Business Law
Sheldon Cooper was attending a book signing by his evil nemesis Wil Wheaton at the Comic Center of Pasadena (CCP) when he slipped on a puddle of lemonade created by a defective juice box being slurped by one of six nerds attending the signing. The Capri Sun juice box was manufactured by the KraftHeinz corporation headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and incorporated in Delaware. Although Comic Center sole proprietor Stuart Bloom had noticed the puddle he failed to clean it up because he was depressed about his failing business and pathetic personal life (no date in over 5 years). Sheldon slipped on the lemonade puddle as he rushed to get his Wesley Crusher action doll personally autographed by Wheaton. He fell to the floor and suffered a broken leg. As he writhed on the ground in agony Howard Wolowitz, Raj Koothrappali, and Leonard Hofstadter chuckled at his clumsiness. “What a dork”, commented Wolowitz as Raj and Leonard laughed uproariously. Wheaton walked over stated, “here you go Sheldon this will make you feel better,” and handed him a copy of his autobiography, “Just a Geek”. It was inscribed, “To Sheldon, what a complete loser! Your Pal, Wil Wheaton.” As he was taken away in the ambulance, Sheldon vowed to personally sue all his tormentors.
In the midst of the excitement Jim Hobo, a homeless man, slipped into the CCP to snag a coffee and stale donut set out for the book signing. After having his fill Hobo slipped a rare Spiderman #1 comic book into his coat as he left the store. Later noticing the valuable comic missing Bloom noticed a suspicious bulge in nerd Frodo Baggins coat. He accused Baggins of stealing the comic, grabbed him in a headlock, and forced him into a back storeroom and locked the door. When the police arrived an hour later they found only a half-eaten bag of Fritos in Baggins’ coat. The next day Hobo sold the Spiderman comic to Sam Collector for $50. Collector knew the mint Spiderman comic was worth $500. He was ecstatic to complete his collection of mint Spiderman comics.
The next day in order to increase business Bloom put a poster in the store window taken at ComicCon Pasadena of William Shatner giving him an autograph with the text “Shop where William Shatner buys his Star Trek action figures!” Shatner has never been in the CCP nor bought any merchandise from Bloom.
What are the tort and criminal law issues in this fact pattern?
Review the fact pattern, identify the legal issues and answer using the IRAC method.
Your goal should to be identify and completely IRAC 10 legal issues.