Free Essay Sample - Widget's Contract Law Waiver of Liability

A verbal agreement can be part of a legally binding contract depending on the elements in place. If one party provides a verbal offer and the other party is in full agreement, then the contract can be considered legal (Bancroft-Billings, 2020). Agreements should be of lawful purposes and lawful considerations while also keeping in mind the magnitude of the contract and parties. It may be difficult to consider a verbal agreement between more than three parties as legally abiding as there is less certainty of terms being adhered to the maturity of the agreement. If any of the valid elements of a contract are not in place, the contract is not legally abiding.

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Most of the verbal agreements are legally binding but there is still a high probability of parties not fulfilling their obligations. For instance, in Widgets Inc., Brian's verbal agreement with his employees to provide for their safety in case of injuries does not provide certainty. If an employee goes to court due to a lack of compensation, the outcome of the ruling will be based on probability as there is no tangible evidence that there was an agreement. However, if the verbal contract is within a short period like within a year, there is more certainty of completion.

The Ferrari company should also be liable for injuries sustained by Lori. When designing a product that needs caution in its operations, the product should be developed in a way that could reduce injuries during operators. Without the workers' consent, the design of the mower by Ferrari endangered their lives. Ferrari should make sure that all its products go to the market when fully manufactured and lack any mechanical problems. The mower malfunctioned and cut the grass by itself injuring a worker that should have not happened if there were no manufacturing defects.

If a company knew the defects that could arise from its products, the defects should be well explained with possible ways of avoiding or handling them when they occur (Hua & Spier, 2020). If the employees had all the precautions in mind, Lori would have been more cautious when she fell and could have insight that the mower could have mechanical damage once in a while. There would be no injuries or those injuries sustained would have been of less magnitude. However, Ferrari could claim that the manufacturing defects of its product are due to low maintenance by the people operating it and prove that all other mowers work efficiently.

Trying to claim worker's compensation for injuries could prove to be a challenge for Lori. Employees need to have substantial evidence that there is a contract between them and the company to get compensated in case of injuries. Without documented evidence, there are minimal chances of an employee getting compensated if the company decides not to pay for injuries got during work (Lipson, 2019). In Lori's case, if Brian refuses to pay for her medical bills and the case goes to court, the only reference will be the verbal communication they had before she got hired which is not enough evidence.

When an employee does not have enough evidence to show up, it is up to the judge to decide whose case looks more probable. However, Lori still has a claim for her injuries and can get compensated. If Brian refuses to comply, she can ask her workmates if they can help her as witnesses in court. This might not be enough as all employees lack documented agreements. Lori could still argue that she did not have the full consent of the agreement but her chances of winning the case in a court are very low.

References

Bancroft-Billings, S. (2020). Identifying spoken technical legal vocabulary in a law school classroom. English for Specific Purposes, 60, 9-25. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889490620300181

Lipson, J. C. (2019). Promising Justice: Contract (as) Social Responsibility. Wis. L. Rev., 1109. https://wlr.law.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1263/2020/02/Lipson-Final.pdf

Hua, X., & Spier, K. E. (2020). Product safety, contracts, and liability. The RAND Journal of Economics, 51(1), 233-259. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1756-2171.12311