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JOHN MOLSON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

COMM 315: BUSINESS LAW & ETHICS
SUMMER 2014: Section AB
Instructor: Jean Pommainville
Office: TBD
E-mail: pommj@jmsb.concordia.ca
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 5:00-5:30 P.M. (check First Class postings for any
changes)
Office telephone: TBD

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Through the study of laws, ethical principles and court judgments, this course will introduce
students to important legal and ethical issues that they may encounter within a business
organization.

In todays environment of social awareness, business can no longer focus solely on maximizing
profits and must recognize and respect its legal and ethical obligations to a wide range of
stakeholders, both within and outside of the business organization. These stakeholders include
employees, management, shareholders, directors, officers, the immediate community and
society at large.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

This course is designed to help students:

1) Develop an understanding of the relationship between law and ethics and how these two
principles should not be treated as mutually exclusive;

2) Identify important legal and ethical issues that may be encountered within the workplace;

3) Develop a familiarity with the appropriate steps to be followed in both the legal and
ethical decision making processes;

4) Apply material learned in this course in order to analyze and propose solutions to legal
and ethical problems.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIAL:

Casebook: Fundamentals of Quebec Business Law and Ethics, 1
st
Edition, Paladin
Publications. (Available at the Concordia University bookstore)

This book includes relevant articles of the Civil Code of Quebec (CCQ) and other laws dealing
with business issues, along with Canadian & Quebec court cases edited or summarized.


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Additional optional and required material will be posted on FirstClass periodically.
DISCLAIMER:

The instructor reserves the right to change or update this outline, and any other course
related material, as required. Students will be informed in a timely manner through
FirstClass and/or announcements during class. Any and all information relevant to
course material and exams will be provided exclusively through in-class announcements
and/or FirstClass postings. Consult FirstClass periodically for any such updates.

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS:

When sending emails, please ensure that the subject heading indicates COMM 315 and
the section you are registered in at all times (COMM 315, SECTION AA). Please include
your full name and your student number at all times. This will ensure that your message
is properly identified and avoid deletion of messages wrongly identified as spam.


EXAMS and EVALUATION: The students will be graded as follows:

Two in-class exams will test the students comprehension of the fundamental principles of Law
and Ethics upon which the course is founded. Both exams will be worth 25% of the total grade.

The First mid-term will cover Chapters 1, 2, 3 & 4 as well as all corresponding lectures
and any additional distributed materials;

The second mid-term will cover Chapters 5 & 6 as well as the material on Ethics covered
in Chapter 2 and all corresponding lectures and any additional distributed materials;

The common final exam will cover Chapters 7, 8 & 9 as well as the material on Ethics covered
in Chapter 2, all corresponding lectures and any additional distributed materials;

Mid-Term Exams are tentatively scheduled to take place during classes # 5 and 9.

Exact dates will be announced in class in accordance with how classes progress. Do not
make plans you cannot change based upon these dates as the exam date may be earlier
or later than tentatively scheduled. Students are required to be available at all times and
no make-up will be granted except for serious medical reasons (see below).

The final exam, worth 50% of the total grade is scheduled during the official exam period.

Both in-class tests and the final exam will be closed-book and no course material may be
brought to any test or exam or be allowed in the students possession during exams (including
all books, notes and papers). No electronic devices, including cell phones, laptops, tablets,
electronic dictionaries, etc. will be permitted on students desks during any test or exam.

The format of all tests and exams will be multiple-choice. The mid-term exams will consist
of 25 multiple-choice questions each and the final exam 50 questions. Changes to the
multiple-choice format (if any) and content may be announced in class prior to the exams. All
material referred to in this outline, the corresponding material from the text-book, as well all
lectures and any distributed readings are considered required reading for exams.

If any of the study material listed herein is excluded from any of the three exams, students will
be informed exclusively in class.

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EXAMS MISSED FOR MEDICAL REASONS

No make-up tests will be granted except for serious medical reasons supported by original,
detailed, dated and signed medical documentation. Students who do not provide such sufficient
medical documentation will receive a grade of zero for the test they did not write.

Medical documentation must clearly indicate and certify that the students condition is
severe enough to render him/her incapable of writing the exam on the date in question. A
medical note, which simply attests that the student visited with a doctor, will not be accepted.

No make up exam will be granted, unless notification of the students inability to write the exam
is given by the student at the earliest possible opportunity. Except in the case of emergencies,
this notification must be done prior to the test in question.

The instructor has no discretion regarding final exams. Consequently, all issues regarding final
exams must be submitted to the Examination office.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

The Code of Conduct (Academic) at Concordia University states that "The integrity of University
academic life and of the degrees, diplomas and certificates the University confers is dependent
upon the honesty and soundness of the instructor-student learning relationship and, in
particular, that of the evaluation process. Therefore, for their part, all students are expected to
be honest in all of their academic endeavors and relationships with the University"
Undergraduate Calendar 2013-2014, section 17.10
(http://registrar.concordia.ca/calendar/pdf/sec17.pdf).

All students enrolled at Concordia are expected to familiarize themselves with the contents of
this Code.

Please remember the importance of good time management. Concordias Counseling
and Development offers workshops on Time Management, which can help:
http://cdev.concordia.ca/documents/Learning/learning_handouts/graduate_students/Gra
dStudentSurvival.pdf

LEARNING PLAN AND PROPOSED CLASS SCHEDULE:

Students are reminded that course materials are required to be read prior to class and that
students will be expected to be prepared to discuss laws, ethical issues and relevant court
cases in class.
You must pre-read and have the relevant sections of the book and posted materials and
bring them with you during all classes in order to properly follow lecture material.

Week/Class Class Schedule (tentative)
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Chapter One: Introduction to Law
1.1 What is Law?
1.2 The Law of the Land
1.3 Law & Justice
1.4 Law & Ethics
1.5 Understanding the Domains of Law
1.6 Substantive Law & Adjectival Law
1.7 To Sue The Five Ws

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1.8 A Legal System
Chapter Three: The Quebec Legal System

3.1 Structure The First Element of the Qubec Legal System
3.2 Law The Second Element of the Qubec Legal System
3.3 Administration and Enforcement - The Third Element of the Qubec Legal
System
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Chapter Two: Ethics

2.1 Introduction to Ethics
2.2 Law vs. Ethics
2.3 International Business Ethics
2.4 Resolving Ethical Issues
2.5 Professional Standards and Corporate Codes of Conduct
2.6 Responsible Investing
2.7 Corporate Governance

(Please note that students are responsible for the material on Ethics for all
three exams)

3 + 4 + 5
Chapter Four: Personal Rights

4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
4.3 The Qubec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
4.4 The Civil Code of Qubec
Appendix 4-A Constitution Act, 1982
Appendix 4-B Selected Sections from the Qubec Charter of
Human Rights and Freedoms
Appendix 4-C Selected Articles from the Civil Code of Qubec
Case 4.1 Commission Scholaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys v.
Singh Multani
Case 4.2 Singh Multani v. Commission Scholaire
Marguerite-Bourgeoys
Case 4.3 British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations
Commission) v. BCGSEU
Case 4.4 Therrien v. Minister of Justice
Case 4.5 Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem
Case 4.6 Grutter v. Bollinger et al

End of material for first mid-term exam:
In-class test # 1 will cover the lecture material and Chapters 1, 2, 3 & 4.

6 + 7










Chapter Five: Mandate

5.1 Introduction
5.2 Characteristics
5.3 Obligations of the Mandatary towards the Mandator
5.4 Obligations of the Mandator towards the Mandatary
5.5 Obligations of the Mandatary towards Third Persons
5.6 Obligations of the Mandator towards Third Persons
5.7 Termination of Mandate
Appendix 5-A Selected Articles from the Civil Code of Qubec
Case 5.1 Piec Estate v. Caisse d'conomie polonaise du Qubec

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7 + 8
Case 5.2 Dowell v. Hay-Ellis
Chapter Six: Forms of Business Ownership

6.1 Introduction
6.2 The Sole Proprietorship
6.3 The Partnership
6.4 The Corporation

Appendix 6-A Selected Sections from the Act Respecting Legal
Publicity of Enterprises
Appendix 6-B Selected Articles from the Civil Code of Qubec
Appendix 6-C Partnership Agreement
Appendix 6-D Sole Proprietorship Registration Form
Appendix 6-E Partnership Registration Form
Appendix 6-F Federal Incorporation Forms
Appendix 6-G Qubec Incorporation Form
Appendix 6-H Certificate of Incorporation
Appendix 6-I Selected Sections from the Qubec Business
Corporations Act
Appendix 6-J Selected Sections from the Canada Business
Corporations Act
Appendix 6-K Share Certificate
Case 6.1 146400 Canada Inc. v. Network Transport Ltd.

End of material for second mid-term exam:

In-class test # 2 will cover the lecture material and Chapters 2, 5 & 6.

(Please note that students are responsible for the material on Ethics from
Chapter 2)

9 + 10 +11
Chapter Seven: Employment Law

7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Individual Contract of Employment

Appendix 7-A Selected Articles from the Civil Code of Qubec
Appendix 7-B Selected Sections from the Qubec Labour Standards Act
Case 7.1 King v. BioChem Therapeutic Inc.
Case 7.2 Dub v. Volcano Technologies Inc.
Case 7.3 Hasanie v. Kaufel Groupe Ltd.
Case 7.4 Copyfax Inc. v. Lambert
Case 7.5 A.R. Medicom Inc. v. Bergeron

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Chapter Eight: Principles of Contract Law

8.1 Obligations
8.2 Contracts

Appendix 8-A Selected Articles from the Civil Code of Qubec
Case 8.1 Giroux v. Malik
Case 8.2 Peter v. Fiasche
Case 8.3 Carrefour Langelier v. Cineplex Odeon Corp.
Case 8.4 Copiscope Inc. v. TRM Copy Centers


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Chapter Nine: Civil Responsibility (Liability)

9.1 Introduction
9.2 Personal Responsibility
9.3 Indirect Responsibility (Vicarious Liability)
9.4 Limiting Civil Responsibility

Appendix 9-A Selected Articles from the Civil Code of Qubec
Case 9.1 Harris v. Ostromogilski
Case 9.2 Walker v. Singer
Case 9.3 Farmakis v. Canadian Tire Corp.
Case 9.4 Walford v. Jacuzzi Canada Inc.
Case 9.5 Morse v. Cott Beverages West Ltd.

End of material for Final Exam.

Final Exam will cover the lecture material and Chapters 2, 7, 8 & 9.

Additional Material for Final Exam:

Please note that the following material from Subject I will also be covered in
the final exam:

Material, Moral and Punitive Damages as covered in the Charter of Rights
(Chapter 4);
Chapter 2, Ethics