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Seattle University Law Review

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Articles 241 - 270 of 283

Full-Text Articles in Labor and Employment Law

Lack Of Meaningful Choice Defined: Your Job Vs. Your Right To Sue In A Judicial Forum, Sara Lingafelter Jan 2005

Lack Of Meaningful Choice Defined: Your Job Vs. Your Right To Sue In A Judicial Forum, Sara Lingafelter

Seattle University Law Review

Mandatory arbitration agreements subvert an employee's constitutional right to a judicial forum and generally place unfair burdens on plaintiffs. An employee faced with the option of either signing a mandatory arbitration agreement or losing a job often has no meaningful choice. The Supreme Court, however, has failed to recognize first that Congress did not intend for mandatory arbitration to extend to Title VII claims and second, that employers often leave employees with no meaningful choice regarding mandatory arbitration. Nonetheless, state and federal judges are increasingly recognizing that arbitration agreements may be the product of procedural unconscionability. Accordingly, when employees are …

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Damage Control: Staking Claim To Employment Law Remedies For Undocumented Immigrant Workers After Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. V. Nlrb, Elizabeth R. Baldwin Jan 2003

Damage Control: Staking Claim To Employment Law Remedies For Undocumented Immigrant Workers After Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. V. Nlrb, Elizabeth R. Baldwin

Seattle University Law Review

This Note explains why the Supreme Court's decision in Hoffman threatens to do the exact opposite of what the Court intended. Specifically, while the majority's opinion purports to maintain the integrity of IRCA, it will likely undermine the Act by encouraging employers to hire undocumented workers.' In addition to creating confusion, the Hoffman decision offends traditional notions of statutory construction by departing from both the text of the statute and the legislative intent. Furthermore, the holding has the de facto effect of forging a new way to investigate IRCA violations and grants employers a new defense to liability. Moreover, in …

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Smith V. Bates Technical College: Washington Extends The Availability Of The Tort Of Wrongful Discharge In Violation Of Public Policy, But A Little Too Far: Employees Should Still Exhaust Other Remedies, Richard A. Morris Jan 2002

Smith V. Bates Technical College: Washington Extends The Availability Of The Tort Of Wrongful Discharge In Violation Of Public Policy, But A Little Too Far: Employees Should Still Exhaust Other Remedies, Richard A. Morris

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will present and analyze two significant issues addressed by the Smith court. First, the court properly decided that state common law claims are not preempted by collective bargaining agreements or available administrative procedures. Second, the court incorrectly determined that exhaustion of administrative or contractual remedies is not a prerequisite to seeking tort relief in court. The judiciary should give deference to administrative or contractual procedures specifically designed to resolve the matter in dispute. This Note will analyze the preemption issue by first examining, in Part II, the general function of common law torts, the doctrine of employment-at-will, and …

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Cockle: Importing Health Benefits Into Wages—An Invitation For Legislative Review Of The Wage Definition Under Washington's Industrial Insurance Act, Matthew H. Adams Jan 2002

Cockle: Importing Health Benefits Into Wages—An Invitation For Legislative Review Of The Wage Definition Under Washington's Industrial Insurance Act, Matthew H. Adams

Seattle University Law Review

This Note addresses the efficacy of construing the term "wages" RCW 51.08.178 to include employer-provided health insurance, hoping to serve as a resource for the Legislature to reevaluate IIA's wage definition in light of Cockle. First, this Note gives a general background of IIA and the Act's time-loss compensation scheme. Next, this Note discusses how Washington and other jurisdictions treat fringe benefits in defining "wages." This Note then examines the Washington Supreme Court's ground-breaking decision in Cockle, in which the court held that the value of employer-provided medical and dental benefits are part of the basis used to …

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To Allow To Sue, Or Not To Allow To Sue: Zimmerman V. Oregon Department Of Justice Decides Title Ii Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Does Not Apply To Employment Discrimination, Cabrelle Abel Jan 2001

To Allow To Sue, Or Not To Allow To Sue: Zimmerman V. Oregon Department Of Justice Decides Title Ii Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Does Not Apply To Employment Discrimination, Cabrelle Abel

Seattle University Law Review

The article analyzes Title II and explains why, in the interests of judicial economy, the Zimmerman court correctly held that Title II does not apply to employment discrimination. First, the article discusses the particular wording of the ADA, specifically comparing the language of Title I to the language of Title II. Next, the article briefly considers the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, because Title II should be interpreted consistently with that Act. Then, using the analysis announced by the Supreme Court in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. the article examines the Title II regulations promulgated by the Department of …

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Employers Beware: The Ninth Circuit's Rejection Of The "Direct Threat To Self" Disability Discrimination Defense In Echazabal V. Chevron, Sheehan Sullivan Jan 2001

Employers Beware: The Ninth Circuit's Rejection Of The "Direct Threat To Self" Disability Discrimination Defense In Echazabal V. Chevron, Sheehan Sullivan

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will address whether the Ninth Circuit should have upheld the "direct threat to self" defense in Echazabal v. Chevron. First, the Note will introduce the "direct threat to self" debate in the context of the ADA's language, the EEOC-outlined regulatory provisions, and the case law surrounding the direct threat question. Specifically, the Note will address (1) the relationship between the ADA and the EEOC, (2) the compatiblity of the ADA with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and (3) the case law applying the EEOC regulations, the ADA provisions, and the Rehabilitation Act provisions. Next, the Note will …

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Representatives Of Their Own Choosing?: Certification, Elections, And Employer Free Speech, 1935-1959, John Logan Jan 2000

Representatives Of Their Own Choosing?: Certification, Elections, And Employer Free Speech, 1935-1959, John Logan

Seattle University Law Review

While previous studies by industrial relations and legal scholars have scrutinized NLRB decisions and court rulings governing the conduct of representation elections, this paper analyzes instead the following issues, which are scarcely mentioned in the existing literature: why the NLRB "voluntarily" abandoned card certifications; how employers influenced and responded to developments in certification policy; and how changes in certification policy and employer electioneering affected the outcome of organizing campaigns. The paper focuses on the two decades following the NLRB's 1939 decision to abandon card certifications, during which time employers played an increasingly active role in opposing unionization.

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The Heavy Burden Of The State: Revisiting The History Of Labor Law In The Interwar Period, Christopher L. Tomlins Jan 2000

The Heavy Burden Of The State: Revisiting The History Of Labor Law In The Interwar Period, Christopher L. Tomlins

Seattle University Law Review

This Article reflects on possible conclusions to be drawn from this symposium. The article concludes that individually, these authors have demonstrated the returns to be gained by pushing labor law history into new empirical and conceptual areas. Collectively, however, their achievement is somewhat different, for collectively they recommend that we revisit what is ostensibly familiar to us.

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Taking Stock: New Views Of American Labor Law Between The World Wars, Daniel R. Ernst Jan 2000

Taking Stock: New Views Of American Labor Law Between The World Wars, Daniel R. Ernst

Seattle University Law Review

This Article provides an introduction to the symposium. This symposium originated in a session at the annual meeting of the American Society for Legal History held in Seattle in October 1998. Entitled "Labor, Law, and the State in the Interwar Period," the panel provided four different views of a decisive period in the development of labor law in the United States. In the 1980s the panel's chair, Katherine Van Wezel Stone, and commentator, Christopher L. Tomlins, published works that helped spark a modern revival in the historical study of U.S. labor law. The authors of the four papers presented at …

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Battle On The Benches: The Wagner Act And The Federal Circuit Courts Of Appeals, 1935-1942, Douglas J. Feeney-Gallagher Jan 2000

Battle On The Benches: The Wagner Act And The Federal Circuit Courts Of Appeals, 1935-1942, Douglas J. Feeney-Gallagher

Seattle University Law Review

This paper examines the efforts of some circuit court judges to preserve the integrity of the judicial branch against the encroaching power of the New Deal administrative agencies, especially as represented by the National Labord Relations Board (NLRB). This paper offers a historical overview of the relationship between two circuits and the NLRB; one circuit welcomed the Board's aggressive enforcement of the Act, while the other expressed hostility towards the labor agency's powers and interpretation of the Wagner Act. An examination of the NLRB opinions in these two circuits illustrates the opposing judicial attitudes toward the new turn in labor …

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Is Leaving Work To Obtain Safety "Good Cause" To Leave Employment?—Providing Unemployment Insurance To Victims Of Domestic Violence In Washington State, L'Nayim A. Shuman-Austin Jan 2000

Is Leaving Work To Obtain Safety "Good Cause" To Leave Employment?—Providing Unemployment Insurance To Victims Of Domestic Violence In Washington State, L'Nayim A. Shuman-Austin

Seattle University Law Review

This paper focuses on the unemployment compensation statutes, administrative law decisions, and the case law of Washington state and proposes that domestic violence creates involuntary unemployment and should, therefore, be considered a compelling good cause situation for provision of unemployment compensation benefits. Title 50 of the Revised Code of Washington, which provides the structure and provisions of unemployment compensation eligibility, should be liberally construed by agency officials and courts or amended so as to provide unemployment compensation benefits to victims of domestic violence who leave work to obtain safety.

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Petting The Infamous Yellow Dog: The Seattle High School Teachers Union And The State, 1928-1931, Joseph Slater Jan 2000

Petting The Infamous Yellow Dog: The Seattle High School Teachers Union And The State, 1928-1931, Joseph Slater

Seattle University Law Review

In 1928 a Seattle labor union appealed an adverse lower court ruling to the Washington State Supreme Court. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer claimed that the matter presented "probably the biggest labor question ever faced in this state."' This case did not involve the Industrial Workers of the World, loggers, or other traditional subjects of labor history. It involved high school teachers in the Seattle public schools. This paper will discuss this case, Seattle High School Teachers Chap. No. 200 of the American Federation of Teachers v. Sharples, and the circumstances surrounding it. Specifically, this paper will describe the formation of …

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The Search For Constitutional Protection Of Labor Standards, 1924-1941: From Interstate Compacts To International Treaties, Edward C. Lorenz Jan 2000

The Search For Constitutional Protection Of Labor Standards, 1924-1941: From Interstate Compacts To International Treaties, Edward C. Lorenz

Seattle University Law Review

Part II of this article will begin by reviewing the growing awareness before 1925 of the crisis in the New England textile industry and the emergence of John Winant as a concerned leader. Part III examines the early effort to confront the decline with new corporate and public policies. Part IV chronicles the pursuit of labor standards through interstate compacts and alternatives. Part V focuses upon joining the ILO and the questions that arose regarding the relationship of conventions to domestic law. Part VI describes the post-World War II attacks on the ILO which undermined, until the 1990s, the United …

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Speak No Evil: Negligent Employment Referral And The Employer's Duty To Warn (Or, How Employers Can Have Their Cake And Eat It Too), J. Bradley Buckhalter Jan 1998

Speak No Evil: Negligent Employment Referral And The Employer's Duty To Warn (Or, How Employers Can Have Their Cake And Eat It Too), J. Bradley Buckhalter

Seattle University Law Review

This article begins by surveying the evolution of tort doctrine and the "no duty to act" rule. It then proceeds to examine current theories of employer liability in the referral and hiring context and moves on to trace the history of the negligent employment referral claim. Next, this section scrutinizes the Muroc decision and ends with a brief discussion of the future of negligent employment referral. Section III begins by exploring the implications of nondisclosure of reference information for both tort policy and tort doctrine. It then proposes an affirmative duty of disclosure as a solution by amalgamating the reasoning …

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In Willful Disregard Of The Employment Security Act: Culpability And The Determination Of Disqualifying Misconduct By The Courts, James Levy Jan 1998

In Willful Disregard Of The Employment Security Act: Culpability And The Determination Of Disqualifying Misconduct By The Courts, James Levy

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment argues that the most appropriate test for applying the statutory definition of misconduct an objective test based on knowing disregard of the employer's interests by the employee, rather than any current interpretation of the definition by the courts of Washington. In Section One of this Comment, the policies behind the Employment Security Act and the ramifications of different culpability elements are discussed. Section Two details the different tests for misconduct generated by the courts. Part A of Section Two discusses the common law tests and their culpability elements prior to the 1993 statutory definition of misconduct. Part B …

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The Railway Labor Act Of 1926 And Modern-Day Airline Labor Strife: Progress Toward Labor Peace Begins With Overruling Williams V. Jacksonville Terminal Co., Mark A. Schuler Jan 1997

The Railway Labor Act Of 1926 And Modern-Day Airline Labor Strife: Progress Toward Labor Peace Begins With Overruling Williams V. Jacksonville Terminal Co., Mark A. Schuler

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment argues that Williams v. Jacksonville Terminal Co. either should be overruled, or should be appropriately limited to the fact-specific setting under which it was decided. To develop this thesis, Part II of this Comment will discuss both the history of labor unrest which drove Congress to pass the RLA and the design features of the RLA legislation which facilitate an atmosphere of cooperative bargaining through which the RLA dispute resolution system operates. Part III will discuss the first impression Williams case, wherein the Supreme Court gave an overly restrictive interpretation to the RLA, and will also discuss the …

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Learning Disabilities In The Workplace: A Guide To Ada Compliance, Hilary Greer Fike Jan 1997

Learning Disabilities In The Workplace: A Guide To Ada Compliance, Hilary Greer Fike

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment is a guide for both employers and employees in successfully complying with the ADA's provisions, as they relate to persons with learning disabilities. Part II of this paper examines the types of employment discrimination that individuals with learning disabilities encounter in the application, daily work, and promotion processes. Part III provides an overview of the employment discrimination provisions of the ADA and how those provisions apply to people with learning disabilities. To illustrate how different people with learning disabilities fare in the workforce, Part IV includes narratives of two learning disabled people attempting to find equal employment and …

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Begging The Federal Question: Removal Jurisdiction In Wrongful Discharge Cases, Michael D. Moberly Jan 1996

Begging The Federal Question: Removal Jurisdiction In Wrongful Discharge Cases, Michael D. Moberly

Seattle University Law Review

This Article analyzes the federal question jurisdiction issue in the context of state law claims for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy articulated in federal law. Part II of this Article contains a general discussion of the public policy exception to the employment at will rule. Part III discusses removal and federal question jurisdiction. Part IV analyzes cases relevant to the issue of federal question removal jurisdiction in the wrongful discharge context, including the United States Supreme Court's decisions in Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals v. Thompson and Christianson v. Colt Industries Operating Corp. This Article concludes that a wrongful discharge …

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The "Presence Is An Essential Function" Myth: The Ada's Trapdoor For The Chronically Ill, Audrey E. Smith Jan 1995

The "Presence Is An Essential Function" Myth: The Ada's Trapdoor For The Chronically Ill, Audrey E. Smith

Seattle University Law Review

In nearly all cases, long-term chronic illnesses satisfy the ADA's broad definition of disability. However, when these illnesses begin to cause absenteeism, the "presence is an essential function" rule effectively denies protection to the victims of these illnesses, as they are no longer "qualified individuals" under the ADA regardless of whether they satisfy the technical requirements for a position. The idea that "presence is an essential function" is a myth because (1) it erroneously assumes that most jobs can be performed only at the worksite, and (2) virtually all employers are able to, and do, accommodate some degree of employee …

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Employer Liability Under The Third Party Provision Of The Washington Industrial Insurance Act: The Dual Capacity And Dual Persona Doctrines In Evans V. Thompson, Melissa M. Jackson Jan 1995

Employer Liability Under The Third Party Provision Of The Washington Industrial Insurance Act: The Dual Capacity And Dual Persona Doctrines In Evans V. Thompson, Melissa M. Jackson

Seattle University Law Review

Most workers' compensation schemes are designed to provide a swift and sure source of benefits to injured workers by placing on employers the risks and burdens of modern industry. In keeping with this policy, Washington's Industrial Insurance Act2 (IIA) requires injured workers to relinquish the right to sue at common law for damages sustained on the job, and it requires employers to accept liability for a measure of damages set out by the statute. However, if a worker's injuries are caused by the negligence of a third person who is not in the worker's same employ, the IIA's third-party provision …

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Washington's Industrial Safety Regulations: The Trend Towards Greater Protection For Workers, Stephen L. Bulzomi, John L. Messina, Jr. Jan 1994

Washington's Industrial Safety Regulations: The Trend Towards Greater Protection For Workers, Stephen L. Bulzomi, John L. Messina, Jr.

Seattle University Law Review

This Article argues in support of the trend towards greater protection for workers through the deterrent factor of certain civil liability for WISHA violations resulting in injury. The Article begins by charting the evolution of Washington law on this issue. It then describes the current state of the law on this subject. Finally, it explains how Stute and its progeny are in line with the state's overall trend towards greater worker protection, consistent with the legislative intent of WISHA, and beneficial to not only employees, but employers as well.

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A Discussion Of The Washington Industrial Safety And Health Act Of 1973 Presented As: A Preface To The University Of Puget Sound Law Review, Mark O. Brown Jan 1994

A Discussion Of The Washington Industrial Safety And Health Act Of 1973 Presented As: A Preface To The University Of Puget Sound Law Review, Mark O. Brown

Seattle University Law Review

This Preface briefly describes WISHA, the problems of worker safety in Washington, and the role of Labor and Industries in working to solve those problems. In Section II, this Preface addresses the status of worker health and safety in Washington. Section III describes some unique Washington programs that are to be used to combat the problems of worker safety. Section IV describes the cooperative steps that employers and workers are taking to help solve safety problems. Section V identifies new legal standards that are coming to bear on the issue of worker safety. Section VI identifies new frontiers upon which …

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Job Site Safety In Washington: Requiring Actual Control When Imposing Statutory Duties On Job Site Owners, Gregory J. Duff Jan 1994

Job Site Safety In Washington: Requiring Actual Control When Imposing Statutory Duties On Job Site Owners, Gregory J. Duff

Seattle University Law Review

The subject of this Comment is whether the actual control requirement in Hennig should also be employed to find liability in cases involving asserted statutory violations. This Comment argues that Washington courts should employ the same case-by-case control analysis used to impose the common law duty to provide a safe workplace to impose similar statutory duties on a job site owner. Part II of this Comment briefly identifies the possible sources of a job site owner's duties, including common law, contract, and statute. Part III explains the current status of job site owner liability in Washington. This Part carefully distinguishes …

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Garcia V. Spun Steak Co.: The Ninth Circuit Requires That Title Vii Plaintiffs Prove The Adverse Effect Of A Challenged English-Only Workplace Rule, Dan Clawson Jan 1994

Garcia V. Spun Steak Co.: The Ninth Circuit Requires That Title Vii Plaintiffs Prove The Adverse Effect Of A Challenged English-Only Workplace Rule, Dan Clawson

Seattle University Law Review

Although the Spun Steak decision recognizes that English-only rules may impact Title VII in some circumstances, the court held that an employer's good-faith imposition of these rules on fully bilingual employees does not violate Title VII. Section II of this Comment presents an overview of the substantive law and the enforcement mechanisms of Title VII. Section III outlines the development of federal discrimination law regarding English-only rules. Section IV examines the Spun Steak decision, and Section V analyzes the implications of this decision and its effect on discrimination law in the Ninth Circuit.

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The Washington Industrial Safety And Health Act: Wisha's Twentieth Anniversary, 1973-1993, Alan S. Paja Jan 1994

The Washington Industrial Safety And Health Act: Wisha's Twentieth Anniversary, 1973-1993, Alan S. Paja

Seattle University Law Review

Occupational safety and health did not begin in 1973 in the State of Washington. Although the historical roots of the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act of 1973 (WISHA) run deep, the adoption of the Act significantly affected the lives of all working men and women in the state. This Article will examine that historical perspective, covering both state and federal law, and will comprehensively detail the current law relating to occupational safety and health in the State of Wasington.

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Liability For Prenatal Harm In The Workplace: The Need For Reform, Steven S. Paskal Jan 1994

Liability For Prenatal Harm In The Workplace: The Need For Reform, Steven S. Paskal

Seattle University Law Review

This Article describes the causes of action available under current Washington law when a workplace hazard contributes to an adverse reproductive outcome such as miscarriage, birth defects, transplacental carcinogenesis, or other prenatal injury. Part II delineates the wide variety of workplace conditions that may lead to an adverse reproductive outcome, ranging from emotional stress, cigarette smoke, and fall hazards to more traditional teratogen exposures such as lead. Part III describes the types of reproductive harm that can form the basis of a lawsuit in Washington. Part IV notes the theories of liability and the potential defendants, including employers, co-employees, consultants, …

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From Agoraphobia To Xenophobia: Phobias And Other Anxiety Disorders Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, John M. Casey Jan 1994

From Agoraphobia To Xenophobia: Phobias And Other Anxiety Disorders Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, John M. Casey

Seattle University Law Review

The ADA fails to address behavior disorders in general and phobias in particular. This Comment proposes that the EEOC take two actions. First, the EEOC should pass administrative rules that settle the question of which standards to use in determining whether an individual is mentally impaired. Second, and more impor tantly, the EEOC should issue interpretive guidance that acknowledges the burdens facing persons with hidden behavioral anomalies and phobias, and gives these persons additional help under the Act. Part II of this Comment describes the ADA generally. It explains the Act's purpose and summarizes the Act's legal requirements. Part III …

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Washington Constitution Article 1, Section 7: The Argument For Broader Protection Against Employer Drug Testing, Ken Davis Jan 1993

Washington Constitution Article 1, Section 7: The Argument For Broader Protection Against Employer Drug Testing, Ken Davis

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment will analyze Article 1, Section 7 of the Washington Constitution, the search and seizure provision, and conclude that this provision should be construed to provide greater protection to employees against employer drug testing absent individualized suspicion than the Fourth Amendment does. The scope of this Comment, however, is limited to the rights of state employees with respect to suspicionless drug testing. The rights of federal employees are not included in this analysis because they are protected against suspicionless drug testing only by the Fourth Amendment, not by the analogous Washington provision. Moreover, Article 1, Section 7, like the …

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Osha Regulation Of Low-Exposure Carcinogens: A New Approach To Judicial Analysis Of Scientific Evidence, Victor B. Flatt Jan 1991

Osha Regulation Of Low-Exposure Carcinogens: A New Approach To Judicial Analysis Of Scientific Evidence, Victor B. Flatt

Seattle University Law Review

This Article will examine the legal framework governing OSHA risk regulation, the scientific studies and evidence that the judiciary currently accepts for challenging or supporting this regulation, and the effect of this standard of judicial acceptance on OSHA regulation. This Article will then compare the present state of judicial analysis of scientific evidence with alternative analyses in order to determine the most effective means of promoting a level of worker safety regulation that creates the greatest benefit to society within the legal framework established by Congress.

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Baldwin V. Sisters Of Providence: Washington Gives At Will Employees A Gun With No Ammunition To Fight Against Unjust Dismissal, Michael T. Zoretic Jan 1991

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 …

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