Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

Employment Discrimination Remedies And Tax Gross Ups, Gregg D. Polsky, Stephen F. Befort

Scholarly Works

This article considers whether a successful employment discrimination plaintiff may be entitled, under current law, to receive an augmented award (a gross up) to neutralize certain adverse federal income tax consequences. The question of whether such a gross up is allowed, the resolution of which can have drastic effects on litigants, has received almost no attention from practitioners, judges, and academics. Because of the potentially enormous impact of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) on discrimination lawsuit recoveries, however, the gross up issue is now beginning to appear in reported cases.

The three principal federal anti-discrimination statutes - Title VII, the …

Affirmative Action In The Workplace: The Signficance Of Grutter?, Rebecca H. White

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The Supreme Court's decision last term in Grutter v. Bollinger answered important questions about the affirmative use of race in the educational context. I have been asked by the editors of the Kentucky Law Journal to explore the impact the decision is like to have on affirmative action in a different context--employment. Simply put, to what extent does Grutter affect a public or private employer's ability to voluntarily adopt an affirmative action plan in order to diversify its workplace? The short answer, of course, is that the Grutter decision does not directly apply to the affirmative use of race or …

Whose Motive Matters? Discrimination In Multi-Actor Employment Decision Making, Rebecca H. White, Linda Hamilton Krieger

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The search for a discriminatory motive in disparate treatment cases often is envisioned as an attempt to determine whether a supervisor, despite his denials, consciously acted out of bias, animus or on the basis of “inaccurate and stigmatizing stereotypes” in making an employment decision. Framing the search for discriminatory motive is this way, however, cannot prove fully effective in eliminating discrimination, as individuals may be unaware of their own biases or the influences those biases have had on their own decision making.

The reality of decision making in the employment area, moreover, is that multiple individuals are often involved in …

Section 1983, The First Amendment, And Public Employee Speech: Shaping The Right To Fit The Remedy (And Vice Versa), Michael Wells

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This Article is not about theories of free speech and how they bear on the public employment context, nor does it contribute to the academic debate over what the aims of public employee speech law ought to be. I take the Court at its word when it says that its aim is to give substantial weight to both the value of speech and the government's interest as an employer. Unlike Massaro and Ingber, I take it as a given that the government may insist on hierarchy and obedience to authority in the workplace. Unlike Rosenthal, I begin from the Court's …

Deference And Disability Discrimination, Rebecca H. White

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In 1999, the question of deference to the EEOC grabbed the spotlight. It surfaced in a case that arose under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the "ADA"), a relatively new, and sweeping, anti-discrimination law that prohibits workplace discrimination against qualified individuals with a disability. A difficult substantive question was presented: Is the determination of whether one has a disability within the meaning of the ADA to be made with or without regard to mitigating measures? Instinctively, either a "yes" or a "no" answer seems problematic. On the one hand, defining disability without regard to the corrective effects of …

De Minimis Discrimination, Rebecca H. White

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Is there any basis for a de minimis exception to our employment discrimination laws? This Article suggests a way of analyzing the issue of de minimis discrimination that comports with the language of and policies underlying Title VII and also with judicially developed disparate treatment theory. It approaches this project from a normative and doctrinal, not a deontological, perspective. Congress has enacted laws prohibiting discrimination in employment, and the appropriate question, in the first instance, is how those statutes should best be interpreted. Although the focus is on Title VII, the analysis undertaken here may be usefully applied to other …

Modern Discrimination Theory And The National Labor Relations Act, Rebecca H. White

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This Article explores the concept of discrimination under the NLRA [National Labor Relations Act]. Specifically, it examines discrimination under the statute through the lens of Title VII, an approach that brings a fresh perspective to doctrine long considered settled. The purpose of this comparison is to explore the extent to which Title VII's discrimination concepts make sense under the NLRA. This analysis focuses on three specific areas. First, it examines discrimination cases under section 8(a)(1), concluding that the lower courts are wrong to apply Title VII concepts and to insist that without disparate treatment of union activities, no unlawful discrimination …

Vicarious And Personal Liability For Employment Discrimination, Rebecca H. White

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This Article addresses the issues of vicarious and personal liability for employment discrimination as a coherent whole. Part II examines the prevailing view on an employer's vicarious liability for employment discrimination under Title VII, the ADEA, and the ADA. Part II further discusses the exception to vicarious liability that has developed in hostile work environment cases and examines the justifications advanced for that exception. My point here is not so much to debate whether such an exception should exist but to determine whether the arguments against vicarious liability in hostile work environment cases justifiably can be limited to that context. …

Job Security: Protecting At-Will Employees With Good Cause Legislation, Mayumi Yokoyama

LLM Theses and Essays

Recent decades have witnessed significant developments in employment termination law in the United States. In particular, the long-standing “at-will” doctrine, under which employers can fire employees for good, bad, or no reason at all, has experienced great erosion and wide variations in law from state to state. There has been a movement of statutory and common law restrictions limiting an employer’s freedom to terminate at will, which reflects the increasing consciousness of job security by society and workers. This paper analyzes the problem of job security by tracing the origin of the at-will doctrine to 19th century principles favoring economic …

The Eeoc, The Courts, And Employment Discrimination Policy: Recognizing The Agency's Leading Role In Statutory Interpretation, Rebecca White

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This Article explores whether a delegation to the EEOC of law-interpreting authority may be found under Title VII, the ADEA, or the ADA, despite the agency's lack of full enforcement authority under these statutes. If the EEOC possesses such authority, it, not the courts, will decide many of the difficult issues left unresolved by Congress under the 1991 Civil Rights Act, the ADA, and other statutes administered by the agency. I easily conclude the EEOC has been delegated law-interpreting power under both the ADEA and the ADA. The authority to issue legislative rules, in the context of these statutory schemes, …

The Proper Role Of After-Acquired Evidence In Employment Discrimination Litigation, Rebecca White, Robert D. Brussack

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A new defense to employment discrimination claims has gained acceptance in the lower courts. Employers who allegedly have discriminated against their employees because of race, sex or age are winning judgments on the basis of after-acquired evidence of employee misconduct. The evidence is “after-acquired” in the sense that the misconduct was unknown to the employer at the time the alleged discrimination occurred but was acquired later, often through the use of discovery devices in the employee's discrimination action. Lower courts have accepted the proposition that if the employer would have discharged the plaintiff on the basis of the after-acquired evidence, …

State Taxation Of Nonresidents' Pension Income, Walter Hellerstein

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This article examines the issues raised by the efforts of some states to tax the pension income of their former residents and of the proposed congressional legislation to forbid such taxation. While there may be sound policy reasons for forbidding state taxation of nonresident pension income, they have yet to emerge clearly from the rhetoric that has thus far dominated the debate over the pension tax issue. The goal of the article is to examine the questions raised by the controversy over state taxation of nonresident pensions in the hope that dispassionate analysis of the problem may contribute to a …

The Statutory And Constitutional Limits Of Using Protected Speech As Evidence Of Unlawful Motive Under The National Labor Relations Act, Rebecca White

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A difficulty inherent in cases under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as in other areas of employment law, is in determining why the employer acted. Perhaps an even harder question, and one too frequently overlooked, is what form of evidence the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) and any reviewing court properly may consider in determining motive. More specifically, can the Board take into account an employer's vigorous opposition to the union in deciding whether or not a particular action was motivated by antiunion animus? Although common sense suggests yes, several courts of appeals have said no, relying …

Time For A New Approach: Why The Judiciary Should Disregard The "Law Of The Circuit" When Confronting Nonacquiescence By The National Labor Relations Board, Rebecca H. White

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The National Labor Relations Board has been criticized for its nonacquiescence policy, under which the Board interprets the national Labor Relations Act, issues an order, and then defends this order before a circuit court that previously had rejected the Board's interpretation of the Act. In this Article, Professor Rebecca White begins by stating that the NLRB's nonacquiescence policy is both lawful and proper. From this basic premise, White then argues that courts of appeals should abandon the "law of the circuit" doctrine when confronting Board nonacquiescence. She contends the policy concerns that justify application of the "law of the circuit"-- …

Section 301'S Preemption Of State Law Claims: A Model For Analysis, Rebecca White

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Congress, in section 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act, has provided a cause of action for breach of a collective bargaining agreement. This statute has long been interpreted as ousting state law claims for breach of contract when the contract involved is a collective bargaining agreement.

To what extent Congress, in enacting section 301, intended to foreclose other state law claims by the parties to or the individuals covered by a collective bargaining agreement is an issue that has recently gained prominence. The Supreme Court has decided four such cases unanimously in the last four years.

Such contemporary and …

A Comparative Analysis Of Unfair Dismissal Law With Particular Reference To The Law As It Pertains To The South African Worker, Haydn T. Hillestad

LLM Theses and Essays

This paper will begin with an investigation of the activity of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in domestic employment laws. Using this as a yardstick, a comparative analysis of the unfair dismissal laws of the United States and some foreign countries (mainly Western European) will be undertaken. Finally, the issue will be addressed in the South African context. An assessment will be made of the relative quality of the protection afforded workers in South Africa and, using conclusions reached from the comparative study, the validity of calls for a general unfair dismissal statute in the country will be considered.

Relations Of Employers With Workers' Representatives In The United States, J. Ralph Beaird

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There is no question but that current policy in the United States comes down heavily on the side of management flexibility in the area of economic decisionmaking. The question is: should that be changed?

Employer And Consultant Reporting Under The Lmrda, J. Ralph Beaird

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In light of the criticisms of the House and recent constitutional objections, this article reevaluates the viability of the employer and consultant reporting provisions of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). Section I discusses the legislative history and purpose of the LMRDA's reporting provisions. Section II examines the courts' treatment of the provisions when attacked on constitutional and statutory grounds.

Ohio's Public Employee Bargaining Law: Can It Withstand Constitutional Challenge?, Rebecca White, Robert E. Kaplan, Michael W. Hawkins

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Public employees in Ohio are now statutorily entitled to bargain collectively with their government employers. This controversial right was obtained on July 6, 1983, when Ohio Governor Richard Celeste fulfilled a major campaign promise by signing into law Senate Bill 133. This bill, which took effect April 1, 1984, has been labeled "one of the most pro-labor public employee bargaining statutes in the nation.

As with any legislation that provides sweeping social and economic changes, challenges to the bill's legitimacy can be expected. Experience in other states teaches that constitutional attacks on the statute will be mounted swiftly, attacks that …

Proof Of Disparate Treatment Under The Age Discrimination In Employment Act: Variations On A Title Vii Theme, Mack A. Player

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The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was enacted in 1967 and substantially amended in 1974 and 1978. Generally stated, the ADEA prohibits employer discrimination by public and private "employers" (persons having twenty or more employees), labor unions, and employment agencies. Protection against age discrimination is granted, however, only to employees and applicants between the ages of forty and seventy. It is illegal to discriminate on the basis of age against persons within the forty-to-seventy age group regardless of whether the person favored by the discrimination is within or without the protected age group or is younger or older than …

Balancing The Management And Property Rights Of The Employer Against Employee's Section 7 Rights, Leonard J. Spooner

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis demonstrates the analysis used by the National Labor Relations Board and the courts in their task of drawing a line at which the employee’s rights begin under labor legislation and the employer’s prerogative ends.

The Application Of The Sherman Act Antiboycott Law To Industry Self-Regulation: An Analysis Integrating Nonboyocott Sherman Act Principles, James F. Ponsoldt

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Entry into and competition within professions and many industries is commonly restricted by private regulation among competitors. These restrictions are often effectuated, without direct government participation, through rules, procedures, or standards established by trade or professional organizations. Sometimes, however, the restrictions are made through less formalized concerted decisionmaking procedures by persons potentially in competition with new entrants. Such privately imposed restraints on competition have recently been the focus of an increasing number of private treble damages actions under section 1 of the Sherman Act. In these cases, the plaintiffs have alleged that the defendants were engaged in illegal boycotts, and …

Civil Rights--Federal Jurisdiction--Exhaustion Of Adequate And Appropriate State Administrative Remedies Is A Prerequisite For Judicial Review Under Section 1983, Camilla E. Watson

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Georgia Patsy, a white female secretary, brought a civil rights action under section 1983 of title 42 of the United States Code against Florida International University in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging employment discrimination in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States. The district court dismissed the action for failure to exhaust state administrative remedies. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed on the ground that failure to allege exhaustion of state remedies did not preclude a section 1983 cause of action. On rehearing en banc, the court …

Defense Under The Age Of Discrimination In Employment Act: Misinterpretation, Misdirection, And The 1978 Amendments, Mack A. Player

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The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibits employers, labor organizations, and employment agencies from discriminating because of age, but it does not protect all age groups against employment discrimination. As enacted, the 1967 Act protected persons between the ages of forty and sixty-five; the amendments in April 1978 extended that protection five years to age seventy. Thus it is not illegal to discriminate against people before their fortieth or after their seventieth birthday. The Act, in its original and amended versions, contains five exceptions or "defenses" to age discrimination in employment. Only the "bona fide occupational qualification" (BFOQ), …

Foreword: Recent Developments In Labor Law: The Ninth Annual Labor Relations Institute, J. Ralph Beaird

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The papers presented in this symposium issue were initially presented at a labor institute jointly sponsored by the Atlanta Lawyers Foundation, the Federal Bar Association, the Labor Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia. This is the ninth such institute with the first having been held in 1964 for the purpose of acquainting the practicing bar with developments and trends in the field of labor law.

Union Discipline Of Its Membership Under Section 101(A)(5) Of Landrum-Griffin: What Is "Discipline" And How Much Process Is Due?, J. Ralph Beaird, Mack A. Player

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Analogies between criminal trials and union disciplinary hearings are easily drawn. Both involve charges of prohibited conduct, the presentation of evidence, and decisions by competent and impartial tribunals. Whereas one’s physical freedom is at stake in a criminal proceeding, his economic freedom is often imperiled in a union disciplinary hearing. It is not surprising therefore that the requirements of due process have been extended to the labor setting. Embodied in section 101(a)(5) of the Landrum-Griffin Act, due process in the union sphere has been as elusive of definition as in judicial proceedings. Examining section 101(a)(5), Professors Beaird and Player attempt …

Whither The Nixon Board?, J. Ralph Beaird, Mack A. Player

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The Nixon administration has now appointed a majority of members to the National Labor Relations Board. With this change in Board composition have come significant shifts in labor policy. The authors of this Article examine these shifts in policy in light of the approaches of past Boards.

Racial Discrimination In Employment: Rights And Remedies, J. Ralph Beaird

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Professor Beaird believes that the current multiplicity of forums available to an employee who alleges discrimination against him should be merged into one. Ideally he would like to see an administrative agency given primary jurisdiction with authority similar to that possessed by the NLRB. Until an agency is given such power, Professor Beaird suggests that the forums themselves apply collateral estoppel principles to alleviate the inequities inherent in repetitious litigation.

Some Aspects Of The Lmrda "Bill Of Rights", J. Ralph Beaird

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Generally speaking, Title I, section 101(a), of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) guarantees to every union member: (1) equal rights and equal privileges within his union to nominate candidates for union office, to vote in elections or referendums, and to attend union meetings; (2) the right to exercise freedom of speech and assembly; (3) the right to be free from arbitrary increases in dues, initiation fees, and assessments; (4) the right to sue and to participate in administrative and legislative proceedings; and (5) the right to procedural due process in disciplinary proceedings within the union.

As …

Some Aspects Of The Lmrda Reporting Requirements, J. Ralph Beaird

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Collective bargaining became the keystone of our national labor policy with the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935. The central role of this procedure was preserved in the Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffin Acts. By choosing collective bargaining as the principal instrument of labor market control, Congress sought to remove sources of industrial strife by a method which preserved private determination free from either unchecked employer power or smothering governmental control. Landrum-Griffin was supplementary legislation designed to eliminate or prevent practices which distorted and defeated the collective bargaining policy of the Labor-Management Relations Act. This statutory scheme has now been in …