Law Commons^™

Labor Racketeering And Labor Law: State Regulation V. Federal Rights: An Analysis Of Brown V. Hotel And Restaurant Employees Union Local 54, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Brown v. Hotel and Restaurant Employees, 468 U.S. 491 (1984). The author expected the Court to decide which interest prevails where there is a conflict between New Jersey's regulation of labor unions in order to reduce the influence of organized crime in the labor sector and federally granted rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Can Mother Vote In The Union Election? The Board's Authority To Define The Appropriate Bargaining Unit: An Analysis Of Nlrb V. Action Automotive, Inc., Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case NLRB v. Action Automotive, Inc., 469 U.S. 490 (1985). The author expected the Court to address whether the NLRB can exclude from the bargaining unit an employee-relative of the owners/managers of a closely held corporation when that employee does not enjoy any special work benefits because of that relationship.

Title Vii: When Is A Pretext Not A Pretext? An Analysis Of Westinghouse Electric Corp. V. Vaughn, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Vaughn, 466 U.S. 521 (1984). The author expected the Court to clarify the evidentiary requirements and burdens of plaintiffs and defendants in litigating a disparate treatment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Union Liability In Fair Representation Suits, Robert Jones

Journal Articles

In 1976 Charles V. Bowen, a United States Postal Service employee requested that his union, the American Postal Workers initiate arbitration proceedings to prevent his employer from firing him over an alleged altercation with another employee. After the union refused Bowen sued both the Service for firing him and American Postal Workers for breaching its duty of fair representation. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that a union that fails to properly represent an employee illegally fired from his job is liable for a portion of his lost wages. The Bowen decision poses a serious threat to …

"On The Waterfront": Rico And Labor Racketeering, G. Robert Blakey, Ronald Goldstock

Journal Articles

Labor racketeering in America is a pervasive, persistent problem not easily controlled by conventional criminal statutes. The authors examine the applicability of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute (RICO) to the problem of labor racketeering and look at the recent case of United States v. Scotto as an example of the Act's application in this area. The authors conclude that to the extent that it is used appropriately and with discretion, RICO provides the flexibility to be an important law enforcement tool against labor racketeers.

Introduction, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

A symposium was held on February 29, 1964, devoted to the constitutional amendments proposed by the Council of State Governments. Very briefly these amendments would (1) vest power to amend the Constitution in State legislatures; (2) set up a "Court of the Union," composed of the chief justice of the supreme court of each of the 50 states, which would have authority to review "any judgment of the Supreme Court relating to the rights reserved to the states or to the people by this Constitution"; (3) take from the federal courts all jurisdiction over the apportionment of representation in State …

Foreword, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

Power to bring the nation's economy to a virtual standstill cannot be immune from legal accountability. That such power is lodged in some, at least, of the great national and international labor unions has been demonstrated repeatedly, most recently by the United Steelworkers. One can be wholly sympathetic with labor's aspirations and still reject the notion that the nation's economic health and safety should be dependent upon unilateral decisions by a group of private individuals—union members and their leaders—decisions taken for their own ends, however legitimate. So vast a power—terrifying in its potentialities—must be brought under reasonable legal controls.

The …

General Rules Determining The Employment Relationship Under Social Security Laws: After Twenty Years An Unsolved Problem, Thomas F. Broden

Journal Articles

The present statutory language—"the usual common law rules"—is based upon the Status Quo Resolution of 1948. The relevant part of that Resolution provided that the term "employee" in the social security laws should not include "(1) any individual who, under the usual common-law rules applicable in determining the employer-employee relationship, has the status of an independent contractor or (2) any individual (except an officer of a corporation) who is not an employee under such common-law rules." To understand the meaning of the present statutory language one must study the governmental battle from which the Status Quo Resolution emerged. This battle …

General Rules Determining The Employment Relationship Under Social Laws: After Twenty Years An Unsolved Problem, Thomas F. Broden

Journal Articles

Twenty-four years ago the Social Security Act was adopted. Whereas in its inception it covered about half the labor force, now it applies to nearly 90% of American workers. One would expect that the basic rules of law applicable to such a vast program would, by now a generation later, be rather well settled. Yet, in one very important area of Social Security law, this is not true. This article discusses that unsettled part of the law. It deals with the general rules applicable in determining the employer-employee relationship under the Federal Social Security laws, with greatest emphasis on the …

Workmen's Compensation (Survey Of The Law Of New Jersey, 1955-56), Robert E. Rodes

Journal Articles

The four years since this subject was last surveyed have been eventful ones; we cannot hope to do more than hit the high spots. A considerable liberalization of the coverage of the compensation laws is to be discerned in this period, highly influenced, it may be suspected, by the recent and much-cited Larson treatise. The liberal pattern Dean Larson imposes on his material has evidently commended itself to the courts.

Workmen's Compensation For Maritime Employees: Obscurity In The Twilight Zone, Robert E. Rodes

Journal Articles

As late as 1893, state courts were not required to apply federal maritime law to common-law proceedings involving maritime subjects; each jurisdiction developed, somewhat incidentally, its own system of substantive law. The elimination of the general maritime law as an inhibition on state regulation of the employment relationship would have resulted in the complete debilitation of the Longshoremen's Act, since state law could "validly" be applied in the whole field. The judiciary's interest shifted towards according the injured worker and his family adequate means of availing themselves of the compensatory relief that is provided by federal and state governments. The …

Comment On The Taft-Hartley Act, Title Iii, Thomas F. Broden

Journal Articles

A fair and just discussion of the Taft-Hartley Act is impossible without a fair determination of the purpose for which it was enacted. The Act itself explains that its purpose is to protect by legal procedures the rights of employees, employers, and the public concerning labor disputes affecting commerce. But to understand fully the basic purpose for this or another law applicable to labor-management relations, we must examine the justification for government activity in the economic sphere.

Kickback Act Held Not To Apply To Labor Union Officials, Thomas F. Broden

Journal Articles

United States v. Carbone et al. raises an important question as to the meaning and scope of Sec. 1 of the Act of June 13, 1934, commonly known as the Kickback Act, making it unlawful to prevent any person employed in government construction and repair from receiving the full compensation to which he is entitled.

Military Action In Labor Disputes, William Burns Lawless

Journal Articles

Generally, we may say that the executive power to initiate military action is commensurate with the emergency. If the situation is grave, the civil courts may be closed and a military commission appointed by the governor to substitute for the judiciary. In all events the power is potentially a vast one. Discriminate, ly applied it bargains a temporary suspension of rights for a restoration of law and order.