Case Study:
BUSINESS LAW CASE STUDY ASSESSMENT - TARDIS CASE STUDY
Your TARDIS Café has now been operating for 12 months and you decide to have a first year anniversary party called "DOCTORS CELEBRATION" You have invited 100 people and have asked them all to dress as their favourite Doctor, or a character from Doctor Who.
QUESTION 1 - Because you know a lot of the outfits will be valuable, you set up a cloak room for people to check in their extra belongings. Donna is running the cloakroom.
She is instructed by you that when a person hands over a piece of clothing, Donna is to give them a ticket which has a number on the front and states on the reverse side:
"We do not take any responsibility or liability for clothing checked in to our cloakroom."
Travis has made himself an amazing Doctor Who outfit that includes a 28 foot scarf (pictured).He decides to check it in at the cloakroom because he has been tripping over it since he arrived. He hands his scarf to Donna and receives his ticket with the disclaimer on the back.
When he goes back at midnight to collect it, it is no longer there. Donna has got confused when handing back similar clothing, and has incorrectly given it to a different person whom she cannot remember. Travis wants TARDIS Café to pay for the replacement of his scarf which cost him $200.00.You wish to rely upon the exemption clause on the ticket.
QUESTION 2 - The special drink of the party is the "Wiggly Wobbly Timey Wimey Cocktail" which contains a high quantity of alcohol. Yourself and Adam (the two directors) have been served a lot of the cocktail by Donna and are quite intoxicated. You have been able to still talk to the guests but you are both swaying on your feet. Seamus has been with you all night and has not consumed any alcohol at all.
Seamus runs an Italian restaurant that has not been doing very well. He says to you and Adam, "I think you should make pizzas here, and I have just the pizza oven for you. You can have it for $5,000."You and Adamreply, "Yes, we accept your great big fat oven, you big Irish Italian guy" and then you both fall over onto the floor due to intoxication, laughing.
The next morning asmall electric pizza oven is delivered from Seamus' Italian Restaurant with an invoice for $5000. You have a very bad hangover and very little recollection of anything that was said the night before.
Advice TARDIS Café if a valid contract has been made.
QUESTION 3 - You have decided to sell TARDIS Café T-Shirts and mugs at the café. Donna is again working for you and you tell her to put a price on the T-Shirts of $35.00 and the mugs $5.00. Donna accidently makes the signs incorrectly and they are on display with T-shirts $5.00 and mugs $35.00.
Billie loves Doctor Who and sees the T-shirts. She approaches Donna and says she would like 5 T-shirts for $5.00 each.
Is Donna, acting on behalf of TARDIS Café, obligated to sell the T-shirts to Billie at $5.00 each?
QUESTION 4 - You have had enough of Donna's mistakes; losing scarves, getting you drunk, mixing up signage. You terminate her employment. As she is leaving she fires off the following words to you, "I am going to join another café and wherever I go I am going to help make it so much better than your silly Doctor Who business."
You point out to Donna that when she was hired 12 months ago you put into her contract an express clause that says: "I, Donna, agree, upon my leaving the employment of TARDIS Pty Ltd, not to work at any other café within five kilometres radius of any Doctor Who café, for a period of 24 months."
She has signed the contract at the end and remembers reading that clause.
Can you enforce the clause against her?
QUESTION 5 - TARDIS Pty Ltd has decided to open another café in Norwood. You have found ideal premises on The Parade and you have made enquiries about it. You decide to go ahead with the lease.
a) What is the landlord required to give you in writing in relation to the lease?
b) You notice one of the ovens is not working properly. What is the landlord's obligation in relation to fixing the oven?
QUESTION 6 - In your new café at Norwood, you want to install old cinema row seats alongside long tables. These seats are in sets of 4 seats, and each set needs to be bolted to the floor. They will stay there indefinitely and will not be unbolted and moved around because that would involve a lot of work.
Will TARDIS Pty Ltd be able to take the seats when they vacate the premises in due course?