unaware that the sound equipment had
been purchased using his business name and reputation, it claims that Jules should still be
held responsible to pay for it.
With reference to the principles of Agency Law advise ‘Sound Unlimited’ whether they have
any legal grounds upon which to claim the cost of the sound system from Jules.
[5 marks]
Question 2
Eddy is the proprietor of ‘Green Thumbs’, a local plant nursery business which has been in
operation for about three years. While the business has so far been successful, recently
‘Green Thumbs’ experienced a problem arising from a complaint made by a customer
involving an alleged breach of the consumer law. The customer is Mary, a retired school
teacher, who finally had time to re-landscape her garden.
Mary decided to line the borders of her property with a popular plant called Agapanthus (or
Lily of the Nile) with thick evergreen foliage which produces flowers from spring into
summer with spikes of blue, white and near-black. While these flowers can grow in poor soil
they definitely need it to be well –drained and require exposure to the full sun for part of
the year. Since Mary’s property is dwarfed by huge gum trees it is always in the shade and
consequently the soil is damp all year round. She contacts Eddy for some advice about her
plan to grow a large quantity of Agapanthus flowers.
After taking a brief look around Mary’s property Eddy says:
“My uncle has a property in the hills and he has been growing healthy Agapanthus for years
despite the dampness and permanently shady conditions – you shouldn’t have any
problems either.”
Mary said: “Well if you are sure I’ll go ahead with the Agapanthus then?”
Eddy assured Mary to go ahead with her plans, so she purchased a large quantity of
Agapanthus bulbs from ‘Green Thumbs’ which she planted in early spring under Eddy’s
instructions.
Three months after planting the Agapanthus bulbs not many of them sprouted and those
that did were stunted with wilted, yellow leaves. Mary contacted Barry, the groundskeeper
from her former school, who, upon examination of the Mary’s Agapanthus, quickly
Business Law 20201: Assignment Pt 2
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determined that they were suffering from ‘bulb rot’, a disease that starts underground and
prevents them from growing. Barry said that Agapanthus were totally unsuitable plants for
her garden, not only for the lack of sunshine, but because of the dampness of the soil and its
contamination from the eucalyptus trees. He advised her to dig them up as soon as possible
and discard them in plastic bags to prevent further soil contamination.
The bulbs had cost Mary $800. In addition, she had purchased a fertiliser for $100
recommended by ‘Green Thumbs’ which she had administered according to the
instructions. Since it is a labour intensive task Mary will need to pay someone to dig up and
dispose of all the Agapanthus bulbs and seedlings. This will probably cost around $200.
Mary is now considering taking an action against ‘Green Thumbs’ under the Australian
Consumer Law.
(1) With reference to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) explain whether:
(a) Mary is eligible to take an action against ‘Green Thumbs’.
[1 mark]
(b) Assuming Mary is eligible as a ‘consumer’ to take an action against ‘Green Thumbs’
under the ACL, which provisions(s) of the ACL will her action be based on?
[5 marks]
(c) If Mary is successful in proving that that ‘Green Thumbs’ has breached the ACL what
remedy or remedies will she be seeking against them?
[2 marks]
(2) Would your answer to Part (1) be different if Mary had purchased the Agapanthus bulbs
from ‘Green Thumbs’ after undertaking her own research on the internet about the
most suitable plants for her property and even after Eddy asked her whether she was
aware that the bulbs required well-drained soil and access to the full sun once they
sprouted?
[2 marks]
Question 3
One day while Tom was browsing in ‘City Cycles’, a motor cycle retail store, he noticed a
genuine ‘Diezel’ brand leather biker jacket for sale for $50. Knowing that such jackets would
normally sell for $500 or more he was very excited to see this one on sale for such an
Business Law 20201: Assignment Pt 2
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extraordinarily low price, so he went straight up to the counter with a fifty dollar ($50) note
and told the assistant that he wished to buy the ‘Diezel’ jacket.
Slick, the assistant, said:
‘Yes – that will be $500 – cash or card?’
Looking shocked and confused Tom said:
‘But the price is $50?’
A look of shock also came over Slick’s face who said to Tom:
‘I’m really sorry but it appears that one of the staff has mistakenly put the wrong
price tag on the jacket. I couldn’t possibly sell it to you for such a low price, but I’m
prepared to discount it to $450 as a gesture of goodwill.’
Tom firmly replied:
‘The mistake is your problem and while I understand that it is not personally your
fault, legally you still have to sell the jacket for me for the advertised price of $50.’
When Slick still insisted that he was not obligated to sell the jacket for such a low price Tom
stormed out of the shop stating that he was going to ‘take the matter straight to Consumer
and Business Services’ who would confirm his right to buy the jacket for $50.
(a) With reference to the contractual rules for offer and acceptance explain whether or
not Slick is required to sell the jacket to Tom for $50; or, whether is Slick entitled to
refuse to do so.
[3 marks]
(b) Assume that Tom is now prepared to buy the Diezel jacket for the $450, but when he
returns to ‘City Cycles’ a week later to buy it Slick informs him that he has already
sold it to another customer.
Tom still insists that Slick has to sell him a Diezel brand jacket for $450, but Slick
refuses.
Advise Tom.
[2 marks]
Assignment total: 20 marks
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