Buisness Law You Decide

Coleman works for the company Software Inc. based in Delaware. The company sells security equipment to businesses and bars. Coleman does much of his job on the road meeting with clients and representatives. Over his 17 year employment history, he has had many times where he has been on the road for more than 3 months.

During a trip to Colorado, he found an anniversary ring he wanted to buy for his wife. He could not afford the ring, so he decided to steal it. After that, he went to Jimmy's Poor-Man's bar to meet with John. Jimmy wasn't Coleman's client but John didn't like his customers seeing him "doing business". Coleman was talking with Jimmy when his drink spilled. It gave him an idea to put alcohol in your mouth, blow on it and light it. A fireball went through the room and killed Jimmy and the bar had a lot of damage. Coleman was fired from his job without being interviewed.

A week later, Coleman wanted to make amends with John. Coleman told him, "The company and I are sorry about what happened. Let me take you out to dinner-Software Inc. will pay the bill." They went out and got in an argument. Coleman punched John in the eye causing severe damage.

Jimmy's mother, John and the five owners of the bar sued Software Inc. for the damage caused by Coleman. Coleman sued Software Inc. for wrongful termination. The jewelry store sued Software Inc. for the value of the ring.

The questions at hand are as follows: Will Software Inc. be liable to the owners of Jimmy's bar or to Jimmy's mom and does the same law apply to both cases? If I was the CEO of Software Inc., what policies would I implement to try to limit my liability for people such as Coleman?

Starting with Coleman's termination from Software, Inc. did they have the right to do this? An employer/employee relationship begins as a principal/agent relationship. In this case, Software Inc. is the principal that hired Coleman (the agent) to sell their software to bars and businesses. In the text, it discusses when this kind of relationship can be terminated and under what circumstances. "The termination of an agency extinguishes an agent's actual authority to act on the principal's behalf. However, if the principal fails to give the proper notice of termination to a third party, the agent still has apparent authority to bind the principal to contracts with these third parties. If this happens, the contract is enforceable against the principal. The principal's only recourse is against the agent to recover damages caused by these unauthorized contracts." (Cheeseman) Software Inc. did have the right to terminate the employment of Coleman. At that time, Coleman no longer had the right to use Software Inc.'s name when conducting business. The scenario specifically states that Coleman was terminated without being interviewed to give his side of