Business Law Essay - Analysis of Mary's case

1. Mary has been hired to write courses for a Web-based training organization. Mary works at the offices of the organization. Mary is given content guidelines and a contract for each course that she writes, and is paid a flat fee upon completion of the course. It can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks to complete a course. The organization wants the contractors to work in their offices during the regular 40-hour work week, unless they need to be elsewhere to do research. The organization provides a computer to Mary. Mary also is able to use other employees at the organization for word processing and editing. Is Mary an employee or an independent contractor? 2. Agnes is an agent for Pepe for maintaining Pepe's antique car collection, including the sale and purchase of antique cars. Agnes has had this position for several years, but recently Agnes has developed a cocaine habit. She recently sold one of Pepe's cars and kept some of the money herself to buy some cocaine. Soon thereafter, Agnes was declared bankrupt. The state then notified Agnes that she had sold the maximum allowable number of cars in a year without getting a dealer's license. Shortly thereafter, Pepe was on a secluded island and died, which no one knew about until 2 weeks later. Discuss the effect of these events on the existence of the agency.