Employment Law

This course will examine the law that structures the employment relationship in U.S. workplaces. Among the substantive issues to be considered are: the definitions of employee and employer; arbitrary firing and the doctrine of employment at will; employee speech and privacy rights; non-compete agreements; discrimination and harassment on grounds of race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity; wages and compensation; unemployment insurance; workplace safety; electronic surveillance of workers and automation of work; mandatory arbitration of employment disputes and enforcement. We will consider workers in stable, middle- and high-wage employment, including managers, executives, and professionals, as well as low-wage, contingent, and vulnerable workers, including undocumented immigrants, domestic workers, prison laborers, agricultural workers, welfare recipients, student workers, child laborers, and others. We will discuss the purposes of employment law and how employment law is responding to, or should respond to, problems of inequality and the changing nature of work in the 21st century. Note that this course does not cover “labor law”—the law of union organization and collective bargaining—although there will be some consideration of concerted action, particularly in nonunion workplaces.