The Lame Duck Restaurant owned by Johnny appoints a sales and marketing agent (Steven) to help find customers and improve business. Steven decides that it would be a great idea to host banquets. Johnny and Steven develop two price lists for banquets, one for children birthday parties (Quotation A, $105 per hour) and one for customers wishing to consume alcohol (Quotation B, $150 per hour). Steven mistakenly asks the office staff to send ‘Quotation A’ to the potential customer, Marie, who was making a booking for the end of year corporate party by CDU students. Marie calls, accepts the quoted price and books the date for the banquet. The next day, just before the banquet, the error in the quotation is discovered. Steven gets involved, calls the customer and says that the Lame Duck Restaurant cannot host the party under ‘Quotation A’ price (because the quotation was sent in error). However, Marie insists that ‘we have a contract’ and says that under the law the Lame Duck Restaurant must deliver. (a) Advise Johnny, whether the contract exists. (5 marks) (b) Was there a mistake? If yes, what kind of mistake? (5 marks) (c) Explain what will happen if the Lame Duck Restaurant is obliged to provide the premises for the banquet, but refuses to do so. (5 marks) Three months later, Steven notices splendid work of a gardener employed by the Lame Duck Restaurant. Steven also notices that the gardener works only 2 hours a day and does nothing else during his 8-hour day. Steven says to Johnny that they should sub-contract gardener for other jobs around Darwin. The first job is ordered by Marie. The job is to trim and maintain a rooftop garden of an apartment building. The residents in the building are told – by a general notice placed in each resident’s mailbox – that there is garden work being done on the roof in the morning and that they should avoid going up to the rooftop before lunchtime. About 10 minutes after the gardener starts work on the garden, a resident comes up the internal stairs to the rooftop to have a cigarette. The resident passes through the doorway at the top of the stairs, walks out on to the rooftop and slips over on a palm leaf and breaks his wrist (the palm leaf had just been cut off one of the garden trees by the gardener). The resident goes straight to the hospital and later that afternoon contacts Johnny to complain about the incident. The resident says that his lawyer will be in contact with a claim against the Lame Duck Restaurant for compensation for his injury, including medical expenses and money lost by cancelling an overseas ski holiday the resident had planned for the following week. (d) Advise Johnny on whether there was a tort of negligence. (5 marks) (e) Advise Johnny on whether he is liable for actions of his gardener. (5 marks) (f) Advise what damages have to be paid for: medical expenses, money lost by cancelling holiday or both?
