Week 9 Short Paper: FMLA Eligibility
Short Paper #3 (450 to 600 words): Instructions: Give a full answer. Consider the
facts, including what is given and what can be presumed from the facts. Then apply
the rules to those facts to obtain your answer and explain it. Submit your answer
as an attached file.
On Monday, Mariah, age 16, becomes sick as school and calls her mom, Michelle.
Michelle takes Mariah to see Dr. Hart, who diagnoses Mariah with the flu. Dr. Hart
prescribes medication and tells Michelle that Mariah will need a week to recover
before she can return from school. Michelle contacts her employer to inform them
that her daughter is sick and cannot return to school for a week. She would like to
take FMLA leave for the days she will miss from work (half day Monday, all day
Tuesday-Friday). Michelle has worked for her employer full-time for the past 6 years,
averaging 40 hours a week. During the past 52 weeks, Michelle has used 10 weeks of
FMLA leave. Michele works for a retail company that has a lot of seasonal
employees. During the twelve weeks of summer and eight weeks from November to
Christmas, the company employs 80 people. During the other weeks, the company
only employees 40 people.
Is Michelle entitled to FMLA leave? In your answer, address whether this is a
qualifying event, whether Michelle is an eligible employee, and whether the
company is covered by FMLA. Additionally, if Michelle is entitled to FMLA leave,
what is she entitled to upon her return from leave?
SHORT PAPER RUBRIC
This rubric is used to grade the 3 short papers (each worth 100 points)
Answer (45 Points)
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•
•
•
Did the student address all the points of the short paper
Was the student’s position correct given the question of the paper
Did the student fully explain the position taken
Was the student clear on what his/her position was
Legal Support (45 Points)
• Did the student support the position taken with law
• Did the student use the correct law to support his/her position
• Did the student fully explain the position taken
Spelling/Grammar (10 Points each)
Word Count (450 – 600 words using word count on Word)
• 400-449 words – minus 5 percent
• 350-399 words – minus 10 percent
• 300-349 words – minus 15 percent
• 250-299 words – minus 20 percent
• 200-249 words – minus 25 percent
• 150-199 words – minus 30 percent
• 100-149 words – minus 35 percent
• 50-99 words- minus 40 percent
• 0-49 words – minus 50 percent
Late Work – minus 50% of points earned
• if you would have earned a 90 on the work, the grade posted will be a 45
There is an example short paper question and submission below.
EXAMPLE
Short Paper: Please identify a federal or state statute that relates to businesses. (Please
feel free to consult the following website for examples of state statutes regulating
corporations: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/table_corporations.) Do you agree or
disagree with the principles in this federal or state statute, and why? What effects do you
think this statute has had on businesses?
Answer:
I chose the to look at the Intellectual Property law and its relationship to businesses.
Under the body of Intellectual Property law, federal patent and copyright laws help
businesses claim ownership of their ideas, designs, and slogans. Intellectual Property law
protects the products and ideas of individuals and businesses (“What Is IP Law?”).
According to the Cornell University Law School, intellectual property “is any product of
the human intellect that the law protects from unauthorized use by others” (“Intellectual
Property”). The law considers patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets to be
intellectual property. Each type of intellectual property has specific laws that control and
govern them.
A patent allows the holder to exclude other individuals from making, using, importing,
and selling the patent (“Patent”). The law has certain requirements that include patentable
subject matter, utility, novelty, nonobviousness, and enablement. (“Patent”). The
patentable subject matter requires the individual or business to signify what invention
will need protection (“Patent”). This requirement also states that the products should be a
human-made invention rather than a product of nature (“Patent”). I agree with this law
because it controls the amount of patentable inventions and removes the fake inventions.
The second requirement is whether or not the invention is useful and can be used in the
real world (“Patent”). Novelty requires that the invention isn’t known in other countries
(“Patent”). I also agree with this law because it also minimizes the amount of useless
inventions and the chance of individuals stealing ideas. The last requirement, enablement,
requires documentation of the process of making the product which makes sure that the
product can be carried out (“Patent”). All of these laws make it very challenging for
individuals or businesses to get patents.
A copyright can be reproduced, displayed, and distributed exclusively by the owner
(“Copyright”). Copyrights reduce the amount of replications and similar ideas. This law
is crucial to federal intellectual property law because it determines authorship. As
technology advances, so does the laws surrounding copyrights. Motion pictures and
sound recordings can now have copyrights (“Copyright”). Trademarks also help separate
businesses from each other. For example, GEICO’s slogan or trademark is “15 minutes
could save you 15% or more on car insurance.” Trademark law makes it so other
businesses can’t take this slogan as their own. Copyrights and trademarks are very
important to branding and originality of businesses.
I agree with the majority of federal intellectual property law. I think that the law is fair
and is very important to the longevity of businesses. Without patents, copyrights,
trademarks, and trade secrets, businesses would be stealing ideas and wrongfully using
them. The policies are very strict, but they benefit businesses that have good ideas and
follow the rules. These laws have a large effect on the credibility, prosperity, and
longevity of businesses. Without a patent, trademark, or a copyright, the ideas and
products of businesses aren't protected properly. This can lead to unwanted replications
and the stealing of ideas. Patents, copyrights, and trademarks are crucial to a business’s
original ideas, designs, and slogans.
Works Cited
"Copyright." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
"Intellectual Property." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
"Patent." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
"Trade Secret." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
"Trademark." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
"What Is IP Law?" What Is IP Law? N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
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