Case Analysis
SCENARIO 1
Mark Richter is about to retire as head of sales for the company he has been with all his work
life, starting out as a copper pot washer, when he closes on a deal his candy company has been
trying to land for a long time. Just before Mark is to collect his substantial commission on the
sale from his employer, he is terminated for no reason. Does Mark have a basis on which to sue
for unlawful termination?
SCENARIO 2
Jenna Zitron informs her employer that she has been summoned to serve jury duty for a week.
Though rescheduling her duties is not a problem for the employer, Jenna is told by her
employer that if she serves jury duty rather than trying to be relieved of it, she will be
terminated. Jenna refuses to lie to the court in order to be relieved of jury duty. She is
terminated. Does Jenna have a basis on which to sue for unlawful termination?
SCENARIO 3
Demetria, 5 feet, 2 inches tall, 120 pounds, applies for a position with her local police
department. When the department sees that she is applying for a position as a police officer, it
refuses to take her application, saying that she doesn’t meet the department’s requirement of
being at least 5 feet, 4 inches tall and at least 130 pounds. Is the department’s policy legal?
SCENARIO 4
Jill, an interviewer for a large business firm, receives a letter from a consulting firm inviting her
to attend a seminar on Title VII issues. Jill feels she doesn’t need to go since all she does is
interview applicants, who are then hired by someone else in the firm. Is Jill correct?
Introduction
We understand that while this is a legal textbook, it is not a textbook intended to create or
enlighten lawyers. In fact, some of you may never have taken a law course before. Thus, we
thought it might be useful to take some time up front to introduce you to helpful information
that will make your legal journey easier.
Throughout the text we have taken out much of the legalese that tends to stump our target readers and have tried to make the legal concepts as accessible as we can for the non–legal audience.
In this chapter, we offer several tools, both procedural and substantive, to help you navigate
the text. As a procedural matter, we offer a guide to how to read cases as well as understanding
what it takes to have a legally recognized cause of action.
Regarding substantive issues, since several of the substantive issues you will face in the chapters ahead will use information that is based on the same legal concepts, rather than repeat the information in each chapter’s discussion, we explain the concept once in this “toolkit” chapter you can use to refer back to later if necessary