Law Commons^™

High Cost Of Low-Cost Workers: Missouri Enacts New Law Targeting Employers Of Unauthorized Workers, The, Michael B. Barnett

Missouri Law Review

This note seeks to explain Missouri's enactment of a law requiring use of E-Verify by certain employers, track recent developments that have made it more difficult to employ unauthorized workers, and advocate the position that this legislation will be upheld in the face of legal challenges. The following Section addresses federal immigration law and the subsequent creation of the E-Verify program. It also examines Missouri's recent enactment that requires some employers to enroll in the E-Verify program and provides stiff penalties for any entity that employs unauthorized workers. Section III considers recent cases out of Arizona, Oklahoma, and Missouri that …

Direct Threat Defense Under The Ada: Posing A Threat To The Protection Of Disabled Employees, The, Rene L. Duncan

Missouri Law Review

The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed with intentions of eliminating stereotypes and fear towards disabled individuals and their ability to function and contribute to society. In the employment context, the Act will not permit an employer to refuse to hire an individual solely because of that person's disability. However, it will permit the employer to defend such action when limitations caused by an individual's disability rise to the level of a direct threat to the safety of others. When an employer raises such a defense, circuit courts are split as to whether the burden of proving the existence or …

The Newest Way To Screen Job Applicants: A Social Networker's Nightmare, Carly Brandenburg

Federal Communications Law Journal

Social networking is an easy way to share information with friends, family, and the company that just offered you an interview. Employers are utilizing all of the tools available to them as they strive to hire the right people, and this means that social networkers may need to self censor in order to protect their information from falling into the wrong hands. This Note questions whether social networkers can legally expect or enjoy any right to privacy with respect to their online postings.

Whistling While You Work: Expanding Whistleblower Laws To Include Non-Workplace-Related Retaliation After Burlington Northern V. White, Robert Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

This comment will not attempt to harmonize the different standards or predict a future course of interpretation. Instead, it will address the existing disparity as an opportunity to amend whistleblower laws to provide meaningful protection against alltypes of retaliation, not just those that affect the whistleblower's terms or conditions ofemployment. With this broad goal as a basis, this comment will specifically advocate amending all federal whistleblower statutes' retaliation provisions to conform to Title VII's retaliation provision. This would eliminate the requirement that the retaliation affect the terms or conditions of employment and incorporate the public policy rationale outlined in Burlington …

Enforcing Femininity: How Jespersen V. Harrah's Operating Co. Leaves Women In Typically Female Jobs Vulnerable To Workplace Sex Discrimination, Amy Lifson-Leu

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment argues that the Ninth Circuit was mistaken in concluding that Jespersen fell outside of the Supreme Court's rule on sex-stereotyping discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Friend Or Foe: Reasonable Noncompete Restrictions Can Benefit Corporate In-House Counsel And Protect Corporate Employers, Barbara C. Bentrup

Saint Louis University Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Erisa, Agency Costs, And The Future Of Health Care In The United States, John Bronsteen, Brendan S. Maher, Peter K. Stris

Fordham Law Review

Because so many Americans receive health insurance through their employers, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 plays a dominant role in the delivery of health care in the United States. The ERISA system enables employers and insurers to save money by providing inadequate health care to employees, thereby creating incentives for these agents to act contrary to the interests of their principals. Such agency costs play a significant role in the current health care crisis and require attention when considering reform. We evaluate the two major health care reform movements by exploring the extent to which each …

Circular Definitions Of What Constitutes An Employee: Determining Whether The Partners Of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood Qualify As Employers Or Employees Under Federal Law, Rachel M. Milazzo

Saint Louis University Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Voices From The Workplace: Oakwood Healthcare, Inc. And The Rollback Of Labor Rights Under The Current National Labor Relations Board, Eric Wiesner

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment argues that in the current atmosphere in which the Board has faltered in its ability to carry out the national labor policy of encouraging unionization and collective bargaining, and the proper forum for enforcing the rights of workers is the legislative branch, and concludes by arguing for congressional action to amend the Act as the best means to bring the statutory definition of supervisor in line with modern workplace realities.

The Great American Makeover: The Sexing Up And Dumbing Down Of Women's Work After Jespersen V. Harrah's Operating Company, Inc., Dianne Avery

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article examines the Ninth Circuit's decision in Jesperson v. Harrah's, which the author argues insulates most employers from all but the most determined (and well-financed) challenges to sex-based dress, grooming, and appearance codes under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and will also likely impact both federal court and state court jurisprudence in this area of employment law.

Of Head Taxes, Income Taxes, And Distributive Justice In American Health Care, Lawrence Zelenak

Law and Contemporary Problems

Havighurst and Richman have made an important contribution by uncovering ways in which the current system of health care financing, including the income-tax treatment of employer-provided health insurance, has disturbing distributional effects.

Employers Beware: The Missouri Court Of Appeals Takes A Bit Out Of The Employment At-Will Doctrine, Daniel P. O'Donnell Jr.

Missouri Law Review

In Dunn v. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co., the Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Missouri held that Thomas P. Dunn had presented sufficient evidence to state a cause of action for wrongful discharge for refusing to engage in conduct and for reporting conduct which he reasonably believed violated federal securities laws. Dunn continued Missouri's trend of expanding the availability of wrongful discharge actions to at-will employees terminated in contravention of public policy by merely requiring that the employee "reasonably believe" the instances at issue violate the law. This Note argues that the Eastern District was correct in extending the …

Victimizing The Abused?: Is Termination The Solution When Domestic Violence Comes To Work?, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I of this article will discuss domestic violence, explaining the dynamics of domestic violence in an effort to shed light on why it is so difficult for a battered woman to leave the abusive relationship. This understanding is necessary for a sensitive and informed decision-making process. This Part will also discuss the magnitude of the effect that domestic violence has on the workplace. Part II will discuss a company's potential legal liability for: (a) wrongfully terminating the employee-victim and (b) failing to protect other employees (including, perhaps, the employee-victim herself) if the company does not terminate the employee-victim and …

Contractual Waivers Of A Right To Jury Trial - Another Opinion, Brian D. Weber

Cleveland State Law Review

It is well-settled that arbitration in the employment context is favored by the courts, and that there is a federal policy favoring arbitration agreements, in general. However, jury waivers outside of arbitration in the employment context are still a relatively novel idea in some jurisdictions, despite the fact that an arbitration agreement itself inherently prevents the employee from having a jury trial. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as the Ohio Supreme Court, have yet to determine if jury waivers in employment contracts are binding. This paper will assess contractual jury trial waivers in the employment context as …

Mitigation And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Jill Elaine Hasday

Michigan Law Review

It is an open question whether the prohibition on employment discrimination in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects plaintiffs who have not attempted to mitigate the effect of their disability on their ability to work. Suppose, for example, that a job applicant has severely impaired vision because of a corneal disease. He can have corneal transplant surgery that his doctors recommend and expect will allow him to see much more clearly, but he does not want to have the surgery because of the complications sometimes associated with the operation and the possibility that the surgery will not work. He …

If It's Hardly Worth Doing, It's Hardly Worth Doing Right: How The Nlra's Goals Are Defeated Through Inadequate Remedies, Robert M. Worster Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Liberty, Justice, And Insurance For All: Re-Imagining The Employment-Based Health Insurance System, Carolyn V. Juárez

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note examines the history of employment-based health insurance and the inherent historical limitations that have led to an erosion of health insurance coverage. Based on a review of several studies, this Note argues that the number of uninsured Americans has reached crisis proportions. State reform efforts, legislative proposals, and other proposed solutions have failed to repair the system. Nonetheless, this Note argues that employment-based health care is integral to the structure of national health care. Furthermore, health insurance coverage can be increased by combining employment-based health care with three reforms: large employer mandates, refundable tax credits, and purchasing pools. …

Intentional Job Discrimination-New Tools For Our Oldest Problem, Alfred W. Blumrosen, Ruth G. Blumrosen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The roots of employment discrimination lie deep in our history. By the 18th century, race slavery was the underpinning of wealth in the southern colonies. Black slaves were considered property - subhumans who had no rights in themselves or their offspring. In 1765, the British imposed "stamp taxes" on the colonies; the colonies resisted. In 1766, Parliament claimed the power to govern the colonies in all matters, but by 1770 it had repealed almost all the taxes that offended the colonists. "Business as usual" returned to the relations between the colonies and Britain.

Beyond Workers' Compensation: Workplace Comparative Fault And Third-Party Claims, William Dreier

Georgia State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Law And Economics Of Disability Accommodations, Michael Ashley Stein

Duke Law Journal

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides a clear mandate that disabled workers be provided with "reasonable" accommodations, but does not meaningfully articulate the standards by which reasonableness ought to be measured. Until now, neither courts nor commentators have provided a systematic model for analyzing accommodation claims. This Article articulates an initial law and economics framework for analyzing disability-related accommodations. In doing so, it demonstrates how accommodations span a cost continuum that can be divided into areas of Wholly Efficient and Semi-Efficient Accommodations to be funded by private employers, Social Benefit Gain Efficient Accommodations where the costs should be borne by …

Law Enforcement Officers And Agencies Georgia Bureau Of Investigation: Provide Records Related To The Prosecution Of Certain Offenses To Potential Employers Involved In Caring For Minor Children, The Elderly, Or The Mentally Afflicted, Larkin Joseph

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act authorizes the Georgia Crime Information Center to release a first offender's record of arrests, charges, or sentences for certain sexual offenses to public schools, private schools, child welfare, nursing homes, personal care homes, or any person or entity providing healthcare, day care, or services to children, the elderly, the mentally ill or the mentally handicapped when the first offender has applied for employment therein.

Ghost Workers In An Interconnected World: Going Beyond The Dichotomies Of Domestic Immigration And Labor Laws, Ruben J. Garcia

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Beginning with the September 11, 2001 ("9/11 ") terrorist attacks, the labor movement's plans to organize immigrant workers and achieve immigration reform have met serious challenges. After 9/11, the political climate surrounding immigrants put the AFL-CIO s hopes for legislative reform on hold, because of socially perceived connections between immigrants and terrorism. Then, in a March 2002 decision titled Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, the U.S. Supreme Court held that undocumented immigrant workers could not collect back pay under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when their rights to join unions are violated. According to the Court, back pay …

Crazy (Mental Illness Under The Ada), Jane Byeff Korn

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article examines how people with mental disabilities and mental illnesses have been treated under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Part I addresses the history of mental illness. It argues that while beliefs about the causes and content of mental illness have vacillated over time, the mentally ill have received consistently poor treatment throughout human history. Part II addresses present problems with the definition of mental illness, including how mental illness and mental disability are defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Part III discusses the problems faced by people with mental illness today. The author argues the current state …

After Ellerth: The Tangible Employment Action In Sexual Harassment Analysis, Susan Grover

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this Article, Professor Grover argues that courts too readily allow employers to avoid vicarious liability for supervisors' unlawful sexual harassment of subordinates. The Article explores the breadth of the affirmative defense first introduced in the Supreme Court's 1998 cases of Faragher v. Boca Raton and Burlington Indus., Inc. v. Ellerth. That defense clears an employer of liability for a supervisor's unlawful sexual harassment if (a) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior, and (b) the plaintiff employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the …

The Customer Is Always Right… Not! Employer Liability For Third Party Sexual Harassment, Lea B. Vaughn

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This article will ask a series of questions. What is third party sexual harassment? Under what conditions does it occur? Does it differ in any significant respects from traditional notions of sexual harassment? Should those differences, if any, make a difference in the way that the legal system addresses third party harassment? And indeed, should the problem be addressed solely through the legal system? What might an employer do to alleviate sexual harassment of this type?

Stock Market Volatility And 401 (K) Plans, Colleen E. Medill

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Many workers today depend on their 401(k) plan to provide them with an adequate income during retirement. For these workers to achieve retirement income security, their 401(k) plan investments must perform well over their working lifetime. Employers' selection of investment options for the 401(k) plan, a fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), plays a critical role in determining investment performance. In this Article, Professor Medill uses a series of hypothetical litigation scenarios to illustrate how interpretation of the employer's duty of prudence and duty of loyalty under ERISA present different policy choices for the …

The Attachment Gap: Employment Discrimination Law, Women's Cultural Caregiving, And The Limits Of Economic And Liberal Legal Theory, Laura T. Kessler

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Title VII has prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of pregnancy since 1978, when Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act ("PDA"), but it does not require employers to recognize women's caregiving obligations beyond the immediate, physical events of pregnancy and childbirth. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ("FMLA ") also does little more than provide job security to some relatively privileged women in the case of childbirth. Neither of these statutes, which constitute the bulk of the United States' maternity and parental leave policies, provides for the most common employment leave needs of caregivers, who by all measures …

Fair Labor Standards Act And Sovereign Immunity: Unlocking The Courthouse Door For Texas State Employees., Melinda Herrera

St. Mary's Law Journal

Unless Texas expressly waives its Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity, its state employees will not have similar legal recourse and protection as those available to private employees. As in many other states, a party may not sue the State of Texas without its consent. Thus, in the absence of constitutional or statutory provisions to the contrary, a state may claim sovereign immunity against any suit brought by a private party in both federal and state court. As a result, the Eleventh Amendment effectively precludes private individuals from suing a state in both federal and state court for violating a federal statute …

How About A Firm Where People Actually Want To Work: A "Professional" Law Firm For The Twenty-First Century, James Regan

Fordham Law Review

I don't like work--no man does--but I like what is in work--the chance to find yourself. Your own reality--for yourself, not for others--what no other man can ever know. -Joseph Conrad

The New Missouri Employer Immunity Statute: Are Missouri Employers Still Damned If They Do And Damned If They Don’T?, Cathy A. Schainblatt

Saint Louis University Law Journal

No abstract provided.