Legal principles are systems used in any court of law that establishes a set of rules. The courts or jurisdictional bodies use these rules in deciding cases that involve the legal principals. The legal principals play a major in predictability, sustainability, fairness, and efficiency in law depending on the situation presented (Alexy, 2000). These principals assist the courts or any law institution to come up with the best solution in any case filed in court.
As discussed in chapter twenty, the principal-agent relationship is an operation agreed upon, which legally appoints a specific act on its behalf. In this type of relationship, the agent carries out all the jurisdictions on behalf of the principal and should not have any conflict of interest while carrying out the duties. In a case where the agent is appointed to make decisions or to facilitate a negotiation for the principal, it is the agent’ s responsibility to make decisions based on the principal’s best interest within the authority of the agent (Robillard, Wilson, & Brown, 2001).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In this case scenario, Dave is responsible for the car accident due to his negligence, but he is not liable for it. Empire Courier Service is liable for the crash since Dave is a full time employee of the company and the car accident happened during working hours and with the company car. Empire Courier Service should pay for any damages caused on Victor’s car as well as his hospital bill. One of the obligations that the principal owes to the agent is that the principle is required to pay for any losses incurred while the agent is under the principal’s jurisdiction.
On the other hand, Dave has a hothead, and he was involved in a fistfight in his previous workplace. The act resulted in him getting criminal charges in a court of law. Even if Victor pushes Dave to the limit by insulting his employer, Dave should have considered the fact that he has a criminal record before acting upon what Victor said.
In this particular event, Dave is responsible for punching Victor in the face and for causing more injuries on him even after the accident. Empire Courier Service is not responsible for employee misconduct since this is a personal attribute that does not implicate the company in any way. According to one of the duties of the agent to the principal, the agent is always supposed to act reasonably and with care, but this is not the case for Dave. It can also be evident that Dave punched Victor in the face out of loyalty for Empire Courier Service, but his intention does not go hand in hand with the principal’s interests. Dave is also in violation of another duty in that; he is irresponsible with the company property. One of the responsibilities of an agent is to ensure that he/she is accountable for the company’s money and wealth but Dave does not consider this since he recklessly caused an accident. He violated his duty by taking matters into his own hands instead of waiting for the police to sort out the disaster.
In conclusion, Empire Courier Service should actively do a background check on all its potential employees before giving them a job. The background check allows the company to avoid scenarios live Dave’s which saves the image of the company. The background check also makes it possible for the company to minimize its losses since the employees they hire will be very responsible while handling company property.
References
Alexy, R. (2000). On the structure of legal principles. Ratio Juris , 13 (3), 294-304.
Robillard, W. G., Wilson, D. A., & Brown, C. M. (2011). Brown's boundary control and legal principles . John Wiley & Sons.
