Reference no: EM133197492

Question: Good morning, Linda Lawyer. Have I got a legal mess for you to figure out. We had an incident last week with one of our teenage drivers speeding while making a delivery, then was arrested because, unbeknownst to us, the package in her possession contained drugs, which we are not licensed to deliver. Our driver, Tammy is also not allowed to possess such packages, because she is a minor, even if we were licensed. Since we were unable to deliver the package, the customer, Vicki Vegetable did not submit a payment for our invoice.

A couple of days ago, Vicki called, and I was in no mood to talk to her, so I asked Tammy to talk to her. Well, thinking she was doing the company a favor because she was arrested for possession, agreed to terms with Vicki to meet her niece in Chicago who was supposed to give Tammy half of the payment in cash. However, when Tammy arrived, she was handed a construction contract which was illegally transferred to us for a new building in Chicago, using Tammy as the transferee. However, the contractor needs money from us to complete the building.

The first issue is that the shipping contract should be void because it is illegal for us to transport drugs, since we are not properly licensed. Then, there is the issue of Tammy being a minor. She was not authorized to make any payment arrangements with Vicki, even though her heart was in the right place. Tammy did not have the capacity to enter into a payment agreement, and will disaffirm that contract. Vicki exerted undue influence over Tammy by taking advantage of Tammy's willingness to make right of the situation. Since the agreement was to settle a debt owed us by Vicki Vegetable, Tammy should not be liable for any restitution.

She went to Chicago expecting to receive a cash payment, and instead received a building contract which was already altered by replacing any reference to Vicki Vegetable with Tammy's initials. Since the building contract was fraudulently altered, and given to Tammy without her understanding of what it meant, we should also not be liable to the contractor to pay for the completion of the building. Also the contractor did not agree to the altered contract. Additionally, the value of a building in Chicago is unjust enrichment for a few hundred dollar shipping invoice.

I believe we are due damages from Vicki in the amount of the original invoice and any subsequent legal and court costs we may incur as a result of her actions.