Law Commons^™

Gig Workers As Essential Workers: How To Correct The Gig Economy Beyond The Covid-19 Pandemic, Miriam A. Cherry, Ana Santos Rutschman

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, estimates suggest that approximately forty percent of U.S. workers shifted to working remotely from home. But for many gig workers, who performed grocery shopping for Instacart, delivered food and restaurant meals for DoorDash, or who picked up and delivered packages for Shipt, they were working in person and busier than ever. In fact, many of these gig jobs were considered "essential work," and the rules of state lockdowns across the country classified gig workers as "essential workers."

Paid by the task, and managed by algorithms that can automatically deactivate …

Corporate Social Responsibility And Crowdwashing In The Gig Economy, Miriam A. Cherry

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Within this Article, I elaborate on the term “crowdwashing,” a neologism. Even though many online platforms describe themselves as “communities” that are part of the “sharing economy,” this “sharing” terminology is largely a misnomer when describing the activities of larger commercialized on-demand platforms. Rather than referring to volunteer efforts for collective benefit, many references to “sharing” in the “sharing economy” refer to the concept of commodification of previously underutilized assets. For example, consider receiving money for the rental of a spare bedroom through AirBnB or the sale of small, previously unproductive periods of time to complete tasks on Amazon’s …

Weathering Wal-Mart, Joseph Seiner

Faculty Publications

In Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2531 (2011), the Supreme Court held that a proposed class of over a million women that had alleged pay and promotion discrimination against the nation’s largest retailer could not be certified. According to the Court, the plaintiffs had failed to establish a common thread in the case sufficient to tie their claims together. The academic response to Wal-Mart was immediate and harsh: the decision will serve as the death knell for mass employment litigation, undermining the workplace protections provided by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). …

Title Vii Works - That's Why We Don't Like It, Chuck Henson

Faculty Publications

In response to the universal belief that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not fulfilling its purpose, this Article presents a different perspective on the reality of this federal employment discrimination law. Title VII is fulfilling the purpose of the Congress that created it. The purpose was not the eradication of all discrimination in employment. The purpose was to balance the prohibition of the most obvious forms of discrimination with the preservation of as much employer decision-making latitude as possible. Moreover, the seminal Supreme Court decision, McDonnell Douglas v. Green, accurately implemented this balance. This Article …

The Gamification Of Work, Miriam A. Cherry

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In the science fiction novel Ender's Game, a young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, believes that he is at military school, learning how to play a computer war simulation game. In reality, Ender has been genetically engineered to excel in military tactics and is the final hope of humanity, which is under attack by the Formics, an alien insect species. For his final examination, Ender must defend the Earth from a series of attacks. He passes the exam by attempting a desperate aggressive maneuver, which utterly wipes out the attacker's home world but which also destroys part of his …

Shortcuts In Employment Discrimination Law, Kerri Lynn Stone

Faculty Publications

Are employment discrimination plaintiffs viewed by society and by judges with an increased skepticism? This article urges that the same actor inference, the stray comment doctrine, and strict temporal nexus requirements, as courts have applied them, make up a larger and dangerous trend in the area of employment discrimination jurisprudence- that of courts reverting to special, judge-made "shortcuts" to curtail or even bypass analysis necessary to justify the disposal or proper adjudication of a case. This shorthand across different doctrines reveals a willingness of the judiciary to proxy monolithic assumptions for the individualized reasoned analyses mandated by the relevant antidiscrimination …

The Global Dimensions Of Virtual Work, Miriam A. Cherry

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Recently, unusual “factories” have appeared in Third World countries; these factories do not manufacture goods, but instead feature computer workers, typing and clicking away, playing video games, collecting coins and swords, and fighting monsters. Known as “gold farmers,” these workers are paid to harvest virtual treasures for online gamers in the developed world. First World gamers want to advance quickly within their online role-paying games of choice and, tired of the repetitive tasks necessary to build a high-level character, would prefer to pay others to do the work. As a result, gold farming operations have appeared in many countries …

The Application Of Rfra To Override Employment Nondiscrimination Clauses Embedded In Federal Social Services Programs, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

General federal employment nondiscrimination legislation permits religious organizations to take religion into account when making employment decisions. However, some federal social service programs have embedded in their authorizing legislation a nondiscrimination clause binding on recipients of program grants. And a few of these embedded clauses require that grantees (including religious grantees) not discriminate in employment on the basis of religion. This extended essay demonstrates how the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 overrides these employment nondiscrimination clauses when applied to faith-based social service grantees. Not only is this the conclusion of the U.S. Department of Justice in its policy announced …

Love, Sex And Politics? Sure. Salary? No Way: Workplace Social Norms And The Law, Rafael Gely, Leonard Bierman

Faculty Publications

A recent article in the New York Times captioned “Love, sex and politics? Sure. Salary? No way” discusses Americans' strong aversion to talking about their salaries. The piece notes that while discussion of financial matters is often acceptable in some parts of the world, it is generally considered “crass” in the United States. In short, discussion by individuals of their salaries and related matters can be seen as violating an American “social norm.” One-third of United States private sector employers have reinforced this norm by adopting specific rules prohibiting employees from discussing their wages with co-workers, rules known as pay …

Avoiding Regulatory Mismatch In The Workplace: An Informational Approach To Workplace Safety Regulation, Thom Lambert

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to do just that. As it turns out, there is fertile middle ground between the pure libertarian “do nothing” approach and the paternalistic command-and-control approach OSHA tends to favor. Even the middle ground “information-provision” approach a number of theorists have advocated (in imprecise terms) could be implemented several different ways, some of which would be more effective than others. It is therefore possible to make some systematic policy prescriptions that may aid regulators attempting to avoid regulatory mismatch.In the course of exploring the range of regulatory options, this article attempts to make several contributions …

Is There A Place For Race As A Legal Concept, Sharona Hoffman

Faculty Publications

What does "race" mean? The word "race" is omnipresent in American social, political, and legal discourse. The concept of "race" is central to contemporary debate about affirmative action, racial profiling, hate crimes, health inequities, and many other issues. Nevertheless, the best research in genetics, medicine, and the social sciences reveals that the concept of "race" is elusive and has no reliable definition.

This article argues that "race" is an unnecessary and potentially pernicious concept. As evidenced by the history of slavery, segregation, the Holocaust, and other human tragedies, the idea of "race" can perpetuate prejudices and misconceptions and serve as …

Pay Secrecy/ Confidentiality Rules And The National Labor Relations Act, Rafael Gely, Leonard Bierman

Faculty Publications

This article seeks to provide a comprehensive account of doctrinal issues related to the use of pay secrecy/confidentiality rules (“PSC rules”) under the NLRA. In Part II, we describe what pay secrecy/confidentiality is and discuss recent survey evidence of their presence in workplaces across the United States. In Part III, we describe the current legal framework under which PSC rules are evaluated under the NLRA, while in Parts IV and V, we explore various doctrinal issues related to these rules in more detail. This leads us to Part VI, where we ponder the future of PSC rules under the NLRA …

Spouses Need Not Apply: The Legality Of Antinepotism And No-Spouse Rules , Rafael Gely, Timothy D. Chandler, Jack Howard, Robin Cheramie

Faculty Publications

We begin this analysis in Part II with a brief discussion of employment policies that have been adopted to meet the unique needs of working families. Interestingly, these practices often exist contemporaneously with policies that restrict employment opportunities for dual-earner couples, namely antinepotism and no-spouse rules. In Part III, we present the results of our comprehensive analysis of case law in this area to show the nature of legal challenges to antinepotism and no-spouse rules and how they have been decided by the courts. In Part IV, we describe the legislative framework under which MSD claims have been raised and …

Disability, Employment Policy, And The Supreme Court, Michael Ashley Stein

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Three Statutes . . . (And One Industry): A Case Study On The Competitive Effects Of Regulation, Rafael Gely

Faculty Publications

The comparison of the three labor regulatory regimes raises an interesting counterexample to the traditional model of regulation. Instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all model, could a regulatory model be conceptualized where a menu of regulatory options is made available to the target population? Under such an approach those affected by the regulatory regime will choose among the various regulatory options and adopt those that better fit their particular situations. Part IV.B develops the basic parameters of this proposal. The article ends with a brief conclusion.

Distilling The Essence Of Contract Terms: An Anti-Antiformalist Approach To Contract And Employment Law, Rafael Gely

Faculty Publications

A look at the development of labor and employment law in the U.S. reveals one astonishing principle. There is an underlying assumption that employers own the time and activities of employees, and thus any change in the allocation of rights between employers and employees has to be justified against the “interference” with the rights of employers. For example, whenever legislation has been introduced intended to protect workers' rights, employers have argued that such protections will interfere with the right of employers to control their employees. This argument has been successfully made many times, and it has, I argue, shaped the …

Restricting Public Employees' Political Activities: Good Government Or Partisan Politics?, Rafael Gely, Timothy D. Chandler

Faculty Publications

The article starts by reviewing, in Part II, the history of the regulation of political activities by public employees, and in Part III, the regulation of patronage. Part IV develops the argument that both sets of regulations, although justified on different grounds, are better understood as political control mechanisms. Part V provides some empirical evidence for this argument by examining voting patterns on federal legislation restricting public employees' political activities. Part VI discusses the relationship of these laws to public sector unionization. Part VII concludes the article.

Labor Markets, Rationality, And Workers With Disabilities, Michael Ashley Stein

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Empirical Implications Of Title I, Michael Ashley Stein

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Where Are We Now?: Life After Electromation, Rafael Gely

Faculty Publications

Given the expectations that preceded the Board's decisions, and the reactions that followed, it is somewhat surprising how little attention has been given to the decisions the NLRB has issued since Electromation and E.I. du Pont. While in general these recent decisions are consistent with the holdings in Electromation and E.I. du Pont, they provide us with the opportunity to analyze the manner in which the Board is currently dealing with the legality of workplace cooperative efforts. This article explores that issue. Part II of the article provides a brief overview of the workplace cooperative efforts problem. Part III reviews …

"Let's Call It A Draw": Striker Replacements And The Mackay Doctrine, Rafael Gely, Leonard Bierman

Faculty Publications

In a recent article we discuss the issue of the use of permanent replacements for striking employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) Our discussion focuses on the efficiency aspects of the seminal 1938 case of NLRB v. Mackay Radio and Telegraph Co. In the article, we propose a “negotiations” approach, which we argue is likely to result in a more economically efficient interpretation of the Mackay doctrine. As has been the case with other proposals made with respect to this very contentious issue, our proposal has confronted some criticism. Professor William R. Corbett, in a recent piece in …

Whose Team Are You On? My Team Or My Team?: The Nlra's Section 8(A)(2) And The Team Act, Rafael Gely

Faculty Publications

This article analyzes employee participatory programs from the internal labor markets perspective. Internal Labor Markets (“ILM”) refer to the explicit or implicit agreements between employer and employees incorporating rules governing wages, working hours, promotion opportunities and grievance procedures. In order to function properly, ILMs require employees to learn skills that are valuable to the contracting firm, but are of much lesser value elsewhere. Employees agree to acquire such “firm-specific” skills and employers agree to subsidize the training needed to obtain these new skills. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement: employers expect to observe increases in productivity and efficiency and employees …

Reply: The Need For Real Striker Replacement Reform, Rafael Gely, Leonard Bierman

Faculty Publications

Introduction In a recent article in the North Carolina Law Review, Louisiana State University Law Professor William R. Corbett proposes an innovative solution to the contentious issue of the right of employers to permanently replace economic strikers pursuant to the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “Act”). Professor Corbett's proposal is based on two arguments. First, he argues that the current legal distinction between “economic” and “unfair labor practice” strikes -- whereby employers are prevented from permanently replacing employees striking over employer unfair labor practices but may permanently replace employees striking over economic issues -- is a useful one and …

Through The Looking Glass: Can Title Vii Help Women And Minorities To Shatter The Glass Ceiling, Rafael Gely, Ramona L. Paetzold

Faculty Publications

The employment patterns of “nontraditional” workers in the United States show two conflicting characteristics. On the one hand, researchers have observed a continuing increase in the rate of participation of nontraditional workers at multiple levels in the work force. For example, the proportion of women white collar workers increased from twenty-two percent in the late 1960s to forty-six percent in 1992. Similarly, the average job tenure for nontraditional workers has also increased. For example, although males in the thirty-five to forty-four year old age group have experienced a small decline in job tenure, women in the same group have seen …

Chapter 5: Unions, Finance, And Labor's Capital, Peter R. Pitegoff

Faculty Publications

Events in recent decades have dramatized the need for labor attention beyond narrow issues of wages and working conditions. In the face of widespread industrial disinvestment, unions have been hard-pressed to protect the job status or employment, or the future of their members. At the same time, the developing labor law has narrowed the range of bargaining opportunities for unions to affect corporate decisions-the very decisions that result in job dislocations and corporate transformations. The effectiveness of strikes has been undermined by growing use of permanent replacement workers.

To thrive in the coming decades, unions must carve out a new …

Small Numbers, Black Men, Precipitous Responses, Big Problems, Michael A. Middleton

Faculty Publications

Professor Culp has aptly warned us that in our discussion of employment discrimination we should not lose sight of the need to address the spectrum of policies affecting the status of African-Americans. Without serious efforts in all aspects of American life (e.g., housing, education, health care, political and economic empowerment) our chances of significantly improving the future for African-American men are slim.

Challenging Discriminatory Guesswork: Does Impact Analysis Apply, Michael A. Middleton

Faculty Publications

This article initially examines the traditional theories of proof in Title VII cases. It then discusses approaches by lower courts in resolving the competing concerns raised in applying those traditional theories in challenges to subjective selection devices. This article next discusses the Supreme Court's resolution of the problem in Watson and suggests a workable alternative resolution that will not undermine the broad prophylactic purposes of Title VII.