The Alaska Packers’ Association (APA) was a San Francisco–based manufacturer of Alaska canned salmon and the largest salmon packer in Alaska.

In April 1900, it hired 21 seamen in San Francisco to work aboard one of its chartered vessels in Alaska. The seamen signed an agreement in which they were promised $60 each, plus two cents for each red salmon caught. When they arrived in Alaska, however, the seamen complained that the fishing nets they were provided were of poor quality, so they refused to continue working unless they were paid $100 each. Since the APA was unable to hire replacement fishermen in time, an agent of the APA in Alaska eventually agreed to the seamen’s demands, but when the men returned to San Francisco after completing their work, the APA refused to pay more than the originally agreed-upon amount of $60.

CASE QUESTIONS 1. In your opinion, is the second agreement in this case the product of genuine assent or the product of unjustified duress/coercion?

Explain.

2. After season 4 of the hit HBO series show The Sopranos, actor James Gandolfini, who played lead character Tony Soprano, refused to appear in any further episodes of the show unless his salary was increased from $400,000 to $1 million per episode. In your opinion, was Mr. Gandolfini’s threatened walkout a form of duress or undue influence? Explain why or why not.