Read the following case study and follow the instructions on page 2 (below).
Case Study: Skip the Groceries (40 marks)
Alia and Xijuan, two resourceful Seneca students, were unable to find summer jobs and decided to turn the COVID-19 pandemic into a business opportunity. They quickly realized how stressful it was for many people to go shopping for groceries, and began offering a grocery shopping service. They called their business “Skip the Groceries”, hired their siblings, and set up an online ordering system. Customers create an account, go “shopping” on the website, and then the Skip the Groceries staff do the shopping, store the groceries in Xijuan’s garage, and prepare the order for pickup. Customers pay online, and then pick up their groceries at an arranged time at Xijuan’s home.
One day, a customer was waiting in the driveway to pick up her groceries, and she became impatient. Although she had texted Xijuan to inform him that she was waiting, and had been instructed to stay in her car, she decided to get out of her car and go into the garage to see if her groceries were ready. In the garage she was attacked by Xijuan’s guard dog, who was tied up but roaming around the area where the food stuffs were stored by the staff. She was bitten on the cheek and unable to attend her work zoom meetings for two weeks. As a result of her injuries, she lost several important customers because of this.
Another customer, Leonardo, has also had a problem. He ordered several steaks to grill on the weekend, and after a three hour drive up north to take them to the cottage for barbequing that night, he and his family all became ill with food poisoning. It turns out that Alia’s sister Maisa had prepared the order for pickup several hours before the arranged pickup time, and had left the order sitting out in the warm garage rather than putting it back in the fridge, causing the meat to reach an unsafe temperature. This was compounded by the fact that Leonardo did not have his ice box in the trunk and relied on the meat to stay cool by using the air conditioning vent aimed at the steaks as his only cooling system. The customer and his family all spent several days recovering. Leonardo’s family was previously living abroad and only recently moved back to Ontario. As their OHIP was no longer valid and they did not yet qualify to reactivate it, he was forced to pay out of pocket for the medical treatment of his wife and three children, amounting to roughly $4,000.00.
One morning, two customers got into a fight while waiting for groceries. Sandeep had been waiting his turn in his car when Jerome cut into the line ahead of Sandeep. Sandeep honked and motioned that Jerome should get out of the way, but he stayed where he was, laughing. Sandeep lost his temper, got out of his car, and went over to Jerome’s car. He banged on the window, and when Jerome rolled down the window, Sandeep shook his fist at Jerome and started to yell. When Jerome still didn’t move, Sandeep leaned into the car and coughed on Jerome/punched Jerome in the nose. Xijuan’s brother Christopher approached the vehicle to stop the men from fighting, and while attempting to restrain Sandeep with a chokehold, accidentally knocked Sandeep unconscious. As Sandeep slipped to the ground outside of Jerome’s car, he banged his head on the concrete and suffered a mild concussion.
As the business was becoming more successful, Xijuan’s neighbours were becoming more unhappy with the lineup of cars on their usually quiet street. The neighbours complained that the customers were parking on both sides of the street, making it difficult for them to drive and making it dangerous for the neighbourhood kids to play safely on their front yards and driveways, As well the noise from all the cars, and customers was making it difficult for many of the neighbours to work in their homes.
Due to increasing demand for their services, Xijuan and Alia realise that they need to hire more shoppers, so they approach Samantha, who works as a delivery driver for Skip The Dishes, and offer her 25% more pay if she quits her job and comes to work for them. Samantha agrees and that day, without any notice, calls Skip the Dishes HQ and tells them that she is not coming back. The Skip the Dishes manager apparently was informed by Samantha that she will be working with their sister company, Skip the Groceries.
Instructions: You are to prepare a report for Alia and Xijuan as follows:
Part 1:
Select, list and explain three (3) different potential risks (i.e., tort actions).
Is there vicarious liability or contributory negligence present? Explain.
List and explain five (5) recommendations on how to mitigate those risks by presenting a risk management plan. Be sure to use sub-headings in your plan.
Sample Solution
