Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

Corporate Employment And The First Amendment Shield Against Anti-Dei Legislation, W. Mary Blee

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

No one would have thought that a Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in higher education would affect private employment. However, the ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard did exactly that. Corporate employers’ efforts to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) were immediately pushed to the forefront of the political battlefield. In the eyes of Republican lawmakers and politicians, DEI efforts were akin to affirmative action, and therefore unconstitutional in the wake of Harvard. Their solution to this problem involved passing anti-DEI legislation and policies which restricted or eliminated employer’s DEI efforts under the guise of upholding …

A Case For United States V. Connolly: The Forgotten Posterchild Of Protecting Corporate Employees’ Rights During Internal Investigations And Why It Should Be The Standard, Not The Exception, William Marment

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

In May 2019, United States v. Connolly provided a benchmark for government involvement in corporate internal investigations. The decision curtailed the close, and oftentimes coercive nature of the relationship between the prosecutor and corporate counsel conducting internal investigations on a corporation’s behalf. It drew a line between the government improperly outsourcing its investigation to the target corporation and when an employee’s statements are not fairly attributable to government prosecutors, and thus not compelled. The Connolly Court ruled that statements from counsel-led employee interviews, conducted under the threat of termination, were fairly attributable to the government and thus improperly compelled. Those …

Welcome Tilly Norwood: Forecasting Hollywood’S Ai Policy Futures, Samuel P. Rooker

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

In late 2025, weekly trade publication Variety Magazine reported on the announcement of a new acting talent in Hollywood: Tilly Norwood. Norwood is an industry outsider and the pet project of Eline Van der Velden, who unveiled the actress’ existence to the world at the Zurich Film Festival. The announcement quickly gained media coverage while Van der Velden has since faced cyclical backlash from Hollywood trade unions, which does not seem entirely without reason. Tilly Norwood is a digital persona, a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) program, designed by Van der Velden’s novel AI talent studio, Xicoia, to become the next …

Labor And Employment, W. Jonathan Martin Ii

Mercer Law Review

This Article focuses on recent cases concerning federal labor and employment laws. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Workplace Monitoring Platforms Are Sharing Your Data: An Investigation & Roadmap To Address Data Abuses, Stephanie T. Nguyen, Levi Kaplan, David Choffnes, Alan Mislove, Seth Frotman, Erie Meyer

Center for Law and the Economy

This report investigates the data collection practices of nine widely used workplace monitoring platforms to determine the extent to which they track and analyze employee activity, behavior, or performance during work, including how these platforms transmit worker information and to which third-parties. This report finds that (1) nine out of nine workplace monitoring platforms studied directly shared identifying worker data to third parties, (2) nine out of nine workplace monitoring platforms studied shared information about workers’ online activities with third parties, and (3) three out of nine workplace monitoring platforms studied utilize features to track workers’ precise location. This report …

Fixing Wages In The Name Of Training: Residency Programs And The Forgotten Antitrust Question, Yousef Ziyadi

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Mass Disabling Event: Why California Courts Must Protect Workers’ Families From Take-Home Covid, Ellery Armstrong

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Putting Labour Law To Work: Imperative Of Race Conscious Labour Law, Harshini Arumugam

Dalhousie Law Journal

History shows that race and labour are deeply connected in Canada. For the labour movement to advance racial equality, it must contend with this reality. Through a critical race analysis, this paper examines how race-evasive approaches in labour laws and practices have contributed to systemic racial inequality. It argues that race-conscious strategies are essential for addressing the specific experiences and needs of racialized workers. By leveraging existing legal tools and intentionally incorporating race-conscious approaches into areas such as collective bargaining, the collective agreement, and the duty of fair representation, labour law can be a powerful mechanism for achieving racial justice …

Expressive Association At Work, Elizabeth Sepper, James D. Nelson, Charlotte Garden

Michigan Law Review

Do employers have constitutional rights of expressive association? Two decades ago, in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, the Supreme Court held that a state law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation could not be applied to a membership organization that wished to exclude a gay leader. Today, courts face a rising tide of claims from employers, who argue that Dale constitutionally insulates their hiring and firing decisions from antidiscrimination law. A narrow majority of courts have denied such claims, holding that Dale does not apply at work. Increasingly, however, courts are siding with these employers, eliding any distinction …

Antidiscrimination, Not Anti-Dei: The Real Story Of The Supreme Court's Recent Title Vii Precedent, Madeline H. Meth

Faculty Scholarship

For several years, my colleague and I had been litigating employment discrimination cases with facts that shocked our friends and family. For example, we fought Dallas County over a women-work-the-weekend policy that required women detention officers to work weekends while male colleagues took the weekends off. Likewise, we challenged the City of Cleveland when it moved our client, an emergency medical services supervisor, from the day shift to the night shift explicitly because he is Black. Then, in April 2024, in one of our client’s cases, Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overruled the …

Black Labor Matters, Michael Z. Green

Faculty Scholarship

Black and organized workers increasingly find themselves threatened by two key outside forces: one seeking to stop anti-racism efforts via diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and the other curtailing employees’ union organizing. This Article argues that a response must be grounded in uniquely local strategies by two specific worker coalitions. One coalition–the New Black Workers Movement (NBWM)–arose from Black Lives Matter civil rights protests in 2020 that captivated the workplace and heightened awareness about anti-Blackness and concerns of systemic racism. The other coalition–the New Labor Workers Movement (NLWM)–developed in 2020 as a workplace response to a global pandemic that …

Analyzing Social Implications Of The Gender Wage Gap, Jessie A. Clarke

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The researcher seeks to understand the gender wage gap in the United States. The research question studied is “Why do women in the United States on average earn less income than men?” Women gain less power and resources as they earn less income than men. The researcher explores the phenomenon in this paper. This research proposal utilizes qualitative methods via interviews, and analysis through coding. In previous research, there is a lack of inclusion on the gender wage gap regarding various identities such as sexual orientation, other gender identities, and race/ethnicity. The researcher hopes to fill in these gaps in …

From Chains To Handcuffs: Confronting The Racial Legacy Of Prison Labor And The Urgency Of Reform, Hibah Hasan

Criminal Law Society Blog

This article examines prison labor in the United States as a system rooted in the 13th Amendment’s exception clause and shaped by post–Civil War practices such as Black Codes and convict leasing. It argues that, although formally abolished, the racialized logic of forced labor persists through modern mass incarceration, where incarcerated individuals—disproportionately Black men—perform essential work for little to no pay and without basic labor protections. The article analyzes how this system reflects a continuation of historical exploitation and proposes reforms, including fair compensation, voluntary participation, and expanded labor protections, to align prison labor with principles of rehabilitation and justice.

Scotus Rules For Whistleblowers: What Eliminating The Retaliation Requirement For A Sarbanes-Oxley Discrimination Claim Means For The Future Of Corporate Whistleblowing, Abigail Pezzolo

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This comment analyzes the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC. The author examines how the Court addressed the significant "information asymmetry" that often leaves employees unable to prove an employer's specific retaliatory intent. By confirming that plaintiffs are not required to provide proof of "retaliatory animus," the decision reinforces the "contributing-factor" burden-shifting framework established under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Pezzolo argues that this holding is a critical victory for whistleblowers, as it lowers the evidentiary hurdles for those reporting financial misconduct and encourages corporations to implement more robust internal transparency systems. Ultimately, the article situates this …

It's The Night Of The Living Deepfakes: The Threat Of Deepfakes On The Film Industry, Neki Shero

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Politics, Preemption, And Minimum Labor Standards: The Union-Led Erosion Of The National Labor Relations Act, Alexander T. Macdonald

William & Mary Law Review Online

[Courts] should no longer ask simply whether a law is a “minimum labor standard.” Instead, they should look to context: They should ask whether the law skips or overrides some important part of the NLRA’s process. They should also ask whether the law was enacted for that purpose—whether it was meant to address some perceived gap in federal labor policy. If it was, they should look more closely. They should ask whether the law as applied contradicts Congress’s vision, either by taking away one side’s discretion or giving the other side new advantages. And if it does, they should find …

Labour Law, Technology, And The Attack On The Rules-Based-Order, Valerio De Stefano

Conference Papers

This paper argues that current debates on artificial intelligence and algorithmic management at work are also debates about private power, managerial prerogative, and democracy. It situates recent attacks by major technology companies and their political allies on the European Union and other rule-based international institutions within a broader struggle over who should regulate technology and govern society. It contends that the anti-democratic turn of parts of the tech world is closely connected to authoritarian ideas about work, hierarchy, and obedience. The workplace is one of the principal sites where authority is exercised, surveillance normalised, and habits of subordination formed, with …

Correspondence Sen. Lister Hill To Mr. R.C. Barnes On Establishment Of Fsu Nursing Program, Lister Hill

Correspondence

July 8th, 1968, letter from Alabama Senator and Labor and Public Welfare Committee Chair Lister Hill to Mr. R. C. Barnes, general manager of Eliza Coffee Memorial (ECM) Hospital in Florence, Alabama. The letter is concerned with the establishment of the nursing program at Florence State University and cooperative with ECM under the Nurse Training Act of 1964.

“Conditional” Class Certification Under The Flsa: Violation Of Rule 23 And The Rules Enabling Act, Markham R. Leventhal

University of Miami Law Review

So-called “collective” actions under § 216(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”) are nothing more than “opt-in” class actions. This Article exposes the unjustifiable failure to apply Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to these actions, the erroneous conclusion by several circuit courts that these actions are not “representative” actions but rather some kind of “mass joinder,” and the resulting violation of the Rules Enabling Act when courts allow these “collective” actions to proceed without satisfying the requirements of Rules 23(a) and (b). The author explains why the vast majority of federal courts, using an …

Forever Young: Student Employee Unionization In Higher Education, William A. Herbert

Publications and Research

This article presents history and data about unionization among graduate and undergraduate student employees in the United States. It demonstrates that student employee unionization is not a new phenomenon and is part of a second curriculum for higher education students, which provides first-hand experience in workplace representational democracy and citizenship, including maintaining a majority coalition and making hard necessary compromises

Community Lawyering In Coal Country: Empowering Those Who Power America, Gregory Robertson

West Virginia Law Review

Despite the intense and prolonged efforts of thousands of activists in the 1960s and 1970s to obtain safer working conditions for coal miners, pneumoconiosis rates, disease that develops as a result of inhalation of particle material, is on the rise. The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo has shaken the ground upon which administrative agencies’ ability to promulgate rules to protect miners rests. This Note profiles a handful of attorneys, archetypes of community lawyering, who advocated for Appalachian coal miners during the height of the Black Lung Movement and continue to do so today. Through conversations with …

To Compete Or Noncompete: Lessons On The Impact Of Unenforceable Noncompete Agreements In The Entertainment Industry, Guy Mannick

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Economic and legal literature has increasingly focused on how the American legal system fails workers. One way it does so is through employee noncompetition agreements (“NCA” or “noncompete”) that limit a worker’s ability to join another company, often for better compensation and/or more responsibility. Some states enforce NCAs if they are reasonable in scope, geography, and duration; others either prohibit their application to certain types of workers or (as in California) outright prohibit them in most circumstances. More narrowly, new empirical literature about the behavioral effects of unenforceable noncompete agreements raises new questions about the behavioral impact on workers.

This …

Long Covid, Silent Suffering, And Work, Joseph A. Seiner

Washington and Lee Law Review

Though most recover from COVID quickly, countless others remain chronically ill. Five years after the start of the pandemic, Long COVID continues to harm the economy, forcing thousands from employment at a time when businesses are struggling to find workers. With over thirty million individuals in the United States having contracted Long COVID, the illness cannot be dismissed as merely malingering or psychosomatic in nature.

With no diagnostic test for identifying Long COVID, skepticism about the illness persists. Many are scared to acknowledge their affliction with the disease and fear being stigmatized. Those who suffer silently struggle to perform their …

More Harm Than Good: Criminal Penalties For Wage Theft, Alia Al-Khatib

University of Richmond Law Review

“Wage theft is a crime.” Workers, their advocates, and even some policymakers have made this declaration repeatedly to emphasize the severity of violations of wage and hour laws. In recent years, this campaign has moved beyond mere rhetoric into increased criminal enforcement. Various obstacles to seeking remedies through the civil system have buoyed this expansion. This Article critiques criminal strategies to remedy wage theft. It first identifies three spheres of harm caused by wage theft: (1) to individuals laboring in low- wage industries; (2) to the workplaces where employers engage in wage theft, and (3) to communities to which impacted …

Unwelcomeness Reconsidered: Adapting Sexual Harassment Law In The Long Wake Of #Metoo, Collin Christner

Michigan Law Review

The federal cause of action for sexual harassment in employment grew out of Title VII’s prohibition of workplace sex discrimination. In many circuits, for sexual harassment claims to be actionable, the plaintiff must show they found the referenced conduct “unwelcome.” Commentators have criticized that requirement since its inception; nonetheless, it has been wielded by courts that are either resistant or reluctant to abandon it. “Unwelcomeness” (or lack of evidence thereof) has been used to permit swaths of inappropriate workplace conduct— enshrining old, sexist stereotypes into America’s employment regulations. This Note evaluates the current approach to the unwelcomeness requirement and proposes …

Democratic Abundance: An Abundance That Works For Workers, Kate Andrias, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez

Faculty Scholarship

The “abundance agenda” identifies a worthy goal: to ask what people really need and to organize government to make sure there is enough of it, including by eliminating unnecessary delays and veto points. However, abundance’s theory of why government fails to provide the goods people need and how to change that reality falls short. As critics have argued, abundance is insufficiently attentive to questions of political power and distribution, undervalues democratic participation, and sidelines discussions about trade-offs, including around the importance of protecting labor standards and the environment. Centering the role of workers and organized labor helps respond to all …

From Family Content Creation To Child Exploitation: How Social Media Unmasks The Shortcomings Of Digital Legislation, Jaide Dixon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on the emerging issue of child exploitation through the use of generative-AI technologies within the context of the civil and criminal intricacies regarding the exploitation of child influencers within the family content creation industry on social media. Although great strides have been made in state digital legislation, the need for updated federal legislation pertaining to abuse of technological advancements, such as generative-AI, becomes more apparent when identifying the shortcomings and legal loopholes within digital legislation. This research will conduct a comparative textual analysis between the "child influencer laws” of Illinois, California, Utah, and Minnesota—across the civil and …

Practical Reason In The Portfolio Economy: Accept: Amend, Or Abandon, The Flsa?, Kevin Frazier

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Sour Truth: Maine's Refusal To Provide Agricultural Workers Equal Employment Rights By Statutory Exclusion, Natalie Jump

Maine Law Review

Agricultural work is some of the most dangerous and grueling work there is, but you wouldn't know that from the way Maine's wage and hours laws have treated agricultural workers, both historically and today. Until 2025, farmworkers were not entitled to Maine minimum wage and were guaranteed only the significantly lower federal minimum wage. The Maine State Legislature decided that agricultural workers deserved more and passed a law during the first session of the 132nd Legislature that required agricultural workers to be paid Maine minimum wage. However, agricultural workers remain statutorily exempt from the definition of "employee" and therefore still …