200909 -Enterprise Law
Question 1
a.Carbord Ltd (C) is a building materials wholesaler. On Monday morning C received a letter containing an order from a regular customer, Home Interiors Ltd (HI), ordering a certain number of gyprock sheets, with measurements, to be delivered to an address in Sydney the following Monday. C immediately posted its confirmation that the order was accepted. This letter would have ordinarily taken 2 days to reach HI’s place of business but, due to a strike affecting Australia Post, the letter was not delivered until Friday afternoon. On Friday morning, having not heard from C, HI, believing C were not able to supply the materials, ordered the same materials from an alternative wholesaler. HI sent a fax on Friday afternoon, before the mail was delivered, to C cancelling the order.
HI is now refusing to accept the gyprock sheets from C, or pay for them. Advise Carbord Ltd.
b.How would your answer change if the order had been received by email on Monday morning and the return email confirming said order was slow to reach HI due to a hacking incident to HI’s server? The confirmation email entered HI’s server on Tuesday morning, but HI had faxed a cancellation of the order at 4:15 pm the previous day, Monday.
Question 2
Jenny misplaced her personal organiser while at work. She placed a reward notice on the staff notice board. The following day one of her colleagues, Samantha, returned her organiser. Samantha was not aware of the reward notice. Overjoyed at the return of her personal organiser, Jenny said she would pay Samantha the full amount of the reward. Subsequently Jenny changes her mind. Is Samantha entitled to demand the offered reward?
Question 3
Joe purchased a small cafe from Simone. Joe was induced to buy that business by a statement by Simone who said the average takings were $2,500 per week. Two weeks after taking over the business it became apparent to Joe that the shop took no more than $750 per week. Simone’s statement must have been made knowing it to be false. Joe wants to return the business and recover the purchase price. Is Joe likely to be successful. Explain your answer fully.
Question 4
In the course of an internal audit the inhouse accountant discovered that a senior employee’s daughter had misappropriated (stolen) nearly $500,000 from the company. The managing director of the company spoke with the senior employee and threatened to report the matter to the police unless the senior employee agreed to repay the money. The senior employee signed a document acknowledging the debt and a schedule of repayments. She failed to comply with this schedule. The company now wishes to sue her for the amount owing. Will the senior employee succeed in defending the action relying upon duress?
