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Full-Text Articles in Law
Law School Marketing And Legal Ethics, Ben L. Trachtenberg
Law School Marketing And Legal Ethics, Ben L. Trachtenberg
Faculty Publications
Law schools have misled prospective students for years about the value of legal education. In some cases, law school officials have engaged in outright deceit, knowingly spreading false information about their schools. More commonly, they have presented statistics — especially those concerning the employment outcomes of law graduates — in ways nearly guaranteed to confuse readers. These deceptions and sharp practices violate the norms of the legal profession, a profession that scrupulously regulates the advertising of legal services. The deceptions also violate ethical rules prohibiting lawyers from engaging in dishonesty, misrepresentation, and deceit. This article exposes how pitches aimed at …
Regulators, Mount Up, Ben L. Trachtenberg
Regulators, Mount Up, Ben L. Trachtenberg
Faculty Publications
Since I began circulating drafts of an article arguing that certain law school officials have exposed themselves to professional discipline by engaging in dishonest marketing tactics, responses have varied considerably. Everyone seems to agree, however, that law school officials should not lie in their pursuit of students. There also appears to be broad consensus that misleading (albeit not intentionally false) marketing—such as systematically skewed salary statistics—is an unfortunate phenomenon, although disagreement remains on just how serious a problem it is and what level of corrective effort is appropriate. In their recently-published response pieces, Kyle McEntee of Law School Transparency (“LST”) …
Title Vii Works - That's Why We Don't Like It, Chuck Henson
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 Application Of Rfra To Override Employment Nondiscrimination Clauses Embedded In Federal Social Services Programs, Carl H. Esbeck
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 …
Democracy And Dispute Resolution: Systems Design And The New Workplace, Richard C. Reuben
Democracy And Dispute Resolution: Systems Design And The New Workplace, Richard C. Reuben
Faculty Publications
There has been growing discussion in law reviews and business journals about the so-called new workplace, which is distinguished from the old, in part, by greater employee mobility and job flexibility. This article extends that discussion by exploring the implications of the new workplace for the design of dispute resolution systems. In particular, it argues that the structure and values of the new workplace correspond to the essential values of democratic governance, and that dispute resolution should be integrated into the new workplace in a way that enhances rather than diminishes these core democratic values. As I have articulated in …
Love, Sex And Politics? Sure. Salary? No Way: Workplace Social Norms And The Law, Rafael Gely, Leonard Bierman
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
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 …
Pay Secrecy/ Confidentiality Rules And The National Labor Relations Act, Rafael Gely, Leonard Bierman
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
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 …
A Tale Of Three Statutes . . . (And One Industry): A Case Study On The Competitive Effects Of Regulation, Rafael Gely
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
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
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.
Where Are We Now?: Life After Electromation, Rafael Gely
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
"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
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
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
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 …
Small Numbers, Black Men, Precipitous Responses, Big Problems, Michael A. Middleton
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
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.