Reference no: EM132165822

Don Munson, an eighteen-year-old high school senior, worked part-time at the Johnsonville Eatery restaurant in Pocatello, Idaho. Munson volunteered to work an extra shift one day, in addition to his regular shifts (one preceding and one following the extra shift). After working approximately sixteen hours during a twenty-four hour period, Munson told the manager that he was tired and asked to be excused from his next regularly scheduled shift so he could rest. The manager agreed. While driving home from work, Munson fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a car driven by Gilbert Gauthier. Munson died, and Gauthier was severely injured. Gauthier sued Johnsonville, alleging, among other things, that Johnsonville had been negligent in permitting Munson to drive a car when it should have known that he was too tired to operate a motor vehicle safely. Based on these facts, fully discuss the following questions:

(a) Do employers have a general duty to prevent fatigued employees from driving home from work? Should such a duty be imposed upon employers? How would duty based ethical standards impact this decision? How would utilitarian ethics affect this analysis? Fully discuss all of these issues.

(b) Was Johnsonville negligent in allowing Munson to drive home from work on that fateful evening? Why? Discuss fully.

(c) How is the court most likely to decide this case? Why? Fully explain.