Law Commons^™

Review Of 'Understanding Labor And Employment Law In China' By Ronald C. Brown, Nicholas Howson

Nicholas Howson

Review of Ronald C. Brown's UNDERSTANDING LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW IN CHINA (Cambridge University Press, 2010) which review describes an alternative way of describing and analyzing law and legal institutions in contemporary China generally, and labor law specifically.

Stemming The Hobby Lobby Tidal Wave: Why Rfra Challenges To Obama's Executive Order Prohibiting Federal Contractors From Discriminating Against Lgbt Employees Will Not Succeed, Kayla Higgins

Kayla Higgins

On July 21, 2014 President Obama released Executive Order 13672, which expressly aimed to provide for a uniform policy for the Federal Government to prohibit discrimination and take further steps to promote economy and efficiency in Federal Government procurement by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Some commentators believe that the order “could be the next battleground” for the competing views of religious leaders and liberals when it comes to how to weigh religious liberty against other priorities. However, there are two main reasons why the most recent executive order should not crumble under the Hobby Lobby …

The Treatment For Malpractice – Physician, Enhance Thyself: The Impact Of Neuroenhancements For Medical Malpractice, Harvey L. Fiser

Harvey L. Fiser

Coming to a hospital near you, the medically enhanced doctor - a doctor who thinks faster, is better with short and long term memory, is calmer during surgery, can work double shifts with little cognitive fatigue, and one day may have the memories of years of experience without actually having had them. With the expanded use of cognitive enhancing pharmaceuticals such as Adderall, Provigil, and more on the way, we are already seeing changes in education and the corporate world. From reaching a “normal” status for a person with an ADHD diagnosis to creating the “supernormal” employee with cognitive enhancers, …

Conflicted Counselors: Retaliation Protections For Attorney-Whistleblowers In An Inconsistent Regulatory Regime, Jennifer M. Pacella

Jennifer M. Pacella, Esq.

Attorneys, especially in-house counsel, are subject to retaliation by employers in much the same way as traditional whistleblowers, often experiencing retaliation and loss of livelihood for reporting instances of wrongdoing about their clients. Although attorney-whistleblowing undoubtedly invokes ethical concerns, attorneys who “appear and practice” before the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are required by federal law to act as internal whistleblowers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) and report evidence of material violations of the law within the organizations that they represent. An attorney’s failure to comply with these obligations will result in SEC-imposed civil penalties and disciplinary action. Recent federal …

Wage Gender Disparities: Challenging Prevailing Assumptions, Theoretical Approache, Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid Professor Of Law

Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid Professor of Law

Women in the United States are, on average and consistently, earning less than their male peers. Sometimes, they are even paid less than the men they supervise. A common response concerns about the 23 cent gender wage gap for full-time year-round workers across occupations, is that it is simply a byproduct of the choices women make: choices to prefer family life and needs, work fewer hours, take on lower-paying jobs, or opt out of the workforce for longer periods of time than men. Under this view, the gender pay gap is not a result of sex discrimination but of women's …

Ada Open Issues - Transfers To Vacant Positions, Leaves Of Absences, Telecommuting And Other Accommodation Issues, Lawrence P. Postol

Lawrence P. Postol

No abstract provided.

Two Conflicting Filing Periods For A Constructive Discharge Claim: Which One Is A Better Measure?, Aditi Kumar

Aditi Kumar

Constructive discharge is a long-standing phenomenon. The doctrine emerged in the 1930s in the context of alleged unfair labor practices under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Constructive discharge occurs when the working conditions are so intolerable that a reasonable employee feels that she no choice but to quit her job. The Supreme Court brought the discussion of constructive discharge to light in Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders[1] where it discussed this principle in a hostile work environment context. Over the years, there has been much debate over the time period when a constructive discharge claim should begin. Since …

Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming And The Boundary Between Jobs And Games, Julian Dibbell

Julian Dibbell

When does work become play, and play work? Courts have considered the question in a variety of economic contexts, from student athletes seeking recognition as employees to professional blackjack players seeking to be treated by casinos just like casual players. Here I apply the question to a relatively novel context: that of online gold farming, a gray-market industry in which wage-earning workers, largely based in China, are paid to play online fantasy games (MMOs) that reward them with virtual items their employers sell for profit to the same games’ casual players. Gold farming is clearly a job (and under the …

Employment Discrimination Plaintiffs In Federal Court: From Bad To Worse?, Kevin M. Clermont, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

This Article utilizes the Administrative Office's data to convey the realities of federal employment discrimination litigation. Litigants in these "jobs" cases appeal more often than other litigants, with the defendants doing far better on those appeals than the plaintiffs. These troublesome facts help explain why today fewer plaintiffs are undertaking the frustrating route into federal district court, where plaintiffs must pursue their claims relatively often all the way through trial and where at both pretrial and trial these plaintiffs lose unusually often.

Pension De-Risking, Paul Secunda, Brendan Maher

Paul M. Secunda

The United States is facing a retirement crisis, in significant part because defined benefit pension plans have been replaced by defined contribution retirement plans that, whatever their theoretical merit, have left significant numbers of workers unprepared for retirement. A troubling example of the continuing movement away from defined benefit plans is a new phenomenon euphemistically called “pension de-risking.”

Recent years have been marked by high-profile companies engaging in various actions designed to reduce the company’s exposure to pension funding risk (hence the term “pension de-risking”). Some de-risking strategies convert a federally-guaranteed pension into a more risky private annuity. Other approaches …

Note: Unpaid Interns & The Practice Of Unprotected Working: Building From A History Of Learning On The Job, Troy D. Warner

Troy D Warner

Student interns are provided protection from gender discrimination and sexual harassment in their student capacity by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA), and as employees by Title IX of the CRA. However unpaid student interns are neither considered students nor employees, and thus slip through the cracks of coverage provided by Titles VII & IX. They are working unprotected by the law from sexual harassment and sexual discrimination. The Department of Labor has two classifications created by regulations, which provide protections to workers not legally employees, just as unpaid interns are not employees.

The Department of …

Worker (Mis)Classification In The Sharing Economy: Trying To Fit Square Pegs Into Round Holes, Robert Sprague

Robert Sprague