Employment Law

Course Description

The course will survey the legal, social, political, and economic contexts in which the employer-employee relationship has developed in both the public and private sectors. Topics will address the establishment of the employment relationship (including hiring, restrictions on employers inquiries, medical and drug testing, employment discrimination and affirmative action), terms and conditions of employment (including regulation of wages and hours, equal pay and comparable worth, sexual harassment, working conditions, safety and heath, and disability benefits), and the termination of employment (including the employment-at-will rule and its limitations, wrongful discharge, employment security, and unemployment and retirement benefits). Grading will be by examination, and, possibly, a short research paper.

Evidence

The course will consider the principles of law and rules governing the admissibility of testimonial and documentary proof in civil and criminal trials, including the concept of relevancy, the use of demonstrative evidence, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, impeachment of credibility, expert testimony, and hearsay. Traditional case materials, the federal rules of evidence, problems, and simulations will be employed to illustrate evidentiary concepts.

Labor Law

Course Description

This course in Labor Law studies the federal regulation of employer-employee relations in an industrial society. The course will focus primarily on collective bargaining, which describes how employees may organize into unions; the processes by which unions and employees deal with each other in establishing agreements concerning wages, hours, and other conditions of employment; and the limits of permissible conduct of employers or concerted action of employees. The course materials will survey the enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act and related statutes by the courts and the National Labor Relations Board.