Law Commons^™

Individualized Assessment Of Applicants With Convictions, Stacy A. Hickox

Stacy A. Hickox

Employers often rely on criminal background checks as part of the hiring process. Yet consideration of applicants’ criminal records clearly has an adverse impact on applicants of color, since a higher percentage of them have a record. This article reviews how an employer has been able to justify its consideration of criminal convictions under Title VII. In addition, state statutes that limit employers’ consideration of a criminal record provide guidance for employers who are trying to establish a business necessity for their reliance on criminal records. Typically, courts look at the nature of the crime and its relationship to the …

The Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine: A Common-Sense Application That Considers The Rights Of Trade Secret Holders And Employees, Eduardo M. Gonzalez

Eduardo M Gonzalez

Under the inevitable disclosure doctrine, a court may enjoin a person accepting employment with a direct competitor of a former employer to protect a trade secret. Most states that have adopted the doctrine do not limit its application. Such broad application of the doctrine can be harsh and unfair if the former employee lacked any intent to disclose a trade secret. Moreover, it encourages frivolous lawsuits by employers and discourages bargained-for non-compete agreements. Some states, notably California, citing these policy concerns, have declined to adopt the doctrine. This extreme approach is equally troublesome because it ignores that the protection of …

From Contracts To Compliance? An Early Look At Implementation Under China's New Labor Legislation, Virginia E. Ho

Virginia E Ho

In 2008, three new primary labor laws took effect in China that together represent the first major retooling of its labor legislation in fifteen years: the Labor Contract Law, the Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law, and the Employment Promotion Law. The new laws have attracted widespread attention from the international business community, labor advocates, and observers of China's ongoing legal reforms. However, whether the legislation can overcome and resolve fundamental implementation barriers remains largely the subject of speculation and debate. This Article offers a preliminary answer.

Drawing on the literature on corporate compliance and regulatory policy, it first describes …

Jon & Kate Plus The State: Why Congress Should Protect Children In Reality Programming, Dayna B. Royal

Dayna B. Royal

As "reality" programming continues to increase in popularity, so too does the number of children living out their young lives in front of the camera. Yet the current legal regime is inadequate to protect these children, whose parents have betrayed their best interests for fame and fortune. This article argues that Congress should enact a statute providing a regulatory sliding scale based on age that would largely prohibit children from participating in reality programming. A federal statute would bring clarity to this unsettled area of the law while ensuring that parents and programming executives cannot skirt individual state laws and …

Financial Market Failure As A Crisis In The Rule Of Law: From Market Fundamentalism To A New Keynesian Regulatory Model, Timothy A. Canova

Timothy A. Canova

This article considers the financial panic of 2008 in historical context by analyzing the institutional and regulatory factors that contributed to the financial and economic crisis. The move away from a Keynesian regulatory model was a function of larger institutional flaws. The Keynesian regime of command-and-control regulation focused on macroeconomic policy objectives designed to achieve full employment, more equitable distributions of wealth and income, greater transparency in the regulatory process, and reduction in monopoly exploitation of consumers. Central to this regime was a model of central banking that required greater accountability to elected branches of government and the use of …

Lincoln’S Populist Sovereignty: Public Finance Of, By, And For The People, Timothy A. Canova

Timothy A. Canova

This article considers Lincoln’s system of public finance in a broad historical perspective. In the weeks prior to Lincoln‘s inauguration, the financial markets were swept by panic, the hoarding of gold, and a crisis perhaps more dangerous than other classic Keynesian liquidity traps, such as in March 1933 and September 2008. In 1861, there was no central bank with the authority to issue currency and inject liquidity into the financial system to try to restrain the psychology of hoarding. The Lincoln administration was able to break the downward spiral and provide the resources to mobilize for war, as well as …

Tenure Buyouts: Employment Death Taxes And The Curious Obesity Of "Wages", Bobby Dexter

Bobby L. Dexter

Prior to January of 1994, institutions of higher education could appeal to an exemption in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to force the retirement of tenured faculty members who had attained the age of seventy. With the expiration of that exemption, tenured faculty members may now retire well after that age, and for various personal and professional reasons, the postponement phenomenon is widespread. Despite the considerable appeal of a tenure buyout system, there is a real question as to whether buyout payments are subject to payroll taxes as “wages” with respect to “employment;” U.S. Courts of Appeals …