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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Making Of The Model Employment Termination Act, Theodore J. St. Antoine
The Making Of The Model Employment Termination Act, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
Courts in about 45 states have ameliorated the harshness of employment at will, but the common-law modifications still exhibit serious deficiencies. Legislation is needed. The Model Employment Termination Act proposes a balanced compromise. It would protect most employees against discharge without good cause and it would relieve employers of the risk of devastating financial losses When liability is imposed. Arbitration procedures under the Model Act would also be simpler, faster, and cheaper than existing court proceedings.
The Law And Arbitration: The Model Employment Termination Act, Theodore J. St. Antoine
The Law And Arbitration: The Model Employment Termination Act, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
The Model Employment Termination Act(META), which the Uniform Law Commissioners have recommended for adoption by all state legislatures, could provide the most significant legal change of this quarter century in the American workplace. In addition, if the annual case load of grievance arbitrations in this country now stands at somewhere around 65,000, the Act holds the potential for at least quadrupling that figure. Our colleague Jack Stieber has calculated that there are 60 million U.S. employees who are not protected by union contracts or civil service laws, and are thus subject to the employment-at-will doctrine. They can be fired for …
Employment-At-Will—Is The Model Act The Answer?, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Employment-At-Will—Is The Model Act The Answer?, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
Over the last quarter century, the most significant development in the field of labor and employment law has been a nationwide movement toward a revision of the at-will employment doctrine. Courts in over forty-five jurisdictions have used one or more of three main theories to carve out exceptions to the previously allpervasive principle. Unfortunately, though one can applaud the values embodied in these decisions, there are serious deficiencies in the common law modifications. The purpose of this Article is to outline those defects and to demonstrate that the interests of employees and employers alike would be better served by new …
The Model Employment Termination Act: Fairness For Employees And Employers Alike, Theodore J. St. Antoine
The Model Employment Termination Act: Fairness For Employees And Employers Alike, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
The Model Employment Termination Act (META), which state legislatures are expected to consider in the near future aims to prevent the unfair firing of Amer~ ican workers. At the same time, the Act aims to prevent devastating financial blows to American business. For both employees and employers, META offers streamlined dispute resolution procedures that would be simpler, less costly, and less time-consuming than the civil courts. The essence of the proposal is compromise-not as a matter of political expediency but as a practical, balanced accommodation of the competing worthwhile interests of employers and employees. Workers are entitled to be free …
At-Will Employment: An Overview, Theodore J. St. Antoine
At-Will Employment: An Overview, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
The most dramatic development of the last decade has been the rapid judicial expansion of modifications in at-will employment doctrine.
A Seed Germinates: Unjust Discharge Reform Heads Toward Full Flower, Theodore J. St. Antoine
A Seed Germinates: Unjust Discharge Reform Heads Toward Full Flower, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
In this paper, I shall briefly review the nature and limitations of the theories most frequently invoked by the courts in dealing with wrongful dismissal. I shall then examine the major arguments for and against a general overhaul of the doctrine of employment at will. Lastly, I shall discuss some of the particular questions that will have to be addressed in fashioning a statutory solution.
The Twilight Of Employment At Will? An Update, Theodore J. St. Antoine
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 …
The Revision Of Employment-At-Will Enters A New Phase, Theodore J. St. Antoine
The Revision Of Employment-At-Will Enters A New Phase, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
The most significant development in the whole field of labor law during the past decade was the growing willingness of the courts to modify the traditional doctrine of employment-at-will. Applying either tort or contract theory, or both, judges in some thirty jurisdictions declared their readiness to blunt the worst rigors of the rule that an employment contract of indefinite duration can be terminated by either party at any time for any reason. These dramatic breakthroughs evoked almost universal acclaim from disinterested commentators, primarily on the grounds of simple justice. Now we may be entering a new phase of consolidation, refinement, …
Federal Regulation Of The Workplace In The Next Half Century, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Federal Regulation Of The Workplace In The Next Half Century, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
Even the general circulation press, from the New York Times to the Los Angeles Times to Business Week, has taken to examining the current malaise of the labor movement and the increased emphasis upon ensuring the safety, health, and economic security of employees through direct governmental regulation rather than through collective bargaining. What accounts for this upsurge of scholarly and popular interest in labor relations and labor law? There are undoubtedly multiple causes but I should like to focus on a couple of reasons that seem preeminent to me.
You're Fired!, Theodore J. St. Antoine
You're Fired!, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Articles
In 1967 Professor Lawrence Blades of Kansas criticized the iron grip of the contract doctrine of employment at will, and argued that all employees should be legally protected against abusive discharge. The next dozen years saw a remarkable reaction. With rare unanimity, a veritable Who's Who of labor academics and labor arbitrators, Aaron, Blumrosen, Howlett, Peck, Stieber, and Summers, to name only some, stepped forth to embrace Blades' notion, and to refine and elaborate it. But the persons who counted the most, the judges and the legislators, hung back. In the 1960s, vast strides were taken at both the federal …