Torts Commons^™

The Ragged Edge Of Rugged Individualism: Wage Theft And The Personalization Of Social Harm, Matthew Fritz-Mauer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Every year, millions of low-wage workers suffer wage theft when their employers refuse to pay them what they have earned. Wage theft is both prevalent and highly impactful. It costs individuals thousands each year in unpaid earnings, siphons tens of billions of dollars from low-income communities, depletes the government of necessary resources, distorts the competitive labor market, and causes significant personal harm to its victims. In recent years, states and cities have passed new laws to attack the problem. These legal changes are important. They are also, broadly speaking, failing the people they are supposed to protect.

This Article fills …

Hiring Ruled Contractual, Bill Gore, Douglas A. Kahn, Stan Shields

Articles

On December 29, 1988, the California Supreme Court decided Foley vs. Interactive Data Corp., perhaps the most eagerly awaited state supreme court decision in years. The Foley ruling, which immediately was hailed as a tremendous victory for California employers, eliminated punitive damage awards for many wrongfully terminated employees. That was good news for the employers. The decision, however, also provided employers with sobering news. Most significantly, the court ruled that employment relationships essentially are contracts, with terms created by the reasonable expectation of the parties. Thus, the majority of California employees now have a right to sue for breach …

Comments On Judicial Nullification Of Jury Awards In Public Official And Public Figure Libel Suits, William P. Murphy

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Statutory And Common Law Considerations In Defining The Tort Liability Of Public Employee Unions To Private Citizens For Damages Inflicted By Illegal Strikes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that in the absence of any clear indication that the legislature intended to bar such suits, courts should uphold private actions whenever plaintiffs can establish the elements of a common-law tort. Part I briefly outlines the various theories supporting the view that public sector collective bargaining statutes preempt private actions. The analysis is necessarily general, but Part I concludes that in most cases neither the language and structure of the applicable statute nor an analogy to federal labor law will resolve the preemption question. Part II, therefore, looks to the policies that animate no-strike provisions and argues …

Punitive Damages Under Section 102 Of The Labor-Management Reporting And Disclosure Act, S. Thomas Wienner

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

It is firmly established that in a suit brought under section 102, a union member may ordinarily recover compensatory damages for any injury proximately caused by a violation of Title I or section 609. The courts are divided, however, on the question of whether a plaintiff may be awarded punitive damages under section 102. This article will address that question by discussing the language and the legislative history of section 102, the conflicting decisions of the federal courts, and the relevant policy considerations.

A Critique Of The Justifications For Employee Suits In Strict Products Liability Against Third Party Manufacturers, Pierre John Schlag

Publications

No abstract provided.

Authority Of Allen V. Flood, Horace Lafayette Wilgus

Articles

In the case of Allen v. Flood, one of the Lords asked this interesting question, "If the cook says to her master, 'Discharge the butler or I leave you,' and the master discharges the butler, does the butler have an action against the cook?" This, Lord Shand said, was the simplest form in which the very question in Allen v. Flood could be raised.4 And, like the original question, it puzzled the judges and Lords very much to answer.