Brotherly Love

Chipotle is a chain of Tex-Mex restaurants that provide food through a cafeteria-style line and have casual seating for diners. Cameron and his sister Carla started working at the Chipotle in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania on January 21, 2013. Carla usually cooks the meat and chops the ingredients in the back kitchen and Cameron usually serves the customers and works the register.

 

Chipotle gets crazy busy at lunchtime, when all the workers in the area want their burritos. Carla gets called to work the service line next to Cameron. She’s never done it before, and has never received training. She is very nervous and Cameron keeps making fun of her. In her haste to serve customers, she drops a huge blob of guacamole on the cement floor, which her brother Cameron slips in. He hits his head on the tortilla chip shelving on the way down. Cameron suffered a broken wrist, three broken ribs, and a concussion that has resulted in total amnesia and vision difficulties. He no longer recognizes his sister Carla.

 

66. Can Cameron sue Chipotle?

 

a. No, because it was Carla’s fault

b. No, because he was partially to blame for the accident

c. No, because of the workers compensation laws

d. Yes, he can sue

e. No, because he can’t remember that he works there.

 

67. Can Cameron sue Carla personally?

 

a. No, because he was partially to blame for the accident

b. No, because of the unemployment compensation laws

c. No, because he assumed the risk of dropped guacamole

d. Yes, he can sue, but his mom’s going to be mad

e. No, but only because he can’t remember she’s family.

 

68. Let’s pretend for this question that Cameron can sue only one party – Carla or Chipotle. (Let’s also leave out how mad Cameron’s mom is at both of them.) Why, in practical terms, would Cameron rather sue Chipotle than sue Carla?

 

a. Because he is madder at Chipotle than Carla

b. Because Carla doesn’t have as much money as Chipotle does

c. Because he harbors resentment against Chipotle’s burritos

d. Because it is more Chipotle’s fault than it is Carla’a

e. Because he wants Carla to babysit for him someday

 

 

69. If Cameron does file a negligence suit in tort against Chipotle, what’s his MOST IMPORTANT LEGAL ARGUMENT?

a. There was no training for Carla and that’s why she dropped the guacamole

b. There are no rules prohibiting joking around on the front server line

c. He was acting outside the course of his ordinary employment when he was teasing his sister

d. He fell on the guacamole through no fault of his own

e. Guacamole is a hazard that should have been disclosed under OSHA’s general duty clause

 

70. If Cameron does file suit against Chipotle, what’s Chipotle’s MOST IMPORTANT LEGAL ARGUMENT?

 

a. There is no training that can teach you not to drop guacamole

b. It was a common accident and accidents do happen

c. Cameron was acting within the course of his ordinary employment, even though he was teasing his sister while he was working because people often joke around on the job

d. The injury is Carla’s fault and not Chipotle’s

e. Guacamole is not an inherently deadly working condition

 

71. Can Cameron get workers’ compensation benefits if he caused the guacamole accident by distracting Carla?

 

a. Yes, if he was within the regular course of his employment duties when he got hurt

b. No, because if you cause your own accident you can’t get workers’ compensation benefits

 

72. Under all the facts as described in the original scenario, will Cameron win a negligence lawsuit in tort against Chipotle?

 

a. No, because it will be covered under workers compensation laws and he can’t sue

b. No, because it will be covered under Carla’s insurance because she caused the accident

c. Yes, because the employer violated the duty of care by not providing front line training and then assigning Carla to work there

d. Yes, because guacamole is an inherently hazardous substance covered by OSHA