Legal Environment 5th Edition by Jeffrey Beatty,Susan Samuelson

تمرين 7

ETHICS When Steven was killed in an automobile accident, his wife, Debra, received $60,000 in life insurance benefits. She decided she needed a fresh start, so she sold her house in Bunkie and moved to Sulphur, Louisiana. Before she left, though, she signed several blank checks and gave them to her mother-in-law, Helen, with instructions to use them to pay off the remaining debt on Debra's mobile home. Instead, Helen used one of the checks to withdraw $50,000 from the account for her own personal use, not to pay off the debt. When Debra discovered the theft, she sued the bank for having paid an unauthorized check. How would you rule in this case? Debra has suffered a grievous loss-her husband died tragically in an automobile accident. She trusted her mother-in-law and counted on her help. Should the bank show compassion? If the bank made good on the forged checks, how great would be the injury to the bank's shareholders compared with the harm to Debra if she loses this entire sum?