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Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Law

The "American Rule" That Swallows The Exception, Joseph E. Slater Sep 2006

The "American Rule" That Swallows The Exception, Joseph E. Slater

ExpressO

The “American” rule of employment at-will cripples the effectiveness of the two most important exceptions to that doctrine, the National Labor Relations Act and Title VII. Scholars often cite at-will as an area in which exceptions swallow the rule but ignore the opposite effect the rule has in undermining rights widely viewed as fundamental. This article goes beyond the standard critiques of the NLRA and Title VII and uses two other areas of law to make this case. The impact of at-will on private sector labor rights under the NLRA is shown by comparing public sector employment. Public sector labor …


The Small Firm Exemption And The Single Employer Doctrine In Employment Discrimination Law, Richard R. Carlson May 2006

The Small Firm Exemption And The Single Employer Doctrine In Employment Discrimination Law, Richard R. Carlson

ExpressO

The small firm exemption is a provision of Title VII and the other major federal employment discrimination laws that exempts very small firms from coverage as “employers.” Under the Title VII version of the exemption, for example, an employer is exempt as long as it employs no more than fourteen employees. However, a small firm might be affiliated or integrated with other firms, which collectively employ more than the number of employees required for coverage. The single employer doctrine is a rule for treating separately organized firms as if they were one employer, for purposes of meeting the statutory threshold …


The Ineffectiveness Of Capped Damages In Cases Of Employment Discrimination: Solutions Toward Deterrence, Vanessa M. Ruggles Apr 2006

The Ineffectiveness Of Capped Damages In Cases Of Employment Discrimination: Solutions Toward Deterrence, Vanessa M. Ruggles

ExpressO

Although the Civil Rights Act of 1991 helped victims of employment discrimination in a variety of ways, including the authorization of jury trials and the accompanying possibility of compensatory and punitive damages, the caps Congress placed on damages do not serve the purpose of deterrence. Because the caps are based on the number of employees a defendant employer has, the goal of protecting small businesses from exorbitant damages is accomplished. However, because the top category of the caps is “500 or more” employees, giant corporations escape meaningful awards. This article identifies the problem citing specific examples, and proposes several solutions …


Disability And Employment Discrimination At The Rehnquist Court, Anita Silvers, Michael E. Waterstone, Michael Ashley Stein Apr 2006

Disability And Employment Discrimination At The Rehnquist Court, Anita Silvers, Michael E. Waterstone, Michael Ashley Stein

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Eliminating The Intent Requirement In Constructive Discharge Cases: Pennsylvania State Police V. Suders, Crystal L. Norrick Mar 2006

Eliminating The Intent Requirement In Constructive Discharge Cases: Pennsylvania State Police V. Suders, Crystal L. Norrick

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Is Economic Exclusion A Legitimate State Interest? Four Recent Cases Test The Boundaries, Timothy Sandefur Feb 2006

Is Economic Exclusion A Legitimate State Interest? Four Recent Cases Test The Boundaries, Timothy Sandefur

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.


Disability, Disparate Impact, And Class Actions, Michael Ashley Stein, Michael E. Waterstone Jan 2006

Disability, Disparate Impact, And Class Actions, Michael Ashley Stein, Michael E. Waterstone

Faculty Publications

Following Title VII's enactment, group-based employment discrimination actions flourished due to disparate impact theory and the class action device. Courts recognized that subordination that defined a group's social identity was also sufficient legally to bind members together, even when relief had to be issued individually. Woven through these cases was a notion of panethnicity that united inherently unrelated groups into a common identity, for example, Asian Americans. Stringent judicial interpretation subsequently eroded both legal frameworks and it has become increasingly difficult to assert collective employment actions, even against discriminatory practices affecting an entire group. This deconstruction has immensely disadvantaged persons …


Fielding A Team For The Fans: The Societal Consequences And Title Vii Implications Of Race-Considered Roster Construction In Professional Sport, N. Jeremi Duru Jan 2006

Fielding A Team For The Fans: The Societal Consequences And Title Vii Implications Of Race-Considered Roster Construction In Professional Sport, N. Jeremi Duru

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Professional sports organizations' relationships with their players are, like other employer-employee relationships, subject to scrutiny under the antidiscrimination mandates embedded in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Professional sports organizations are, however, unique among employers in many respects. Most notably, unlike other employers, professional sports organizations attract avid supporters who identify deeply with the teams and their players. To the extent an organization racially discriminates, therefore, such discrimination creates the risk that fans will identify with the homogenous or racially disproportionate roster that results. The consequences of such race-based team identification are wide-reaching and potentially tragic. Through …


Disentangling Disparate Impact And Disparate Treatment: Adapting The Canadian Approach, Joseph A. Seiner Jan 2006

Disentangling Disparate Impact And Disparate Treatment: Adapting The Canadian Approach, Joseph A. Seiner

Joseph A. Seiner

The legal framework for alleging disparate impact and disparate treatment claims in cases involving discriminatory employment standards has long been confused. The uncertainty of how to proceed in these cases has created analytical problems for both the federal courts and the litigants. There is a fine line between intentional and unintentional discrimination claims when it comes to employment standards, and that line is often blurred. A uniform approach for analyzing these cases is therefore needed. This article looks to the Canadian approach of analyzing discrimination claims in the employment standards context, and, borrowing from that model, proposes a three-part analytical …


Grutter At Work: A Title Vii Critique Of Constitutional Affirmative Action, Jessica Bulman-Pozen Jan 2006

Grutter At Work: A Title Vii Critique Of Constitutional Affirmative Action, Jessica Bulman-Pozen

Faculty Scholarship

This Note argues that Title VII doctrine both illuminates internal contradictions of Grutter v. Bollinger and provides a framework for reading the opinion. Grutter's diversity rationale is a broad endorsement of integration that hinges on the quantitative concept of critical mass, but the opinion's narrow-tailoring discussion instead points to a model of racial difference that champions subjective decisionmaking and threatens to jettison numerical accountability. Title VII doctrine supports a reading of Grutter that privileges a view of diversity as integration and therefore cautions against the opinion's conception of narrow tailoring. Grutter, in turn, can productively inform employment discrimination law. The …