Studyspark Study Document

Employment Law Case Study

Pages:5 (1530 words)

Sources:3

Subject:Law

Topic:Contract

Document Type:Case Study

Document:#30263684


II. Client’s Case

D. Application of the Law to the Facts

Was Jennifer in breach of the confidentiality agreement that she signed committing never to disclose confidential/proprietary information she encounters in the course of her employ at Greene’s’s?

Case in Brief: In Hallmark Cards, Inc. v. Janet L. Murley (2013), the defendant (Murley) parted ways with the plaintiff (Hallmark Cards) and was paid a total of $735,000 as the severance package. As Hallmark’s marketing vice-president, Murley had come across and was indeed in possession of some confidential information regarding the operations of the company. The said information was inclusive of, but was not limited to, market research and business plans. Upon the payment of the severance highlighted above, Murley amongst other things agreed to dispose-off any confidential documents and ensure that the company’s confidential information was not disclosed to any third party. Years later, the defendant got hired by a company by the name RPG as a consultant. For the said consulting work, she was offered a total of $125,000. Following her employ, she passed-on key Hallmark documents (and information) to RPG. Hallmark initiated a lawsuit upon its learning of the said developments. According to Peacock (2013), “the jury returned a verdict in Hallmark's favor for $860,000 - equal to her severance pay plus her consulting fee with RPG.”

On the strength of the jury verdict above, Greene’s appears to be in a strong position to pursue a breach of contract claim against Jennifer. All of Greene’s executives, including Jennifer, signed a confidentiality agreement. In the said agreement, Jennifer made a commitment to ensure that all confidential information or data she had acquired in the course of her employ at Greene’s was never disclosed to a third party. The process that Greene’s used in the creation of Ever-Gold was confidential. There is sufficient evidence that Jennifer retained a letter with information detailing Ever-Gold’s creation secret process. In addition to retaining the said information, she went ahead and disclosed the same to a competitor. There is no doubt whatsoever that Jennifer’s actions were in violation of the confidentiality agreement she had signed while in the employ of Greene’s. Indeed, in Hallmark Cards, Inc. v. Janet L. Murley, the Eighth Circuit was categorical that “under her agreement with Hallmark, Janet Murley was required to maintain the confidentiality of certain company information and was prohibited from using or disclosing Hallmark’s documents and other records after leaving the company, but failed to meet her obligations” (Frey, 2015, p. 118).

Greene’s would. therefore, be seeking in damages an amount that is equivalent to the business loss and damage it would suffer as a consequence of Jennifer’s disclosure of the proprietary process it uses to make Ever-Gold. Towards this end we would base our entitlement to the fact that Jennifer’s engagement to Howell was primarily anchored on her disclosure of the confidential information relating to Ever-Gold’s production process. There is evidence indicating that the contract she signed with our competitor had a specific provision addressing the handover of the said proprietary information. Indeed, as Frey (2015) points out, in Hallmark Cards, Inc. v. Janet L. Murley, “Hallmark based its entitlement to…

Some parts of this document are missing

Click here to view full document

…positions affected and that the decision to layoff Jennifer was not an isolated incident – hence not discriminatory in nature. However to be able to do this, the company would have to produce evidence of the said plan in the form of organizational minutes or other documentation.

E: Impact Assessment

i. The situation described herein would most likely have an impact on public perception about Greene’s. This is more so the case given that the layoff in this case was not conducted in a professional and appropriate manner. The fact that the communication to Jennifer was made at the very moment she announced her pregnancy appears discriminative. For instance, given that most customers of Greene’s would ideally be women, this could alienate a significant portion of its clientele – the possible legal outcomes notwithstanding.

ii. There are several courses of action that Greene’s could take going forward in an attempt to alleviate any damages to its public image. One such move would be the formulation of a company termination policy that provides for not only a termination notice, but also a severance. This the company would be doing as a demonstration of compassion and to minimize the probability of lawsuits in the future. However, at present, the company ought to defend itself against a clear breach of a confidentiality agreement.

iii. To avoid similar situations in the future, the company could amongst other things plan layoffs more effectively, notify employees in advance of impending layoffs and the reasons for the said layoffs, implement the layoffs in a more professional manner (Jennifer’s dismissal was largely…


Sample Source(s) Used

References

Frey, M.A. (2015). Essentials of Contract Law (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Gross, J.A. & Compa, L.A. (2009). Human Rights in Labor and Employment Relations International and Domestic Perspectives. Champaign, IL: Labor and Employment Relations Association.

Peacock, W. (2013). Breach of Contract, Confidential Info Leak Case: Hallmark Prevails. Retrieved from https://blogs.findlaw.com/eighth_circuit/2013/01/hallmark-prevails-in-breach-of-contract-confidential-info-leak-case.html

Cite this Document

Join thousands of other students and "spark your studies."

Sign Up for FREE
Related Documents

Studyspark Study Document

Employment Law

Pages: 10 (2872 words) Sources: 10 Subject: Careers Document: #40575269

Employment Law Case One: A. Ms. Riyadh is employed as an account executive with ABC Advertising ("ABC"). ABC is a national marketing and advertising firm specializing in domestic and international advertising. ABC has its corporate headquarters in this state and represents many major public and private corporations throughout the United States. Ms. Riyadh began working with ABC as a summer intern during her senior year in business school, and was hired

Studyspark Study Document

Employment Laws

Pages: 4 (1031 words) Sources: 5 Subject: Careers Document: #9913844

Employment Laws The purpose of this research report is to find out the employment laws which are most important to be considered for a Human Resource Department. This research also aims to provide the solutions to avoid the litigation in hiring and firing processes. The role of a Vice President in the HR department brings along a number of responsibilities. One of the most important is to make sure that all the

Studyspark Study Document

Employment Law

Pages: 4 (1380 words) Sources: 1+ Subject: Business - Law Document: #58962432

Employment Law Hypothetical Case: John is an employee in a private sector organization. He wants to file a discrimination complaint against his employer. How will he proceed? Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination There are several U.S. federal laws that prohibit job discrimination. These include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: The law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Equal Pay Act of 1963: Prohibits sex-based wage discrimination. Age Discrimination in Employment

Studyspark Study Document

Employment Law

Pages: 2 (691 words) Sources: 2 Subject: Careers Document: #85396062

Employment Law Role of Employers and Government Agencies Roger Karnes (2009) cites Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as an intellectual template for thinking about employer and employee relations, with the inherent warning that the boardroom will always put profits first, even at the expense of an employee's health and safety. During the 20th century, a social contract emerged between employees and employers that provided long-term employment, fair wages, and in some cases

Studyspark Study Document

Employment Law

Pages: 13 (3443 words) Sources: 1+ Subject: Careers Document: #41458748

This decision overturned the previous decision in Atkins v. Children's Hospital which held that a state maximum hour law was an unconstitutional infringement on the right of freedom of contract and hence a violation of the Due Process Clause. The justification of the Court's reversal was based upon the declaration that a public interest was vested in ensuring an adequate level of wages for working individuals; 2) Jones and Laughlin

Studyspark Study Document

Employment Law

Pages: 3 (1038 words) Sources: 1 Subject: Careers Document: #52760604

Employment Law Business Law As the HR Manager for the software development company MicroSonic Inc., I was required to retain the services of a headhunter in order to quickly fill the position of a project manager for a federal government contract to develop within one year software for the military. Unfortunately, halfway through the project the position became available because the previous project manager had died of a heart attack. The headhunter produced

Join thousands of other students and

"spark your studies".