Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

Watson V. Ft. Worth Bank And Trust: The Changing Face Of Disparate Impact, Linda H. Edwards

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 constitutes this country’s first serious commitment to eradicating the enormous economic disadvantages caused by hundreds of years of racial and gender-related prejudice. But there is also cause for concern. While members of once excluded groups have entered the mid-level workforce, most have not progressed to top-level positions. Perhaps not surprisingly, the elimination of barriers to mid-level employment has spotlighted the unique barriers to equal employment in top-level jobs. Title VII’s capacity to deal effectively with these barriers will be its major challenge for the next quarter-century. Its success will depend, in …

Test Defamation In The Workplace: False Positive Results In Detecting Lies, Aids, Or Drug Use, Elaine W. Shoben

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Workplace tests given to applicants or employees can be divided into two general types: (1) Tests with results that measure ability or performance on a continuous, comparative scale and (2) tests with essentially dichotomous results indicating the truth or falsity of some fact about the worker. Aptitude tests or quantified supervisorial ratings fall into the first category. They have been the subject of substantial litigation brought primarily under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In contrast, the second category of workplace tests has received comparatively little judicial attention. This group includes drug tests, other medical tests such …

Mutable Characteristics And The Definition Of Discrimination Under Title Vii, Peter Brandon Bayer

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits racial, religious, gender, ethnic, and color discrimination in employment. In most instances the courts interpret the statute very broadly. However, a line of cases holds that discrimination predicated on a forbidden criterion coupled with a ‘mutable’—easily altered—characteristic does not constitute a violation of Title VII. This Article attempts to debunk the ‘mutable’ characteristic doctrine by discerning a general definition of discrimination under Title VII and applying that definition to demonstrate that mutability analysis contradicts the letter and spirit of the law.

Relations Of Employers With Workers' Representatives In The United States, J. Ralph Beaird

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There is no question but that current policy in the United States comes down heavily on the side of management flexibility in the area of economic decisionmaking. The question is: should that be changed?

Employer And Consultant Reporting Under The Lmrda, J. Ralph Beaird

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In light of the criticisms of the House and recent constitutional objections, this article reevaluates the viability of the employer and consultant reporting provisions of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). Section I discusses the legislative history and purpose of the LMRDA's reporting provisions. Section II examines the courts' treatment of the provisions when attacked on constitutional and statutory grounds.

Employee Recruitment By Design Or Default: Uncertainty Under Title Vii, Elaine W. Shoben

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The employment of every new worker is the result of a two-stage process: recruitment of applicants and selection from the applicant pool. A personnel officer may evaluate only John and Jane Worker because Juan and Juanita Worker are not in the applicant pool. What active or passive acts by the company establish the applicant pool? The issue becomes particularly troublesome when Juan and Juanita Worker are members of one minority group and John and Jane Worker are members of another racial or ethnic minority group. May employers legally recruit more actively from one group than another?

This Article examines the …

Review Essay On Affirmative Action, Leslie C. Griffin

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No abstract provided.

Ohio's Public Employee Bargaining Law: Can It Withstand Constitutional Challenge?, Rebecca White, Robert E. Kaplan, Michael W. Hawkins

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Public employees in Ohio are now statutorily entitled to bargain collectively with their government employers. This controversial right was obtained on July 6, 1983, when Ohio Governor Richard Celeste fulfilled a major campaign promise by signing into law Senate Bill 133. This bill, which took effect April 1, 1984, has been labeled "one of the most pro-labor public employee bargaining statutes in the nation.

As with any legislation that provides sweeping social and economic changes, challenges to the bill's legitimacy can be expected. Experience in other states teaches that constitutional attacks on the statute will be mounted swiftly, attacks that …

Proof Of Disparate Treatment Under The Age Discrimination In Employment Act: Variations On A Title Vii Theme, Mack A. Player

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The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was enacted in 1967 and substantially amended in 1974 and 1978. Generally stated, the ADEA prohibits employer discrimination by public and private "employers" (persons having twenty or more employees), labor unions, and employment agencies. Protection against age discrimination is granted, however, only to employees and applicants between the ages of forty and seventy. It is illegal to discriminate on the basis of age against persons within the forty-to-seventy age group regardless of whether the person favored by the discrimination is within or without the protected age group or is younger or older than …

The Use Of Statistics To Prove Intentional Employment Discrimination, Elaine W. Shoben

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Two decades after the once fiery debate about the meaning of "discrimination" in employment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the issue has recently been rekindled. In simplest form, the question is whether the type of discrimination statutorily prohibited is only purposeful exclusions, or whether it includes unintended exclusions caused by tests or requirements that disproportionately affect a group defined by race, sex, or ethnicity. The Supreme Court's decision in Griggs v. Duke Power Co. resolved the question in one major area, thus causing the issue to lie dormant since 1971. Griggs held that liability under …

Norris V. Arizona Governing Committee: Titile Vii's Applicability To Arizona's Deferred Compensation Plan, Mary E. Berkheiser

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Analysis of Norris v. Arizona Governing Comm., 671 F.2d 330 (9^th Cir. 1982).

The Application Of The Sherman Act Antiboycott Law To Industry Self-Regulation: An Analysis Integrating Nonboyocott Sherman Act Principles, James F. Ponsoldt

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Entry into and competition within professions and many industries is commonly restricted by private regulation among competitors. These restrictions are often effectuated, without direct government participation, through rules, procedures, or standards established by trade or professional organizations. Sometimes, however, the restrictions are made through less formalized concerted decisionmaking procedures by persons potentially in competition with new entrants. Such privately imposed restraints on competition have recently been the focus of an increasing number of private treble damages actions under section 1 of the Sherman Act. In these cases, the plaintiffs have alleged that the defendants were engaged in illegal boycotts, and …

Compound Discrimination: The Interaction Of Race And Sex In Employment Discrimination, Elaine W. Shoben

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The courts have not yet clearly resolved whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits compound discrimination, that is, discrimination based on a combination of protected characteristics—such as race and sex-rather than single protected characteristics—such as race alone or sex alone. Professor Shoben argues that both the logic and the legislative history of Title VII support the view that compound discrimination is separately protected. She then offers a systematic method for statistically determining whether an employer is discriminating on the basis of a combination of characteristics. Finally, Professor Shoben considers whether single plaintiffs can, consistently with rule …

Civil Rights--Federal Jurisdiction--Exhaustion Of Adequate And Appropriate State Administrative Remedies Is A Prerequisite For Judicial Review Under Section 1983, Camilla E. Watson

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Georgia Patsy, a white female secretary, brought a civil rights action under section 1983 of title 42 of the United States Code against Florida International University in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging employment discrimination in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States. The district court dismissed the action for failure to exhaust state administrative remedies. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed on the ground that failure to allege exhaustion of state remedies did not preclude a section 1983 cause of action. On rehearing en banc, the court …

In Defense Of Disparate Impact Analysis Under Title Vii: A Reply To Dr. Cohn, Elaine W. Shoben

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The preceding article by Dr. Richard M. Cohn' concerning the use of statistics in Title VII employment discrimination cases makes three basic points. First, Cohn rejects the methods used to assess disproportionate differences between groups on tests, such as ability tests. He finds fault both with the approach of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures and with the method based on finding statistical significance that I have advocated. Second, he also rejects the approach courts have adopted for evaluating the relative exclusion of groups defined by race, sex, or national origin in the employer's work force. He argues that …

Defense Under The Age Of Discrimination In Employment Act: Misinterpretation, Misdirection, And The 1978 Amendments, Mack A. Player

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The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibits employers, labor organizations, and employment agencies from discriminating because of age, but it does not protect all age groups against employment discrimination. As enacted, the 1967 Act protected persons between the ages of forty and sixty-five; the amendments in April 1978 extended that protection five years to age seventy. Thus it is not illegal to discriminate against people before their fortieth or after their seventieth birthday. The Act, in its original and amended versions, contains five exceptions or "defenses" to age discrimination in employment. Only the "bona fide occupational qualification" (BFOQ), …

Differential Pass-Fail Rates In Employment Testing: Statistical Proof Under Title Vii, Elaine W. Shoben

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In this Comment, Professor Shoben advocates the use of a statistical technique—a test of the difference between independent proportions—to assess the substantiality of differences in pass rates among various groups on employment tests, in order to facilitate determination of disproportionate impact under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She then compares this method with the procedure adopted in the Federal Executive Agency Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures and suggests several flaws in the latter approach.

Probing The Discriminatory Effects Of Employee Selection Procedures With Disparate Impact Analysis Under Title Vii, Elaine W. Shoben

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Last term the Supreme Court handed down three decisions in which it defined with some precision the proper use of statistics in Title VII cases. Those decisions filled a void that had existed since Griggs v. Duke Power Co., but they left some questions unanswered. In this article Professor Shoben discusses those decisions and addresses the issues still unresolved. She proposes a structured framework for the systematic analysis of disparate impact cases that is consistent with, yet builds upon, the three recent decisions. In addition, Professor Shoben considers whether allowing a plaintiff to establish a prima facie case with …

Foreword: Recent Developments In Labor Law: The Ninth Annual Labor Relations Institute, J. Ralph Beaird

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The papers presented in this symposium issue were initially presented at a labor institute jointly sponsored by the Atlanta Lawyers Foundation, the Federal Bar Association, the Labor Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia. This is the ninth such institute with the first having been held in 1964 for the purpose of acquainting the practicing bar with developments and trends in the field of labor law.

Union Discipline Of Its Membership Under Section 101(A)(5) Of Landrum-Griffin: What Is "Discipline" And How Much Process Is Due?, J. Ralph Beaird, Mack A. Player

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Analogies between criminal trials and union disciplinary hearings are easily drawn. Both involve charges of prohibited conduct, the presentation of evidence, and decisions by competent and impartial tribunals. Whereas one’s physical freedom is at stake in a criminal proceeding, his economic freedom is often imperiled in a union disciplinary hearing. It is not surprising therefore that the requirements of due process have been extended to the labor setting. Embodied in section 101(a)(5) of the Landrum-Griffin Act, due process in the union sphere has been as elusive of definition as in judicial proceedings. Examining section 101(a)(5), Professors Beaird and Player attempt …

Whither The Nixon Board?, J. Ralph Beaird, Mack A. Player

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The Nixon administration has now appointed a majority of members to the National Labor Relations Board. With this change in Board composition have come significant shifts in labor policy. The authors of this Article examine these shifts in policy in light of the approaches of past Boards.

Racial Discrimination In Employment: Rights And Remedies, J. Ralph Beaird

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Professor Beaird believes that the current multiplicity of forums available to an employee who alleges discrimination against him should be merged into one. Ideally he would like to see an administrative agency given primary jurisdiction with authority similar to that possessed by the NLRB. Until an agency is given such power, Professor Beaird suggests that the forums themselves apply collateral estoppel principles to alleviate the inequities inherent in repetitious litigation.

Some Aspects Of The Lmrda "Bill Of Rights", J. Ralph Beaird

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Generally speaking, Title I, section 101(a), of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) guarantees to every union member: (1) equal rights and equal privileges within his union to nominate candidates for union office, to vote in elections or referendums, and to attend union meetings; (2) the right to exercise freedom of speech and assembly; (3) the right to be free from arbitrary increases in dues, initiation fees, and assessments; (4) the right to sue and to participate in administrative and legislative proceedings; and (5) the right to procedural due process in disciplinary proceedings within the union.

As …

Some Aspects Of The Lmrda Reporting Requirements, J. Ralph Beaird

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Collective bargaining became the keystone of our national labor policy with the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935. The central role of this procedure was preserved in the Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffin Acts. By choosing collective bargaining as the principal instrument of labor market control, Congress sought to remove sources of industrial strife by a method which preserved private determination free from either unchecked employer power or smothering governmental control. Landrum-Griffin was supplementary legislation designed to eliminate or prevent practices which distorted and defeated the collective bargaining policy of the Labor-Management Relations Act. This statutory scheme has now been in …

Labor Relations Policy For Public Employees: A Legal Perspective, J. Ralph Beaird

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Because approximately one-sixty of the nation's nonagricultural work force are public employees and because labor strife in public employment is increasing each year, the need for thoughtful examiniation of public policy in this vital area is manifest. The purpose of this article is to provide a basic legal framework to which the labor relations posture of the public employee can be related. Hopefully this can be accomplished by focusing on two separate but related areas. One concerns the oft told story of the evolution of labor-management relations policy for the private sector, while the other deals withe the law's changing …

Foreword: Recent Developments In Labor Law, J. Ralph Beaird

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This symposium issue brings together a collection of papers notable for diversity of subject matter as well as for point of view. Yet all relate to what is generally referred to as our National Labor Policy.

Union Trusteeship Provisions Of The Labor-Management Reporting And Disclosure Act Of 1959, J. Ralph Beaird

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With the passage of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, Congress embarked upon a policy of substantial federal regulation of internal union affairs. Prior to this enactment, the impact of law on this area had been determined largely by state courts with only a modicum of legislative guidance. In formulating the LMRDA Congress was greatly concerned with determining where to draw the line between necessary democratic safeguards and the preservation of union self-determination. This concern was particularly evident in drafting Title III which deals with union trusteeships. While Congress framed Title III from a somewhat limited informational base, …

The New Labor Law: A Very Limited Management Victory, Howard Glickstein, Bernard D. Gold

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No abstract provided.