According to this article at law.com,
A franchisor cannot be held liable for the alleged negligence of a franchisee merely because they have a relationship, a Suffolk County, N.Y., judge has ruled in dismissing a claim against 7-Eleven lodged by a customer splashed with hot coffee.
Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle granted summary judgment dismissing a suit against the company by Eugene Nickola, who alleges he was injured during an altercation between another customer and an employee of a Greenport 7-Eleven.
In Nickola v. 7-Eleven, 03-13494, Doyle explained that in determining whether a franchisor may be held vicariously liable for the acts of its franchisee, the most important factor to consider is the degree of control the franchisor maintains over the daily operations of the franchisee. Here, the judge found, 7-Eleven exercised no control over the activities that led to Nickola's injury.
Law school exams are filled with fact patterns like this one:
Nickola was present on May 22, 2002, when Mahmud began struggling with a customer for possession of a coffee pot. Nickola was standing shoulder to shoulder with the customer but was not involved in the dispute.
In his examination before trial, Nickola testified that Mahmud wrenched the pot away and threw the coffee at the customer, but the liquid missed its target and instead hit Nickola on his head, neck and shoulder.
Shahnawaz Baig, manager of the store, testified that the coffee was brewing when the customer picked up the pot. He said that Mahmud intervened and, in the ensuing struggle, both the employee and Nickola were splashed.
Nickola, and his wife are seeking compensation for his personal injuries.
...and are usually followed by the word "discuss."
It also reminded me of first year legal writing, where they will give you the above fact pattern and assign half the class to defend the plaintiff and the other half to defend the defendant. Ah, the memories!
Fortunately, those days are gone for me. These days, I can just look at a story like this one and reminisce about some professor grilling you for 20 minutes trying to trip up your logic.
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