Question

Lakeside Property. Ronnie agreed to act as Sue's agent in finding a piece of lakeside property for her at a good price and in obtaining a loan for her with which to purchase the property. She agreed to pay him $500 for doing so. To assist Ronnie in his duties, Sue disclosed to Ronnie confidential information about her finances and debts. Ronnie decided that he needed help and paid Rick $300 to look for property for Sue. Bruce told Ronnie about a great deal on a piece of lakeside property that Bruce had for sale. In fact, the deal was so good that Ronnie purchased the property for himself. When Sue found out about the property Ronnie bought for himself, she complained to Ronnie. He defended himself on the basis that he was not actually working for Sue when he found out about the deal. At the time, he was playing golf with Bruce. He also told Sue that he had hired Rick for $300 to assist him and that he could not be held liable because he had turned the job over to Rick. He asked Sue for reimbursement of that amount. Sue fired Ronnie, threatening to sue him. Ronnie told Sue that he would counterclaim for the $300 owed to Rick. Only after he was fired, Ronnie disclosed to a number of parties information regarding Sue's spending habits that he thought were excessive.

Which of the following is the most likely result if Sue sues Ronnie for revealing confidential information?

a) Sue will lose because Ronnie waa no longer her agent when he revealed the information.
b) Sue will lose because regardless of whether he was working for her or not, he had no legal duty to keep any information confidential.
c) Sue will win.
d) Sue will lose unless she can establish that revealing the information caused her to suffer economic loss or to seek psychological counseling.
e) Sue will lose unless she can establish that revealing the information caused her to suffer economic loss.

Answer 1

C) Sue will win.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this case Sue is the principal and Ronnie is the agent. An agent has several duties with his/her principal which include care, integrity, honesty, confidentiality and loyalty. Most of the agent's duties cease once the agency relationship is over, but the duty of confidentiality does not.

Ronnie had the duty to keep Sue's personal information confidential even after their agency relationship was over, so Sue can win at a court.