41 Lessons
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Firing a Contractor – part II
Plaintiff 2 (=pl2) was the contractor for major renovations of the defendant’s (=def) home; plaintiff 1 (=pl1) was the supervisor. The contract stated that pl2 would finish the job in 120 work days within approximately six months. After over eight months, with the job not close to complete, def fired them, with the claim that pl2 was working only sporadically because he took on another job. Pl2 claims that he took the other job only after def fell behind in payments and that he had already worked 140 days because def made additions to the original plans. Pl2 claims that def fired them when she received a bill for the additional work. Def says that she wrote a letter to fire them before she received that bill, that she paid less than spelled out because she bought some of the materials that pl2 was required to, and because the work was behind schedule. She claims that pl1 approved the amount she paid and that pl2 did not protest.
P'ninat Mishpat A Third Dayan Who Was a Relative
Reuven and Shimon had a dispute, and they decided to adjudicate by each picking a judge (Levi and Yehuda), with the stipulation that they could rule based on din (strict law) or peshara (compromise). They agreed (in writing, with a kinyan for finalization) that if the two could not agree on a ruling/settlement, they could pick a third of their choice (“whoever it might be”) to enable a decision. Levi and Yehuda indeed did not agree. They chose Dan according to the above instructions. After a ruling was rendered, Reuven objected, with the claim that he found out that Dan is Shimon’s relative, to which he would not have agreed. Shimon claims that since Dan was accepted and since the instructions were that it could be anyone, this includes even relatives.
P'ninat Mishpat The Price of a Practical Joke
Reuven, a shochet in a certain town, purposely made Shimon, a respected man from a different town, look foolish. Reuven’s wife gave birth to a girl. Reuven, who knew that Shimon is very excited about serving as a mohel, invited Shimon to perform a mila for “his son who wasn’t.” Shimon travelled four hours to perform the mila, and when he showed up in shul to do so, he was the laughing stock of the community. The rabbi of Shimon’s town suggests that Reuven should be removed from his post of shochet over this behavior.
P'ninat Mishpat Passively Taking from Another’s Franchise
Reuven bought a franchise from the sar (the ruling local nobleman) to sell alcoholic beverages, on condition that the sar would forbid his constituents from buying from anyone else, which he did. Shimon bought a franchise from a neighboring sar. Non-Jewish villagers from Reuven’s region have approached Shimon about buying from him, which hurts Reuven’s investment/livelihood. May Shimon sell to them?