Case Study: Shopping Solution

Jian and Abdul decided to turn the COVID-19 pandemic into a business opportunity. When they realized how difficult it was for many people to go shopping for groceries during the pandemic, they began offering a grocery shopping service. They called their business Shopping Solution, hired their siblings, and set up an online ordering system. Customers create an account, go shopping on the website, and then the Shopping Solution staff do the actual shopping, store the groceries in Jians home, and prepare the order for pickup. Customers pay online, and then pick up their groceries at an arranged time at Jians home.

a. Jians neighbours are not happy with the long line of customers cars on their street. Several of them have come to speak to Jian to complain that the noise and the traffic are making it difficult for them to work in their home offices and dangerous for their kids to play outside.

b. On a hot summer day, Yasmin bought a family picnic package from Shopping Solutions. The package contained party sandwiches, drinks, salads and cookies. Abduls sister Fatima prepared the package in the morning, and since it was a very busy day and the fridges were full, placed it on a table on the driveway for pickup. Yasmin picked up the package couple of hours later, put it in the trunk, and then drove two hours to a lake. After her kids were done swimming, the family ate the warm sandwiches. The next morning, they were all ill with food poisoning. Yasmin called Abdul and demanded that he refund her the cost of the food, and pay for the medication that she had to buy for her family.

c. One day, Luca was waiting in the driveway to pick up his groceries, and he became impatient. Although he had texted to inform the Shopping Solution staff that he was waiting, and had been instructed by return text to stay in his car, Luca decided to get out of his car and see what was taking so long. In Jians driveway, Luca slipped on a puddle of spilled milk. He sprained his ankle and broke his new glasses. Because of his injury, Luca had to miss two weeks of work and lost two important clients of his own.

d. When a regular customer was quarantined and unable to come pick up groceries, Abdul agreed to deliver the groceries to her. He asked Lina, a new employee to deliver the groceries at the end of her shift. Lina delivered the groceries and on the way home, she decided to treat herself to a Blizzard at Dairy Queen. When she was backing out of her parking spot at Dairy Queen, trying to balance her ice cream on her lap, she hit a parked car and dented its rear bumper.

e. Jian and Abdul were concerned when a new business Got Groceries, begins offering the same services as they do. Jian and Abdul paid for an ad in the local paper that says that customers should make the ethical choice and support Shopping Solution since unlike Got Groceries, Shopping Solution pays all their employees minimum wage or more. It turns out that Got Groceries also pays their employees at least the minimum wage. Instructions: Prepare a report for Abdul and Jian.

Your report should address the following questions:

PART 1 (20 marks)

1. Discuss three different torts in the scenarios described above. For each

: a. Name and explain the tort.

b. Identify the plaintiff and the defendant, assuming the tort results in a lawsuit.

c. Discuss whether the plaintiff is likely to succeed if they bring a lawsuit based on the tort. (4 marks for each; 12 marks total)

2. Using ANY of the scenarios described in the case study, identify and explain an example of contributory negligence and an example of vicarious liability. (You may use a different scenario for each) For each, explain the impact that this concept would have on the outcome of a lawsuit. (6 marks)

3. For ANY of the scenarios described in the case study, identify the type(s) of damages that the plaintiff would likely claim in a lawsuit. Explain your answer. (Hint: use the information on damages in Chapter 2). (2 marks)

PART 2 (15 marks)

4. Prepare a risk management plan for Shopping Solution. Your risk management plans should include 5 recommendations to help the business reduce or manage the risks described in the case study. For each recommendation, make sure to clearly identify the risk you are addressing, explain exactly what you recommend for the business, and explain how your recommendation helps manage that risk.