Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

Rethinking The Legal Oversight Of Benefit Program Exclusions, Mark Berger

Faculty Works

Increasingly, American workers rely upon employers to provide employee benefit programs that include critical health insurance and retirement savings plans. However, employers are finding that providing benefits is a costly undertaking. As a result an increasing number of employers are making use of alternative workforce systems. These involve supplementing a core of full-time workers with contingent employees for whom no commitments are made other than payment for services rendered. Such contingent workers have no expectation of indefinite or continuous employment, and are generally excluded from whatever benefit programs the company may provide.

The increasing use of two-tier employment systems of …

Employee Representation In The Boundaryless Workplace, Katherine V.W. Stone

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Unfulfilled Promise Of Promissory Estoppel In The Employment Setting, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Although the theory of promissory estoppel enforces promises that induce reasonable detrimental reliance, this article reveals the theory's colossal failure in the non-union employment setting. This conclusion is based on an examination of all of the reported decisions in the United States that discussed promissory estoppel over a two-year period in the mid 1990's. During this period, employees won only 4.23 percent of employment promissory estoppel cases decided on the merits. At first blush, this is very surprising because employers, through their communications, seek to create the expectation of a stable, secure work environment and employees, because of their lack …

The Rise Of America's Two National Pastimes: Baseball And The Law, Cleta Deatherage Mitchell

Michigan Law Review

Mark McGwire's seventieth home run ball sold at auction in January of this year for $3,005,000. In late 1998, Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos sued a former Orioles manager and his daughter in the circuit court of Cook County, Illinois. Angelos alleged that the original lineup card from the 1995 game when Cal Ripken, Jr., broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record belongs to the Orioles, not to the former manager and certainly not to his daughter. There may be no crying in baseball, but there is money. And wherever earthly treasure gathers two or more, a legal system arises. From …

Arbitration, Labor Contracts, And The Ada: The Benefits Of Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements And An Update On The Conflict Between The Duty To Accommodate And Seniority Rights, Jan William Sturner

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Employment Contract, Ian Ayres, Stewart J. Schwab

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article consists of Professors Ian Ayres and Stewart Schwab 's presentation given at the Economic Analysis of State Employment Law Issues Symposium. Following the presentation, audience members and the presenters participated in a discussion concerning employment contracts. The Journal staff and Professors Ayres and Schwab compiled and edited some of these questions and responses.

The Indentured Servants Of Academia: The Adjunct Faculty Dilemma And Their Limited Legal Remedies, John C. Duncan, Jr.

Journal Publications

In this half of the twentieth century, the academic equivalent of the indentured servant is the adjunct faculty member in higher education. Adjuncts cannot say or do much about their plight. The dilemma of adjunct faculty leads to what should be considered a violation of due process rights. This Article first examines who are the adjunct faculty, what are their dilemmas, and how are they viewed in the academic world. The heart of the paper then explores the limited legal remedies available. The essential problems of lack of due process and minimal protection through collective bargaining and contractual agreements are …

Independent Contractor Or Employee? Misplaced Reliance On Actual Control Has Disenfranchised Artistic Workers Under The National Labor Relations Act, Thomas M. Murray

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Court Of Appeals Ballentine V. Koch (Decided October 22, 1996)

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taking The Public Out Of Determining Government Policy: The Need For An Appropriate Scope Of Bargaining Test In The Illinois Public Sector, 29 J. Marshall L. Rev. 531 (1996), Eric C. Scheiner

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Arbitration: Alternative Dispute Resolution Or Coercive Dispute Suppression?, Sharona Hoffman

Faculty Publications

The enforceability of mandatory arbitration policies contained in employment contracts between employees and their direct employers remains an open question, even after the Supreme Court's 1991 decision in Gilmer v. Interstate Johnson Lane Corp. While Gilmer gave effect to a mandatory arbitration clause in a contract between a securities broker and his licensing exchange, the Court noted that the contract at issue was not an ordinary employment contract between employer and employee. The Court declined to decide whether arbitration agreements in ordinary employment contracts are per se enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act or whether these provisions are exempt from …

Guilty Knowledge, Daniel S. Kleinberger

Faculty Scholarship

Agency law's attribution rules impose most of the risk of agent misconduct on the party who selects the agent and benefits from the agent's endeavors, i.e., the principal. The rules thus help establish and maintain a proper balance of risk between principals and third parties. Unfortunately, a recent unpublished decision of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, Engen v. Mitch's Bar & Grill, threatens to upset that balance and release principals from responsibility for an important type of information possessed by their agents. Engen is dangerous, despite its unpublished status. This Case Note seeks to eliminate any influence the case might …

Union Lawyer's Obligations To Bargaining Unit Members: A Case Study Of The Interdependence Of Legal Ethics And Substantive Law, The Symposium: The Lawyer's Duties And Liabilities To Third Parties, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

One of the largest groups of purported nonclients to whom lawyers might have obligations are members of bargaining units represented by unions. Despite the much publicized decline of labor unions, they have almost 16.4 million members. In addition, many workers are members of bargaining units represented by labor unions, but are not union members. The relationship of union lawyers to these millions of bargaining unit members, whether members of the union or not, is unclear. An examination of how this relationship influences and is influenced by labor law offers a fascinating case study of the synergy between the substantive law …

The Federal Arbitration Act And Individual Employment Contracts: A Better Means To An Equally Just End, William F. Kolakowski Iii

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that courts should adopt a narrow reading of the employment contract exception to the FAA, thus making arbitration agreements in most individual employment contracts enforceable under the Act. Part I argues that a textual analysis of the FAA supports a narrow interpretation of the exception. Because some courts and commentators have argued that the text favors a broad interpretation, Part II examines the legislative history of the exception and demonstrates that no firm conclusions can be drawn about congressional intent regarding the exception's scope. Finally, Part III demonstrates that a narrow reading of the exception best serves …

Job Security: Protecting At-Will Employees With Good Cause Legislation, Mayumi Yokoyama

LLM Theses and Essays

Recent decades have witnessed significant developments in employment termination law in the United States. In particular, the long-standing “at-will” doctrine, under which employers can fire employees for good, bad, or no reason at all, has experienced great erosion and wide variations in law from state to state. There has been a movement of statutory and common law restrictions limiting an employer’s freedom to terminate at will, which reflects the increasing consciousness of job security by society and workers. This paper analyzes the problem of job security by tracing the origin of the at-will doctrine to 19th century principles favoring economic …

Policing Employment Contracts Within The Nexus-Of-Contracts Firm, Katherine V.W. Stone

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Restraints On Alienation Of Human Capital, Stewart E. Sterk

Articles

No abstract provided.

Good Cause And Just Expectations: Academic Tenure In Oklahoma's Public Colleges And Universities, Harry F. Tepker

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Noncompete Agreements Under Florida Law: A Retrospective And A Requiem, Kendall B. Coffey, Thomas F. Nealon, Iii

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Legacy Of Industrial Pluralism: The Tension Between Individual Employment Rights And The New Deal Collective Bargaining System, Katherine V.W. Stone

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Oklahoma's Evolving Employment Law: Clarifying The At-Will Rule, Harry F. Tepker

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Due Process

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Doctrinal Synergies And Liberal Dilemmas: The Case Of The Yellow-Dog Contract, Barry Cushman

Journal Articles

The three decades spanning the years 1908 to 1937 saw a remarkable transformation of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence concerning the rights of workers to organize. In 1908, the Court held that a federal law prohibiting employers from discharging an employee because of his membership in a labor union violated the liberty of contract secured to the employer by the Fifth Amendment. In 1915, the Court similarly declared a state statute prohibiting the use of "yellow-dog" contracts unconstitutional. In 1937, by contrast, the Court upheld provisions of the Wagner Act prohibiting both discharges for union membership and the use of yellow-dog …

Notes: Termination Of Employment Contracts And Taking Advantage Of One's Wrong, Andrew B.L. Phang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The recent decision by Mr John Mowbray QC in Micklefield v SAC Technology Ltd brings into focus the thorny problems inherent within, first, the continuing uncertainty surrounding termination of employment contracts and, secondly, the much more general issue as to the status as well as application of the proposition that a contracting party ought not to be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong. There was a third issue taken in the case with regard to the applicability of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 which will be briefly commented upon.

Baldwin V. Sisters Of Providence: Washington Gives At Will Employees A Gun With No Ammunition To Fight Against Unjust Dismissal, Michael T. Zoretic

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment will explore the status of the employment at will doctrine and unjust dismissal actions following the supreme court's decision in Baldwin. First, Section I will explain the historical background of the employment at will doctrine and its steady erosion in the modern era. Next, Section II will provide an overview of the Baldwin case itself, including facts, procedural history, and general holdings. Sections III through V will explore the three major issues decided by the court in Baldwin: allocating burdens of proof in wrongful discharge suits; implied covenants of good faith and fair dealing in employment …

Drafting The Dispute Resolution Clause, Whitmore Gray

Book Chapters

Providing in a contract for ways to resolve disputes that may arise presents a substantial challenge to the lawyer. In one sense, this is what a lawyer regularly does in contract drafting-anticipating misunderstandings or problems that experience has indicated are likely to arise, and trying to provide clear solutions in advance. When it comes to drafting a specific clause for the resolution of further disputes that may arise, however, many lawyers are at a substantial disadvantage. The task comes at the end of the substantive negotiations. The client does not want to focus on, or draw the other party's attention …

Terminating At-Will Employment Contracts In Utah Subsequent To Berube V. Fashion Centre, George P. Barbaresi

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Privacy: The Workplace Issue Of The '90s, 23 J. Marshall L. Rev. 591 (1990), David F. Linowes, Ray C. Spencer

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Working Backwards: The Covenant Of Good Faith And Fair Dealing In Employment Law, Deborah A. Schmedemann

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the covenant of good faith and fair dealing with respect to employment law. This doctrine is at an interesting stage in its development (or decline) in Minnesota and elsewhere. The article begins with the standard exposition of the current state of the law; part I describes the limited scope of the covenant and its limited force in Minnesota employment law. Part II contains my assessment of the courts' handling of the covenant and the promise this theory holds for Minnesota employees and employers. My theses are: First, the courts have thus far failed to develop a sound …

Conflict Of Laws Resolution In Employment Contracts: The West Virginia Approach, Linda M. Gutsell

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.