Business Law Question

Please respond to each of these 3 question sets with an IRAC assessment (issues, rule, application, and conclusion).

Question Set 1

Master Plating Inc. (MPI) has a work rule that strictly prohibits employees from sharing compensation information with one another. Nonetheless, Silvina, a new hourly employee, told two coworkers about her starting wage rate, which is about 20% higher than theirs. One of those employees, Sara, promptly confronted her supervisor and angrily demanded an immediate pay raise. Annoyed with Silvina for being a troublemaker (not to mention a rule breaker) and with Sara’s aggressive demands, the supervisor fired both of them without consulting with you or anyone else in HR.

Rumor has it that Sara and Silvina are each going to an file an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge with the Regional Office of the NLRB. In the meantime, HR Manager Kesha Jones has asked you for an IRAC (issues, rule, application, and conclusion) assessment of their potential ULP charges. Prepare a memo for her that does the following:

Identify the legal issue(s) that the ULP charges could raise.

Identify the rule or law that governs each of those legal issues and at least one case in which the rule was applied.

Briefly describe how the rules were applied to the facts in the case that you select and the outcome in that case.

Apply the rules to our facts and describe the conclusion that you anticipate the Board would reach.

Be sure to provide specific identifying information for the statutes, cases (the name of the case and a citation), and legal principles that you reference.

Question Set 2

To stamp out the possibility of divisive employee chatter on social media sites, Ms. Jones wants you to create a social media policy prohibiting employees from discussing anything related to MPI; its supervisors, managers, other employees; or working conditions on any social media site, whether on their own time or during work time. Any infraction is to result in immediate dismissal. Please discuss the following with specificity:

the law(s) that would bear on the lawfulness that policy;

which aspects of the policy would likely violate the law and why; and

how the policy could be rewritten so as to better conform to the law. Please be specific and explain why the modified terms might pass legal muster.

Be sure to provide specific identifying information for the statutes, cases (the name of the case and a citation), and legal principles that you reference.

Question Set 3

Worried about declining employee morale and its possible consequences, Ms. Jones has decided to establish an MPI Employee Committee consisting of four management representatives and three hourly employee representatives. You’re to set up an in-house election so that hourly employees can select the employee representatives. Committee meetings will take place during a paid lunch hour, with an MPI-provided lunch, on the first Monday of the month. The Committee rules will authorize employee members to propose changes to wage rates and other workplace conditions; provide that the Committee as a whole may discuss all proposals; and limit final decision-making to the four management Committee members.

Assess each aspect of this plan in light of the course reading:

Identify the law that would bear on the plan’s lawfulness, and identify a case in which the rule was applied.

Briefly describe how the rules were applied to the facts in the case that you select and the outcome in that case.

Apply that law to each aspect of Ms. Jones’s plan.

Consider alternative approaches or changes to her plan that would better conform to the law.

Explain the legal basis for your suggestions.