Law Commons^™

At-Will Employment And The Handsome American: A Case Study In Law And Social Psychology, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Other Publications

The past decade has seen a genuine revolution in employment law, as some forty American jurisdictions, in square holdings or strong dictum and on one or more diverse theories, have modified the conventional doctrine whereby employers "may dismiss their employees at will...for good cause, for no cause or even for cause morally wrong." In this paper I shall briefly review the theories most frequently invoked by the courts in dealing with wrongful dismissal and indicate their deficiencies as a permanent solution for the problem. Next, I shall summarize the major arguments for and against the doctrine of employment at will. …

Discrimination, Jobs, And Politics: The Struggle For Equal Employment Opportunity In The United States Since The New Deal, James L. Thompson

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Discrimination, Jobs, and Politics: The Struggle for Equal Employment Opportunity in the United States since the New Deal by Paul Burstein

Reckless Endangerment Of An Employee: A Proposal In The Wake Of Film Recovery Systems To Make The Boss Responsible For His Crimes, Anne D. Samuels

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that the traditional regulatory, civil, and criminal mechanisms are both ineffective and inappropriate to deter or punish corporate decisionmakers for decisions that pose risks to the safety or health of employees in the workplace. The Note proposes a new criminal offense to prevent and punish culpable corporate decisionmaking that results in employee deaths or injuries. Part I explains the novel application of the traditional murder offense in Film Recovery Systems and demonstrates that the case fails to lay the foundation for a standardized response to employee endangerment. Part II analyzes the traditional responses of the regulatory and …

The Case For Employee Ownership In Overseas Operations Of U.S. Multinational Enterprises In Central America, William G. Hopping

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part II of this note explains the relevance of using U.S. direct investment in Central America as a starting point for encouraging employee ownership. Part III describes the essential legal framework of the ESOP in the U.S., providing a framework from which to adapt the ESOP to other countries. Part IV argues that all parties participating in this form of expanded ownership will realize significant short and long-term benefits, but points out some problems of transferring ESOPs, a U.S. legal innovation, to different cultural and business environments. Part V presents some of the legal and economic issues of adapting ESOPs, …

Nonmajority Bargaining Orders: The Only Effective Remedy For Pervasive Employer Unfair Labor Practices During Union Organizing Campaigns, David S. Shillman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Current Board policy forbids issuing a bargaining order in this situation, where there is no objective evidence of majority support for a union, even though the bargaining ·order may be the only effective remedy for extreme employer unfair labor practices. The Board's refusal to issue nonmajority bargaining orders (NMBOs), grounded in its fear of imposing a union on unwilling employees, has left it impotent to remedy the most severe employer unfair labor practices. This Note examines arguments for and against the Board's use of NMBOs and concludes that NMBOs are within the scope of the Board's remedial powers and should …

Japanese-Style Worker Participation And United States Labor Law, William S. Rutchow

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note will evaluate the current legal status of Japanese-style worker participation programs under the NLRA. First, it analyzes relevant sections of the NLRA and their interpretation by the Board and the courts. Second, the note describes various types of Japanese worker participation programs, and suggests how these programs can be legally implemented under current American labor law. Third, the note considers standards the Supreme Court may adopt to test the legality of worker participation programs in the future. Finally, this note recommends that the Supreme Court uphold those participation programs which are freely chosen by employees.

Review Of Protecting American Workers: An Assessment Of Government Programs, By S. A. Levitan Et Al., Theodore J. St. Antoine

Reviews

For almost a quarter century following the great tide of New Deal social legislation, the federal government largely refrained from further efforts at direct regulation of the workplace. But certain intractable problems, like job safety, pension fund abuses, and race and sex discrimination in employment, kindled interest in additional federal controls. The result was a second wave of federal laws governing the employer-employee relationship - Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974. Only the boldest scholars would attempt to …

The Collective Bargaining Process, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Book Chapters

A half century after the passage of the Wagner Act the right to bargain collectively remains a glowing but imperfectly realized promise for American workers. In recent years even the theoretical dimensions of the right have been markedly compressed. Yet collective bargaining was conceived in the widespread belief that both the cause of industrial peace and the welfare of the individual employee would be promoted if workers were given a genuine voice in determining their employment conditions. Why has the process apparently lost so much appeal? Does it still hold hope for the future?

In this paper I shall review …

The Twilight Of Employment At Will? An Update, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

A 55-year-old white male, who has spent thirty years working his way up to a responsible middle-management position in his company, is asked for his resignation. No reason given. Even though the employee could demonstrate that he still is qualified to perform his duties, the employer's action in dismissing him would be quite unexceptionable under the conventional American common law doctrine of employment at will. The situation could be even more disturbing. If the employment-at-will principle were allowed its full scope, an employee would have no recourse even if he knew he was being discharged because he had refused to …