Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

From Weight Checking To Wage Checking: Arming Workers To Combat Wage Theft, Matt Finkin

Indiana Law Journal

Wage theft refers to employer practices that result in employees taking home less than they are legally entitled to under federal and state law: paying below the legal minimum; not paying for time worked by having workers work “off the clock” before checking in, after clocking out, or by requiring work during unpaid break time; not paying for overtime work at the statutory overtime rate; for tipped employees, expropriating tips that should be the employee’s; or just not paying at all. In tandem with the massive shift in the economy from well-paid manufacturing jobs to low-wage service jobs, wage theft …

The Contract Of Employment At The Supreme Court Of Canada: Employee Protection And The Presumption Of Employer Freedom, Gillian Demeyere

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article critically examines the Supreme Court of Canada's treatment of the contract of employment in its wrongful dismissal jurisprudence over the last 25 years, with the aim of challenging the view that only by exempting the contract of employment from the ordinary workings of contract doctrine or by resorting to public policy considerations can the common law of dismissal provide adequate protection for employees. The Court's jurisprudence reveals a commitment to what this paper calls the presumption of employer freedom, a view of the contract of employment which has its origins in the status-based master and servant relationship and …

Ban The Box: A Call To The Federal Government To Recognize A New Form Of Employment Discrimination, Christina O'Connell

Fordham Law Review

    As the number of Americans with criminal histories grows significantly, states and cities across the nation have reacted by adopting ban-the-box laws. Ban-the-box laws received their name because they ban the criminal history box on initial hiring documents. The goal of the ban-the-box movement is to promote job opportunities for persons with criminal records by limiting when an employer can conduct a background check during the hiring process and encouraging employers to take a holistic approach when assessing an applicant's fit for a position.

    There is no federal ban-the-box law, but states have taken varying approaches to adopting ban-the-box statutes. …

Failed Efforts Of The Nitaqat: An Examination Of The New Saudization Initiative Aimed At Easing Unemployment Issues In Saudi Arabia, Feida Zhao

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Disability-Employability Divide: Bottlenecks To Equal Opprotunity, Bradley A. Areheart, Michael Ashley Stein

Michigan Law Review

Equal opportunity might appear to comprise a relatively simple question: Do similarly situated persons have an equal chance to attain a particular goal, or do obstacles irrelevant to their qualifications or to the desired goal preclude achievement? But equal opportunity is complicated.1 There are descriptive and prescriptive dimensions to this question. Nuances exist when determining who is similarly situated, whether those individuals have the same opportunity, what goals we care about equalizing, and whether the ultimate aspiration is equality of opportunity or equality of outcome. Moreover, what means should we employ to remove obstacles, are these means likely to be …

Griggs At Midlife, Deborah A. Widiss

Michigan Law Review

Not all Supreme Court cases have a midlife crisis. But it is fair to say that Griggs v. Duke Power Co., which recently turned forty, has some serious symptoms. Griggs established a foundational proposition of employment discrimination law known as disparate impact liability: policies that significantly disadvantage racial minority or female employees can violate federal employment discrimination law, even if there is no evidence that the employer “intended” to discriminate. Griggs is frequently described as one of the most important decisions of the civil rights era, compared to Brown v. Board of Education for its “momentous social consequences.” In 1989, …

22nd Annual Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Lecture. University Of The District Of Columbia David A. Clarke School Of Law, Thomas E. Perez

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Revisiting The War On Poverty: How Policy Can Better Shape The Income And Wages Of Families With Children, Joy Moses

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched a "War on Poverty" while delivering his first State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. His language conveyed ambitious plans to recreate American society:This budget, and this year's legislative program, are designed to help each and every American citizen fulfill his basic hopes-his hopes for a fair chance to make good; his hopes for fair play from the law; his hopes for a full-time job on full-time pay; his hopes for a decent home for his family in a decent community; his hopes for a good school for his children …

The Real Marriage Penalty: How Welfare Law Discourages Marriage Despite Public Policy Statements To The Contrary - And What Can Be Done About It, Spencer Rand

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Couples regularly complain about marriage penalties,' discovering that the tax consequences of marrying make the cost of marriage prohibitive.2 Although attempts were made in the last decade to reduce those penalties for the middle class,3 the poor were not helped by these changes. 4 Along with tax penalties, including low-income wage earners facing severe decreases or becoming entirely ineligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) when they marry, the most common penalties reduce or eliminate government benefits upon marriage.

Employment Law—Employment Discrimination—Unnecessarily Duplicative: Has The Sixth Circuit Gone Too Far In Upholding An Employer’S Ability To Require Incumbent Employees To Provide Doctor’S Notes After Taking Sick Leave? Lee V. City Of Columbus, Ohio 636 F.3d 245 (6th Cir. 2011), Thomas H. Wyatt

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

"I Mean, You're Not Staff": The Employee Classification Circuit Split And Why The Southern District Of New York's Totality Of The Circumstance Test From Glatt V. Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc. Deserves A Lead Role, Jamey Collidge

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Newsroom: Yelnosky On State Pension Lawsuit, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

International Law - Employment Discrimination. Japanese Corporation Formed Under United States Law Must Comply With Terms Of Title Vii Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964. Avagliano V. Sumitumo Shoji America, Inc., - U.S. -, 102 S. Ct. 2374 (1982)., Henry Cyrus

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Third Circuit Lays Another Trap For Unsuspecting Employers: Lupyan V. Corinthian Colleges Inc., Keely Jac Collins

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Immigration Reform - Provisions In The Proposed Immigration Reform And Control Act Of 1985 Permitting The Use Of Temporary Foreign Workers In The United States - Importing Labor From Mexico, Andrew W. Baker

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

(Un)Equal Protection: Why Gender Equality Depends On Discrimination, Keith Cunningham-Parmeter

Northwestern University Law Review

Most accounts of the Supreme Court’s equal protection jurisprudence describe the Court’s firm opposition to sex discrimination. But while the Court famously invalidated several sex-based laws at the end of the twentieth century, it also issued many other, less-celebrated decisions that sanctioned sex-specific classifications in some circumstances. Examining these long-ignored cases that approved of sex discrimination, this Article explains how the Court’s rulings in this area have often rejected the principle of formal equality in favor of broader antisubordination concerns. Outlining a new model of equal protection that authorizes certain forms of sex discrimination, (Un)Equal Protection advocates for one particular …

The Impact Of Affirmative Action On The Employment Of Minorities And Women Over Three Decades: 1973-2003, Fidan Ana Kurtulus

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

What role has affirmative action played in the growth of minority and female employment in U.S. firms? This paper analyzes this issue by comparing the employment of minorities and women at firms holding federal contracts and therefore mandated to implement affirmative action, and at noncontracting firms, over the course of three decades spanning 1973–2003. It constitutes the first study to comprehensively document the long-term impact of affirmative action in federal contracting on the U.S. employment landscape. The study uses a new panel data set of over 100,000 large private-sector firms across all industries and regions, obtained from the U.S. Equal …

Unpaid Internships: Free Labor Or Valuable Learning Experience, Robert J. Tepper, Matthew P. Holt

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Toil And Technology: Innovative Technology Is Displacing Workers To New Jobs Rather Than Replacing Them Entirely, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

At the Quiet Logistics distribution center north of Boston in the United States, a robot lifts a shelf and transports it through the warehouse to a workstation. There, an employee picks an item from the shelf and places it in a shipping box. Each robot in the distribution center does the work of one and a half humans.

Robots and other technologies are transforming supply chains, tracking items from source to consumer, minimizing shipping time and cost, automating clerical tasks, and more. But are they eliminating the need for human workers, leading to persistent technological unemployment?

Cinquante Ans D’Analyses Des Mutations Des Normes Du Travail En Amérique Du Nord: Voyage Comparatiste Autour De La Pensée De Harry Arthurs, Marie-Ange Moreau

All Papers

La pensée de Harry Arthurs permet de parcourir les changements intervenus dans l’analyse des protections des travailleurs depuis 50 ans en Amérique du Nord en raison du développement de la « nouvelle économie » qui sape les constructions anciennes du droit du travail élaborées à l’époque fordiste. Ses analyses construites à partir d’une approche de relations industrielles, et du « socio legal pluralism », conduisent au-delà de l’approche comparatiste à poser des questions centrales, autour des transformations normatives, de leurs causes, de leur sens, de leur avenir, autour de la citoyenneté sociale dans le monde post-moderne, autour des frontières du …

Under The Prison Litigation Reform Act's So-Called Three Strikes Provision, When Does A Dismissal Count As A Strike: Coleman V. Tollefson (13-1333), Betsy Ginsberg

Articles

The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 amended the federal in forma pauperis statute to include, among other provisions, what has become known as the “three strikes provision.” Under this provision, prisoners who have accumulated three strikes—three dismissals of cases that were frivolous, malicious, or failed to state a claim—are no longer permitted to proceed in forma pauperis unless they can show immediate danger of serious physical injury. This case asks the Court to determine whether a dismissal by the district court immediately counts as a strike or whether it does not count until any appeal of the dismissal has …

Cry Havoc: Are Incompetent Private Military Companies Ruining The Defense Base Act?, William Burke

William & Mary Business Law Review

The Defense Base Act (“DBA” or “Act”) provides a no-fault, insurancebacked workers’ compensation mechanism for compensating private security contractors who are injured overseas. Critics of the Act allege that it should be fundamentally altered or replaced because combat zone work is uninsurable, the Act’s compensation is insufficient, and it is less efficient than the alternatives. This Note argues that, on the contrary, the DBA insurance market is functional and improving, its benefits are sufficient when viewed in combination with contractors’ other compensation, and it is a far more efficient compensation system than is offered by tort litigation. The flaws cited …

The Very Specialized United States Generalized System Of Preferences: An Examination Of Renewal Changes And Analysis Of Their Legal Effect, Gregory C. Dorris

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Blue Skies For Black Lung Benefits Act Survivors? Courts' Interpretations Of § 932(L) Following The Enactment Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, Maureen Hughes

Catholic University Law Review

This Note summarizes the amendments made to the Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA) following its passage in 1969 through the enactment of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Note also addresses the split among the circuits over the meaning of the revised language in 30 U.S.C. § 932(l) (2012), and explains the reasoning of the Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits regarding the effect of the PPACA on BLBA benefit eligibility for miners’ dependent survivors. Further, this Note explains the significance of, and necessity in, resolving the confusion over § 932(l), and …

Land Ho! Two Words An Injured Longshore Or Harbor Worker Never Wants To Hear, Adam Hare

Catholic University Law Review

In 1927, the United States Congress passed the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) to provide workers’ compensation coverage to maritime workers injured outside the purview of state workers’ compensation laws. Rigid judicial interpretation of the original Act, however, led to inequitable outcomes in the maritime industry. Workers neither on land nor on the water when injured could not claim workers’ compensation benefits under state or federal laws. The 1972 amendments to the LHWCA sought to cure this inequity. The amended Act included a situs requirement. This Comment analyzes the most important judicial interpretations of the situs requirement of …

Illusory Protection: The Fifth Circuit’S Misguided Interpretation Of Title Vii’S Anti-Retaliation Provision In Hernandez V. Yellow Transportation, Inc., William C. Matthews

Florida Law Review

After Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White resolved the issue of what constitutes an “adverse action” under the Title VII anti-retaliation statute, the scope of employer liability was substantially broadened. The Supreme Court’s decision reinforced the broad intent behind the anti-retaliation statute and acknowledged the statute’s remedial purpose. The Fifth Circuit, however, has been reluctant to expand employer liability as evidenced through its interpretation of the “adverse action” prong relating to coworker harassment. More specifically, the Fifth Circuit’s “In Furtherance” standard, which is used to judge whether an employer is liable for coworker harassment in retaliation for …

Fact Sheet #71: Shortchanging The Unpaid Academic Intern, Patricia L. Reid

Florida Law Review

On the eve of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s seventy-fifth anniversary, unpaid academic internships threaten to outpace government regulation and undermine opportunities for gainful employment. Although coveted by students eager to fill a line on their résumé, unpaid academic internships are a subspecies of unpaid internships that might soon face extinction. While the advent of unpaid internship litigation decreases the likelihood that employers will plead ignorance of the law when they defend against disgruntled unpaid interns, recent litigation does little to clear up a half-century of contradictory case law. The only certainty that surrounds the legal status of unpaid academic …

Mutual Marginalization: Individuals With Disabilities And Workers With Caregiving Responsibilities, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Florida Law Review

This Article explores the marginalization of two groups of employees—individuals with disabilities and workers with caregiving responsibilities. One might argue that these two groups have little in common. However, while these groups are not perfectly aligned, they do have much in common in the workplace. First, these employees are unable to consistently meet their employers’ expectations of an “ideal worker.” Thus, they often must seek adjustments or modifications in the workplace to accommodate for their failure to conform to the ideal-worker norm. The need for accommodation causes both groups of employees to suffer from “special-treatment stigma,” which manifests itself in …

The Tort Label, Sandra F. Sperino

Florida Law Review

This Article demonstrates the dangers of the tort label, using the lens of two core discrimination statutes: Title VII and the ADEA. However, the discussion has broader implications. Courts have applied the tort label to a variety of statutes and in a wide array of contexts.

This Article proceeds as follows. Part I discusses the move to tortify federal discrimination law. Parts II, III, and IV highlight serious problems with the way the courts understand, use, and apply tort law in the discrimination context. Part V discusses the stakes of the tort label, including its tendency to lead to unsatisfactory …

The Forgotten Role Of Consent In Defamation And Employment Reference Cases, Alex B. Long

Florida Law Review

As has been well documented, the fear of defamation suits and related claims lead many employers to refuse to provide meaningful employment references. However, an employer who provides a negative reference concerning an employee enjoys a privilege in an ensuing defamation action if the employee has consented to the release of information concerning the employee’s job performance. Thus, many attorneys now advise prospective employers to have applicants sign consent agreements, permitting the prospective employer to conduct an investigation into the applicant’s work history and releasing from liability anyone who provides information about the employee’s work history. The Restatement (Second) of …