Business Law: Contractual Issues, Negligence, and Equality Law Report

This report provides a legal analysis of two business law scenarios. The first scenario involves a tender process by Millennia University, addressing issues of professional negligence, discrimination under the Equal Opportunity Act, and contract formation. It discusses the potential legal cases arising from the university's actions regarding Enviro, Greenland, and Plant Forever. The second scenario examines contract law principles in the context of Footloose Pty Ltd's advertisement and subsequent offers from Famous Footwear and James's Shoes, focusing on offer, acceptance, and counteroffer, referencing the Sale of Goods (Vienna Convention) Act 1987 and relevant case law. Desklib offers a range of resources, including past papers and solved assignments, to aid students in their understanding of business law concepts.

BUSINESS LAW
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Question 1........................................................................................................................................4
Issue.............................................................................................................................................4
Law Applicable............................................................................................................................4
Analysis and Discussion..............................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................6
Question 2........................................................................................................................................7
Issue.............................................................................................................................................7
Law Applicable............................................................................................................................7
Analysis and Discussion..............................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference:......................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
For proper functioning of the economy and the businesses, it is necessary that an effective legal
system is established. The legal system of Australia is derived from the common law same as the
legal system of the UK. Adequate laws are framed by the authorities considering various factors.
In this assignment, various scenarios are provided, the solutions and remedies of which will be
provided based on the applicable laws of the system. Major laws referred under this assignment
are Common Law, Contract Law, Employment Law, Equality Law, etc.
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Question 1
Issue
A tender was called by Millennia University for the green seed for its surroundings. The closing
date for such tender was 1st June. There were three companies which applied for the tender.
 Quotation for the tender was hand – delivered by Greenland which was submitted into the
tender box on 29th May.
 Enviro posted the quotation of the tender on 15th May which was received by the
administrative assistant on 17th May. However, it was kept with such assistant to deposit
it later but forgot to put it into the tender box.
 Quotation for tender was posted by Plant Forever on 30th May and was received by the
University on 2nd June. However, such tender was deposited into the tender box.
At the time of outcome of tender, only two quotations were considered. First, the lowest
quotation was of Enviro but it was not considered as it was not in the tender box, then
Greenland’s quotation was lowest and it was not considered due to the rumor of unreliable
products and the tender was given to Plant Forever.
While informing the Plant Forever, the letter of information was destroyed by a postal worker.
Plant Forever got into a contract with the regional council as no information was received. The
University is aware of the circumstances occurred with the Enviro and Plant Forever and it seeks
legal advice for this.
Law Applicable
Major laws which are applicable as per the given scenario are:
Contract Law: This law plays a crucial role in the legalising the transactions of two or more
parties. As per the provisions of the Contract Act, it is specified that when a contract is entered
into by two parties, such contract is required to be performed by both the parties. This means that
each party is responsible for its side of contract’s performance. It is specified in Section 6 of the
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Contract Review Act, 1980 that no relief will be granted to any local authority, any corporation,
public, etc. regarding the performance of the contract (Andrews, 2015).
Law of Negligence: This means the act of civil wrong. This law deals with the carelessness of
one party due to which other party have to incur a loss. This gives rise to the breach of duty to
care which means that the party is concerned only about its gains, not with the loss of another
party (Barker, 2012).
Equality Law: There are various acts which are concerned about providing an equal opportunity
to the trade, organisation, individual, disabled person, etc. Equal Opportunity Act of 2010 was
introduced for maintaining equality in the business sector. This act also deals with the
discrimination on the basis of color, age, trade, gender, etc. for the recruitment process
(Klarsfeld, et. al., 2014).
Analysis and Discussion
In this case of Enviro, it will be considered as a case of professional negligence. As specified in
the Civil Liability Act 2002, it is essential that the professional of the organisation must operate
with duly care and responsibly. If any loss is sustained by the client due to the negligence of a
professional than such client has a right to sue the professional. Due to the negligence of the
Administrative Assistant, Enviro was not able to get the tender regardless of the lowest cost and
good feature.
In case of Greenland, apart from having the cost lower than Plant Forever, the tender was not
given to this organisation. The University of Millennia discriminated on the basis of a rumor
about the unreliability of the company and it chose Plant Forever ignoring the fact that its tender
was submitted after the closing date. As per the provision of Equal Opportunity Act of 2010
equal employment opportunity must be provided to everyone i.e. individual, organisation,
disable individual, etc.
In case of Plant Forever, it is essential for getting into any agreement that acceptance to the
offer must be given to the offeror. However, in this case, the acceptance of the University was
not communicated due to the carelessness of the postal worker and it got into the contract with
the regional council (Business.gov.au, 2016).
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Conclusion
As per the mentioned laws or acts, it can be considered that the University of Millennia can face
a number of legal cases as an act of discrimination was done by the university in case of
Greenland. Enviro may claim compensation for the professional negligence by filing a case in
the court against the university. It is recommended that the University of Millennia must comply
with all the laws which are applicable to it.
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Question 2
Issue
In accordance with the case provided, a footwear company, Footloose Pty Ltd advertised in a
newspaper about selling 100 pairs at $2, 000. All the offers or inquiries are to be handled by Ms.
Simone. Some offers were received by the company such as Famous Footwear ordered 500 pairs
at the same prices as it was in the advertisement and an offer was made by James’s Shoes
ordering 2000 pairs of slingback sandals at $30,000 including the tax and delivery. The same
was accepted by Ms. Simone. However, the offer made by Famous footwear was communicated
to Ms. Simone, the offer was neither accepted nor rejected by her.
Law Applicable
As per the given scenario, the main law applicable on this case is Contract Law, Sales of Goods
Act.
Contract Law: This law helps organisation as well individual to get into an agreement and make
it legally enforceable. In day to day working of organisations, there are various contracts which
an organisation enters into. Such contracts are drafted as per the provision of this law.
The contract is an agreement the offer of which is made by the offeror and which is accepted by
the offeree and same is communicated to the offeror. As per the provision of this law, there are
some essential elements of contracts:
 Offer and acceptance: If an offer is made by one party, then for forming a valid contract
it must be accepted by another party.
 Consideration: There must be some consideration involved in the contract. This means
something in return for the performance of the contract.
 Intention to create a legal relationship: Both the parties to contract must have the
intention to get a contract and create a legal relationship.
 Competency: For getting into a contract, parties to contract must be competent i.e.
should not be a minor and should not be mentally disabled.
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As per this law, it is also considered that if a counteroffer is made against the original offer, then
the original offer loses its legal capacity. The counter offer means an offer made by the offeree
against the original offer of the offeror (McKendrick, 2014)
Sale of Goods (Vienna Convention) Act, 1987: as per this act, it is the right of a consumer to
negotiate the price of the products. According to this act, a little alteration in the original offer
doesn’t amount to counter offer (Pearson, 2017).
Analysis and Discussion
In the case of Famous Footwear, an offer was made of 500 pairs at $2000 per hundred pairs.
This offer was received by Ms. Simone. However, no further communication was made by Ms.
Simone. As per the contract law, it is the responsibility of the parties to contract that within a
specified period of time consent or dissent must be communicated to the other party (Freedland,
2016).
In case of James’s Shoes, a counteroffer was made by the shoe retailer and the same was
accepted by Ms. Simone with some minor changes. In accordance with the provisions of contract
law, if a counteroffer is made then the originality of the main offer is reduced. Then, the original
offer will not be enforceable. This was also stated in the famous case of Hyde v Wrench (Law
Teacher, 2018).
However, as per the provisions of the Sale of Goods (Vienna Convention) Act, 1987 it is
specified that minor changes in the offer don’t equal to the counteroffer. It is the legal right of
the consumer to negotiate.
Conclusion
It is concluded on the basis of these applicable laws, that different laws provide different
solutions to the problem. Famous Footwear has the right to assume that such offer is accepted as
silence is treated as acceptance under contract law. However, if the Footloose Pty Ltd doesn’t
have intentions to get into a contract with Famous Footwear, then it cannot be treated as
acceptance.
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Conclusion
As per the various provisions and based on this assignment, it is concluded that there are various
laws which are applicable on organisation. In this legal system, it is necessary to meet all the
applicable law, so that legal disputes can be avoided. The decision may vary from case to case as
an interpretation of laws is made in accordance with the legal position of the case.
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Reference:
 Andrews, N. (2015). Contract law. Cambridge University Press.
 Barker, K., Cane, P., Lunney, M., & Trindade, F. (2012). The law of torts in Australia.
Oxford University Press.
 Business.gov.au. (2016). Laws affecting contracts. Available at:
https://www.business.gov.au/info/plan-and-start/start-your-business/independent-
contractors/understanding-contracts/laws-affecting-contracts . [Accessed on: 22.03.2018]
 Freedland, M., Bogg, A., Cabrelli, D., Collins, H., Countouris, N., Davies, A. C. L., ... &
Prassl, J. (Eds.). (2016). The contract of employment. Oxford University Press.
 Klarsfeld, A., Booysen, L. A., Ng, E., Roper, I., & Tatli, A. (Eds.). (2014). 9.78 E+ 12:
Country Perspectives on Diversity and Equal Treatment. Edward Elgar Publishing.
 Law Teacher. (2018). Hyde v Wrench (1840) 49 ER 132. Available at:
https://www.lawteacher.net/cases/hyde-v-wrench.php. [Accessed on: 24.03.2018]
 McKendrick, E. (2014). Contract law: text, cases, and materials. Oxford University
Press (UK).
 Pearson, G., (2017). Further challenges for Australian consumer law. In Consumer Law
and Socioeconomic Development (pp. 287-305). Springer, Cham.
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