Welcome, Y'all! Introducing Legal Environment and Business Ethics Courses with Paula Deen

• Author: Natalie P. Bryant,Laura R. Dove
• Date: 01 June 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jlse.12092
• Published date: 01 June 2019

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 36, Issue 2, 189–211, Summer 2019

Welcome, Y’all! Introducing Legal

Environment and Business Ethics

Courses with Paula Deen

Laura R. Dove∗and Natalie P. Bryant∗∗

I. INTRODUCTION

Business law and business ethics faculty—along with the textbooks they use

in their courses—continually emphasize to students that legal compliance

should be viewed as a floor and not a ceiling when it comes to the social and

ethical obligations of business professionals.1At the same time, in business

law and legal environment courses, instructors are often tasked with covering

a seemingly monumental array of legal topics. Meanwhile, students struggle

to assimilate the substance of legal rules at the same time they are learning

what seems like an entirely new language of legal terminology.2As such, the

use of teaching cases in these classes can help students to “become adept at

defining and solving issues presented in the case . . . and allow instructors to

work with the students to assist them with developing and monitoring their

own strategic learning practices[.]”3As evidenced by the sheer number of

case studies in the Journal of Legal Studies Education (JLSE) alone in the past

∗Associate Professor, Troy University.

∗∗Assistant Professor, Troy University.

1See, e.g.,SEAN P. MELVIN &F.E.GUERRA-PUJOL,THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS:A

MANAGERIAL APPROACH:THEORY TO PRACTICE 143 (3d ed. 2018); LINDA K. TREVINO &KATHERINE

A. NELSON,MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS:STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT HOW TO DOITRIGHT 20 (5th

ed. 2011).

2See generally Laura R. Dove & Natalie P. Bryant, Law in Translation: Challenges and Opportunities

in TeachingInter national Students in Business Law and Legal EnvironmentCourses,33J.L

EGAL STUD.

EDUC. 263 (2016).

3Darren Charters, Sally Guns & Vivian Schoner, Using the Case Study Approach to Challenge Students

in an Introductory Business Law Course,26J.L

EGAL STUD.EDUC. 47, 53 (2009).

C2019 The Authors

Journal of Legal Studies Education C2019 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

189

190 Vol. 36 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education

fourteen years,4business law and legal environment of business instructors

have long used cases as an effective and interesting way to engage students

in the material while helping them to apply concepts learned in class.5

This article offers a teaching case based on the 2013 controversy sur-

rounding comments made in a deposition by Paula Deen during a lawsuit

filed against her by a former employee. Deen’s admission of using racially

derogatory terms, on top of a variety of other allegations in the case, stunned

and outraged many of her fans and the public in general. The controversy

cost Deen dearly, both financially and in terms of her reputation, even though

the racial discrimination claims in the lawsuit against her were ultimately dis-

missed. Thus, this case is a crucial reminder of both the necessity and the

insufficiency of legal compliance when it comes to successful business own-

ership and management. The case can also be used as a framework for an

entire legal environment course because of the wide variety of legal issues on

which it touches. Alternatively, the case could be used as a basis for a class

discussion to take place during only one class period or online in a business

law or ethics course.6

4Upon examination of JLSE volumes dating from 2004 until present, the authors found over

thirty-five case studies and numerous other articles related to the use of case studies.

5See, e.g., Lee B. Burgunder, The Selfie-Made Man: A Case Study in Law, Ethics, and Instagram,33

J. LEGAL STUD.EDUC. 181 (2016); Tammy W. Cowart & Wade M. Chumney, I Phone, You Phone,

We All Phone with iPhone: TrademarkLaw and Ethics from an International and Domestic Perspective,28

J. LEGAL STUD.EDUC. 331 (2011); Lucien J. Dhooge, A Fire in the Global Village: Teaching Ethical

Reasoning and Stakeholder Interests Utilizing Tobacco,29J.L

EGAL STUD.EDUC. 95 (2012); Lucien J.

Dhooge, What’s Wrong with Bribery? An Example Utilizing Access to Safe Drinking Water,30J.L

EGAL

STUD.EDUC. 131 (2013); Robert J. Landry, Ethical Considerations in Filing Personal Bankruptcy: A

Hypothetical Case Study,29J.L

EGAL STUD.EDUC. 59 (2012); Sean P. Melvin, Case Study of a Coffee

War: Using the Starbucks v. Charbucks Dispute to Teach Trademark Dilution, Business Ethics, and the

Strategic Value of Legal Acumen,29J.L

EGAL STUD.EDUC. 27 (2012); Susanna Monseau & Nancy

Lasher, It Is Just a Game (of Jews vs. Nazi Beer Pong): A Case Study on Law, Ethics, and Social Media,

34 J. LEGAL STUD.EDUC. 241 (2017); Haskell J. Murray, Ben & Jerry’s Struggles with Corporate Social

Responsibility in an International Context,32J.L

EGAL STUD.EDUC. 287 (2015); Lamar Odom &

Analco Gonz´

alez, Kelo v. City of New London: An Ideal Case to Teach Ethical and Legal Principles,

25 J. LEGAL STUD.EDUC. 343 (2008); Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, International Legal and Ethical

Considerations at Pfizer, Inc.,22J.L

EGAL STUD.EDUC. 169 (2005); Adam J. Sulkowski, Rodolfo’s

Casa Caribe in Cuba: Business, Law, and Ethics of Investing in a Start-Up in Havana,34J.L

EGAL

STUD.EDUC. 127 (2017).

6We use the terms “business law” and “legal environment” interchangeably to refer to the law and

legal studies courses typically required as part of core curricula in colleges and schools of business.

Although these course titles do sometimes suggest important distinctions in a class’ emphasis

or objectives, see Carol J. Miller & Susan J. Crain, Legal Environment vs. Business Law Courses: A