Law Presentation SLide
Case Overview

Three friends have unethical bosses and are very unhappy with their current situations.

After drinking one evening, they jokingly discuss hiring a hit-man to murder their bosses.

When this joke becomes a reality, they are convinced by their “murder consultant” to each murder the others bosses.

A turn of events strikes when Harkin (Nick’s boss) kills Bobby (Kurt’s boss) because he thinks Bobby is sleeping with his wife. Harkin is caught at the end of the film and is arrested.

Dale ends up recording his boss Julia admitting to the sexual harassment and uses it as blackmail to get her to stop.

Horrible Bosses

By Anonymous

1. Horrible Bosses. Dir. Seth Gordon. Perf. Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Anniston, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell. Warner Bros, 2011. Film. 2. Beatty, Jeffrey F., Samuelson. Business Law and The Legal Environment.. 6th Edition Standard. Print.

This film surrounds unethical behavior regarding employment law as well as personal ethical behavior.

Julia sexually harasses her employee, Dale. Harkin works his employee, Nick, more hours than that which are legal and attempts to ruin his reputation at work by saying he is an alcoholic. Bobby attempts to turn everyone in the accounting department to turn against Kurt by forcing him to fire “fat” people.

Sexual harassment is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that states that it is illegal to discriminate and sexual harassment is prohibited. (pg. 713)

Crime is also a main topic in this movie. While the three employees were on their recon, they trespass onto Kurt’s boss Bobby’s property. Trespassing is intentionally entering land that belongs to someone else without their approval (pg. 137).

While comitting this crime, they also commit the tort of conversion by stealing Bobby’s phone without his consent (pg.137).

12/6/15

Hi.

My name is Anonymous and I did my Business Law in Film Presentation on the movie Horrible Bosses.

This movie is about three friends who are unhappy with their work lives and conspire to have their bosses assassinated. After meeting with a “murder consultant”, they decide that killing each other’s bosses would be the best idea. They then plan to do a little recon to get to know their victims weaknesses and habits. During their recon, they end up entering Bobby and Dave’s houses without their permission. In Bobby’s house, they steal his cell phone. According to our book, “trespassing is intentionally entering land that belongs to someone else…”. It is also explained that “conversion is taking or using someone’s personal property without consent” (pg. 137). Although the entering of this home would possibly be best described as breaking and entering, it is also suitable to say that they trespassed onto this mans property without his consent and with the intent to ultimately commit a crime. When Kurt stole Bobby’s cell phone, he also committed the tort of conversion because he took the phone without Bobby’s consent. As our book states, this is also very similar to theft aside from the fact that the “tort of conversion allows a plaintiff to pursue the case himself, without awaiting a criminal prosecution”.

This film is filled with unethical behavior such as sexual harassment in the workplace, drugs in the workplace, foul language in the workplace, and slander in the workplace.

Nick works at a financial firm and has been working very hard for years to become the senior vice president. His boss, Dave Harkin (Kevin Spacey) has lead him to believe that he will be granted this position when he has no real intention of awarding him with the position. Dave Harkin metals Nick for being 2 minutes late after he makes him work late hours on a daily basis. He then tricks him into drinking while on the job when he actually doesn’t want to. Nick is afraid that if he does not, he will not get the senior vice president position. This is also against the law, and according to our book, Nick is not at fault because he did it out of fear.

Dale works as a dental assistant for a dentist named Julia. Julia (Jennifer Aniston), has a problem with sexually harassing Dale and constantly tries to convince him to be intimate with her even though he is engaged to be married. This is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that it is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibits… (2) sexual harassment… Because Dale is a registered sex offender, he was only able to get a job at Julia’s office and is therefore terrified of challenging her. Julia could be taken to court regarding her behavior. Later in the movie, Julia shows her iPad to Dale revealing photos that she took with him while he was unconscious. In these photos, Dale was under gas and was unaware that Julia was touching him in inappropriate ways. This could also be considered battery, as “battery is the intentional touching of another person in a way that is harmful or offensive” (pg. 136). Dale was clearly offended by her actions and mores after he saw the photos she had taken without his consent

Kurt works for a chemical company that was first owned by Jack Pellit (Donald Sutherland) who was the best boss that he could ask for. After Jack dies of a heart attack, his cocaine addict son Bobby Pellit (Colin Farrell) takes over the business and it set on making Kurt’s life miserable. Cocaine is illegal and doing it on the job is also prohibited. His foul language and lack of respect in the workplace is an example of unethical behavior.