Widget’s, Inc., a fictional company, has a flourishing lawncare business. The business has two full-time employees who have been with the company for five years. All employees are trained on using the lawn equipment and have signed a waiver-of-liability contract limiting liability for the company. The owner, Brian, told his employees not to worry—that the company would protect them if they got hurt.

One employee, Lori, was on the job cutting a lawn. Lori was riding a mower, a Ferrari 2000, which was three years old and in good working condition. The step-up on the mower had writing on it with a warning sticker to replace the sandpaper liner for traction every three due to normal wear and tear. It was replaced every three years. Lori stepped down off the rider, slipped because of moisture from the grass, and severed her pinky toe on the mower blade.

When she fell to the ground, the mower continued through the grass and proceeded by itself to cut and mulch a neighbor’s prize roses. Peta, the neighbor, was preparing for a rose competition with a potential grand prize of $10,000.

Write a 1–2 page paper answering the questions below. Remember to identify and explain the law and then justify your answers to the questions pursuant to the scenario:

Pursuant to contract law, is the waiver of liability legal and do Brian’s verbal assurances become part of the contract? Why or why not?
Does Peta have a product liability case against the mower manufacturer Ferrari for a design defect, manufacturing defect, or failure-to-warn defect?
Does Lori have a claim for her injuries and can she recover pain and suffering damages or worker’s compensation?

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Business Law

A contract is a legally binding agreement or expression between two parties, and in this case, Lori and Widget Company are in both a written and verbally communicated understanding (Jones). A liability waiver signed by Lori shows that the company already notified Lori and other employees of potential risks as they use the lawn and that employees absolve all responsibility of injuries, hence removing that responsibility from the company. Waivers of liability are legal and part of a contract, which is why employees such as Lori must read carefully and understand the risks and level of personal responsibility before signing (Roach). Moreover, Brain’s verbal assurances to protect employees in case they get hurt counts as part of the agreement. This is because, whether written or verbally agreed, the contract is equally enforceable (Roach). As an expressed contract, verbal assurances provided by Brain form part of the agreement.

According to the product liability law, Peta can sue Ferrari manufacturers for failure to warn defect (Jones). Despite having a warning sign on the three-year sandpaper replacement, the mower lacks a warning sign showing that the mower can continuously work without a facilitator, hence be warned of potential loss or injuries. Lori has a legal claim for her injuries, which are facilitated by the verbal expression contract seen from Brian’s spoken assurance words. However, one challenge of this claim would be proving verbal assurance made in case Brian tries to deny taking any responsibility. It is possible that due to the signed waiver of liability, Brian can decide to breach his verbally assured words, placing Lori on a tough ground to prove the words (Jones). Lori can achieve this by claiming for personal injury, as this could help pursue awards on noneconomic losses of pain and injury. However, settling for her compensation cannot help her claim or recover any damages (Roach).

Works Cited

Jones, Lucy. Introduction to Business Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Roach, Lee. Card and James’ Business Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.