ANSWER IN 4 STEPS: ISSUE, LEGAL PRINCIPLE+ AUTHORITY, APPLICATION, CONCLUSION

Sam is a student in the Business School at Muldoon University. It is a requirement of a 300 level management course for which Sam is enrolled, that students undertake a 6 week internship at one of a number local firms that are willing to provide this experience for students at MU. Internships are unpaid and students are not employees of the firms with which they are placed for the purposes of the Employment Relations Act 2000. While they are interns, students are required to undertake tasks as directed by the mentor appointed by the firm for the purpose who is also required to provide a report for the course coordinator at MU which provides a significant part of the assessment for the course. The course coordinator is expected to visit students at least once during their internship. Sams internship is with Coromandel Coaches Ltd. As part of the intern experience Sam is given instruction in driving one of the firms minibuses (this does not require an HGV licence). The following day Sams mentor asks Sam to deliver one of the minibuses to the companys Hamilton depot. Sam drives the vehicle negligently and collides with a truck belonging to a delivery company and causes some $100,000 in damage to truck and the computer equipment it was carrying. Coromandel Coaches insurers are arguing that since Sam was student at MU undertaking a requirement of a course of study, MUs insurers should meet the claim.