Essay Questions

1) Patty worked for a company, Fine Finances, Inc., where she acted as an administrative assistant to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Frank. Daily, Patty is told what to do and Frank controls her schedule. At the end of the year, Patty receives a W-2, so that she may file her taxes.

Regularly, Frank tells Patty that because she is a woman, she is too dumb to get his email responses correct, and refuses to allow Patty to work his email. He also informs Patty that she is too stupid to understand financials and does not allow Patty to have any dealings with company finances. Due to this, Patty continuously fails to gain the skills requisite to being able to request a wage increase, and has been paid the same wages for the past 5 years, since she started with company. Meanwhile, Tom, the Chief Executive Officer's assistant, has enjoyed annual raises, ranging from $5-$8 per hour, however, Tom has been with the company ten years longer than Patty. Patty still finds this wholly unfair.

One Friday, Patty was wearing skinny jeans (as was permitted by company policy for "dress down Fridays") and a form-fitting top that revealed some cleavage. When Frank arrived to the office he called Patty into his office and asked her to close the door. Patty complied. Frank told Patty that she had a really "nice rack" and that her pants hugged her well. He further told Patty that if she wanted a raise this year she could come sit on his lap and let him have a closer examination of her cleavage. Patty complied, because she was desperate for a raise and she did not want to lose her job.

1. What kind of relationship does Patty have with Fine Finances, Inc.? How do you know? With this kind of employment is Patty an agent and what would that make Fine Finances, Inc.?
2. What kinds of claims does Patty have against Frank? (Please examineall the different kinds of claimsalso be certain to determine if Patty is part of a protected class). What Title does these kinds of claims fall under?
3. Does Fine Finances, Inc. have any defenses against Patty's claims?

2)Annabelle decided to go out to pick up some lunch, so she decided that she would go to a fast food chain, Big Bun. While Annabelle was walking into Big Bun's fast food joint, she fell as soon as she entered the facility, because there was a puddle of water on the floor that she did not see. Annabelle fell on her right side and broke her right arm.

Just prior to Annabelle's arrival, another customer had spilled large amounts of ketchup on the floor. Big Bun was made aware that the ketchup was on the floor, and the front line manager sent an employee to clean it up. The employee did so, and also put a "caution wet floor" sign up near the cleanup site. The employee, however, used excessive amounts of water, which left on the floor the small puddle that Annabelle fell from.

Based on this, please answer the following:

A.Can Annabelle sue Big Bun, and if so, under what theory would she sue, and what are her chances of being successful with her lawsuit? (I am looking for the theory as well as what that theory would be grounded in).

B.Does Big Bun have any defenses?