Labor/Employment Law (LABR)

This course covers common law employment doctrines (at-will employment, contract and tort erosions of at-will employment, employee duties, including the duty of loyalty and trade secrets), noncompetition agreements, and employee rights in inventions, and workplace injuries (including workers compensation, OSHA, and criminal and tort approaches to promoting a safe workplace).

This course will provide an overview of significant doctrinal issues in employment discrimination law, and will seek to develop students' skills through a rigorous examination of statutory law, regulations and court decisions. It will introduce students to the fundamental legal theories underlying the substantive coverage of the most significant federal equal employment opportunity laws, and legal issues regarding their application.

This course will explore the history and development of, public policy considerations for, and state and federal systems for delivery of medical and wage benefits to injured workers.

Employer-provided pension and health care programs play a critical role in the lives of individuals, families, and communities. They also affect corporations, financial markets, and the economy as a whole. Employee benefit programs are, in short, an important staple of modern law practice. This course concentrates on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and major issues in litigation related to such statutes. Classes examine benefit plan operation and administration requirements, fiduciary duties, plan issues in bankruptcy and divorce, prohibited transactions, federal preemption of state law, and health care reform. The course also surveys other federal and/or state statutes benefiting workers generally, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), minimum wage and overtime pay requirements, and unpaid wage claim/wage theft statutes. Throughout the semester, students examine the policy goals underpinning benefits law.

The course will include an analysis of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as they relate to employee benefit plans. The IRC requirements relating to retirement type plans (i.e., pension, profit sharing and stock bonus plans) will be covered generally. In addition, benefits frequently included as part of an employer's benefits package, such health care and equity compensation, will be discussed, as well as a heavy concentration on executive compensation.

This course is an extended study of the federal National Labor Relations Act focusing on the right to form and join labor organizations, strikes, boycotts and picketing, collective bargaining, and the enforcement of collective bargaining agreements.

Special Topics