Full access allows:
- Solve all tests online without limits;
- Remove all advertisements on website;
- Adding questions to favorite list;
- Save learning progress;
- Save results of practice exams;
- Watching all wrong answered questions.
9. Is the court likely to grant the employee's demand for a jury trial?
An employer, a citizen of State A, sued an employee, a citizen of State B, in State B state court. The one-count complaint sought an injunction that would prevent the employee from accepting a job that the employer claimed would have violated a valid covenant not to compete. The employee answered the complaint, in which he demanded a jury trial pursuant to the U.S. Constitution's Seventh Amendment.
Comments (0)
There are no comments at the moment. If you found an error or think question is incorrect, tell everyone about it
Only signed in users can write comments
Signin
(i) no right to a jury trial exists; OR
(ii) all parties have waived the right to a jury trial. If there is no jury, the trial judge serves as both the finder of fact and the decider of law.
The Seventh Amendment provides the right to a jury trial, but only in federal court. This Amendment has never been held to be applicable to state trials. Under the incorporation doctrine, the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution (Bill of Rights) are applicable to the states through the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment.
After the passage of the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court favored a process called «selective incorporation.» Under selective incorporation, only parts of certain amendments are incorporated. The Seventh Amendment has not been incorporated. Minneapolis & St. Louis R. Co. v. Bombolis, 241 U.S. 211 (1916).
A is correct. The key to this question is that it concerns a case only in state court. The Seventh Amendment is only applicable to federal courts and has never been extended to the states. State law determines whether parties have a right to a jury in state courts. The employer brought the action in state court, rendering the Seventh Amendment inapplicable.
B is incorrect. This answer choice states the correct conclusion with incorrect legal reasoning. Although the Seventh Amendment does apply to suits at federal common law, because this is a state case, the Seventh Amendment is not applicable.
C is incorrect. State law determines whether parties have a right to a jury in state courts. Also, because the employer seeks only injunctive (equitable) relief in the suit, the employer has no right to a jury trial.
D is incorrect. As explained above, the Seventh Amendment is only applicable to federal courts, not state courts. State law determines whether parties have a right to a jury in state courts. In addition, equitable relief cannot be monetized to satisfy the Seventh Amendment's amount in controversy requirement.