Law Commons^™

Nondomination And The Ambitions Of Employment Law, Aditi Bagchi

Faculty Scholarship

There is something missing in existing discussions of domination. While republican theory and critical legal theory each have contributed significantly to our understanding of domination, their focus on structural relationships and group subordination can leave out of focus the individual wrongs that make up domination, each of which is an unjustified exercise of power by one person over another. Private law (supported by private law theory) plays an important role in filling out our pictures of domination and the role of the state in limiting it. Private law allows us to recognize domination in wrongs by one person against another, …

Lowering The Stakes Of The Employment Contract, Aditi Bagchi

Faculty Scholarship

Every country has to make hard choices about the distribution of entitlements. But employers control the entitlements that individual Americans enjoy to a far greater extent than those in other rich democracies. In this Essay, I argue that, in the absence of the political consensus necessary to deliver state solutions to political questions, employers here are assigned an exaggerated role in employees’ lives. Government incentives for and directives to employers have become a strategy of political deflection. The effect has been to raise the stakes of employment well beyond the scope of those terms and conditions that relate to attracting …

Ban The Box: A Call To The Federal Government To Recognize A New Form Of Employment Discrimination, Christina O'Connell

Fordham Law Review

As the number of Americans with criminal histories grows significantly, states and cities across the nation have reacted by adopting ban-the-box laws. Ban-the-box laws received their name because they ban the criminal history box on initial hiring documents. The goal of the ban-the-box movement is to promote job opportunities for persons with criminal records by limiting when an employer can conduct a background check during the hiring process and encouraging employers to take a holistic approach when assessing an applicant's fit for a position.

There is no federal ban-the-box law, but states have taken varying approaches to adopting ban-the-box statutes. …

Day Laborers, Friend Or Foe: A Survey Of Community Responses, Mauricio A. Espana

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This comment discusses the various ways that communities that benefit from day laborers respond to the presence of the "underground" employment phenomenon. Part I provides some background into the day laborers' situation, livelihood, and legal rights. Part II discusses the competing issues faced by day laborers, as well as the issues the laborers present to community residents, employers, and the United States Government. Finally, Part III discusses the different solutions that communities confronted with day laborers have proposed and implemented, and concludes that it is in the best interests of all parties involved that communities accept day labors and accommodate …

The Duty Of Fair Representation Under The Taylor Law: Supreme Court Development, New York State Adoption And A Call For Independence, Vincent Martin Bonventre

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The duty of fair representation in labor negotiations was born in Supreme Court case law to protect against racial discrimination and as a bastion of individuals’ interests during exclusive union representation in the collective bargaining process. The law later became as much a prescription for deference to unions as a protector from arbitrary union rule. As it currently stands, the law has become a minimal safeguard against wholly irrational and invidious union conduct far from the original guarantee of competent and committed union representation. Almost 25 years after the Supreme Court recognized a duty of fair representation in federal labor …

The Recognition Of Public Policy Exceptions To The Employment-At-Will Rule: A Legislative Function?, John Degiuseppe, Jr.

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Recent developments concerning the application of the employment-at-will rule demonstrate that courts are reluctant to recognize exceptions to the rule based on considerations of public policy in the absence of a legislative mandate. Jurisdictions, including New York, have declared that the recognition of a cause of action in tort for abusive discharge should be a function of the state legislature. Further, courts have been unwilling to imply private causes of action to protect the rights of employees under federal and state law. While certain "whistle-blower" and unjust dismissal legislation has had limited success in other jurisdictions, courts could become more …

New York Heart Bills: Presumptions Governing Police And Firefighters' Cardiac Disabilities, Andrea J. Berger

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In New York, two statutes govern heart disease suffered by police officers and firefighters - one covering New York City, and the other covering New York State. Both bills establish a line-of-duty presumption which provides that any impairment of health caused by diseases of the heart and the resulting disability or death are presumptive evidence that the impairment was job connected, unless proven otherwise. This Note analyzes the history and current status of New York's two heart bills, including the effect of judicial interpretations of the City Heart Bill, and assesses various alternatives available to the City.

Employers' Garnishment Policies - Do They Engender Racial Discrimination In Violation Of Title Vii And The Civil Rights Act Of 1866?, Amy S. Vance

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This note evaluates the hypothesis that employment policies which mandate suspension or discharge for multiple garnishments are racially discriminatory. It considers the methods of challenge such as a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the lack of consensus between the courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and also emerging issues. The note finds that the legality of employment practices imposing disciplinary action against garnished employees is left uncertain. Proof of a disproportionate effect on minorities employees may be adequate, although a satisfactory showing of business necessity may be a defense against a claim …

The 1974 Health Care Amendments To The National Labor Relations Act: Jurisdictional Standards And Appropriate Bargaining Units, Robert H. Ringer

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The purpose of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is to ensure the well-being of labor-management relations through the encouragement of collective bargaining, and the prohibition of certain practices by labor unions and employers. The NLRA applies to cases where labor disputes may tend to burden, obstruct or affect interstate commerce. In an effort to settle the controversy surrounding the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) jurisdiction over non-profit hospitals, Congress passed the Health Care Amendments to squarely put non-profit hospitals under NLRB's jurisdiction. This note examines two problems presented by the amendments: (1) the extent of NLRB's jurisdiction under the …

After Albemarle: Class-Wide Recovery Of Back Pay Under Title Vii, B. Martin Druyan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides administrative and judicial remedies for victims of discrimination in employment. Employers, engaged in “an industry affecting commerce” and having fifteen or more employees who work at least twenty weeks out of the year, are subject to the statutes strictures. Unions are also subject to the statute if they have fifteen or more members, operate an office or hiring hall, and represent employees. One remedy available under Title VII is an award of back pay from the date of the alleged violation. Back pay may be defined as court-awarded compensation for …