Prohibition against unfair acts or practices

by | Mar 6, 2023 | business law

 

 

 

 

 

 

Between 1966 and 1975, the Orkin Exterminating Company, the world’s largest termite and pest control firm, offered its customers a “lifetime” guarantee that could be renewed each year by paying a definite amount specified in its contracts with the customers. The contracts gave no indication that the fees could be raised for any reasons other than certain narrowly specified ones. Beginning in 1980, Orkin unilaterally breached these contracts by imposing higher-than-agreed-upon annual renewal fees. Roughly 200,000 contracts were breached in this way. Orkin realized $7 million in additional revenues from customers who renewed at the higher fees. The additional fees did not purchase a higher level of service than that originally provided for in the contracts. Although some of Orkin’s competitors may have been willing to assume Orkin’s pre-1975 contracts at the fees stated therein, they would not have offered a fixed, locked-in “lifetime” renewal fee such as the one Orkin originally provided.

Under the three-part test for unfairness stated in the course textbook (see page 1363), did Orkin’s behavior violate FTC Act § 5’s prohibition against unfair acts or practices?
Discuss each element of the three-part test and how it applies to the Orkin case.

 

 

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

Sample Solution

The three-part test for unfairness stated in the course textbook can be used to analyze whether Orkin’s behavior violated FTC Act § 5’s prohibition against unfair acts or practices. The elements of this test are cause harm, not outweighed by countervailing benefits and surprise.

Sample Solution

The three-part test for unfairness stated in the course textbook can be used to analyze whether Orkin’s behavior violated FTC Act § 5’s prohibition against unfair acts or practices. The elements of this test are cause harm, not outweighed by countervailing benefits and surprise.

First, Orkin caused harm with their unilateral breach of contracts by raising renewal fees beyond those which were agreed upon initially. This was financially damaging for customers who trusted in the “lifetime” guarantee offered by Orkin, as they had to pay more than expected resulting in a financial burden on them. Additionally, some competitors may have been willing to assume these original contracts but would not offer a fixed “lifetime” fee like what was originally proposed by Orkin. This means that customers could potentially lose out on savings if they choose an alternative provider rather than sticking with their original contract due to fear of higher renewal fees from Orkin. Therefore it is clear that Orkin has caused harm to its customer base through its actions.

Second, these harms are not outweighed by any countervailing benefits since the higher-than-agreed fees did not provide for any additional service compared to what was originally included in the contract terms at lower prices. Therefore there is no benefit being provided from paying such increased fees which otherwise would be considered as outweighing potential harms done here!

Finally, many customers were likely surprised when they found out about this breach since there was no indication beforehand that such changes could happen—most people thought they had locked in their rates only later discovering too late that it wasn’t true after all! All things considered then it appears safe conclude Orkin’s behavior did indeed violate FTC Act §5’s prohibition against unfair acts or practices based off evidence presented so far which fulfills criteria outlined above thus making case strong enough warrant further investigation possible legal action down line if needed too!

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