Workplace Prof Blog

Wayne State Labor Law Symposium

Wayne State University Law School announced that the 13th Annual Bernard Gottfried Memorial Labor Law Symposium will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2005 at the Law School, 471 W. Palmer St., Detroit, from 8:15 am to 2 pm.

The event includes sessions on major law developments of the last decade, "publicity other than picketing," a panel discussion on the decline in union membership, and an address by John E. Higgins, Jr., Deputy General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.

The registration fee is $100 and includes all sessions, a continental breakfast, and lunch. The RSVP deadline is October 14, 2005. Students, NLRB staff, and government employees may register for a reduced cost of $25. For more information, please phone (313) 577-3113.

Proceeds from the Symposium will be used to fund future educational programs and labor studies at the Law School.

Teaching Positions Available

West Virginia University College of Law is accepting applications for an entry-level faculty position teaching Labor and Employment Law.  Contact Robert Lathrop, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, WVU College of Law, P.O. Box 6130, Morgantown WV 26506-6103.

The University of Missouri - Columbia School of Law is accepting applications for the Director of the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution.  Contact Associate Dean David Fischer, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, UM-C School of Law, 226 Hulston Hall, Columbia MO 65211-4300.

Pepperdine University School of Law is accepting applications for the Director of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution.  Contact Maureen Weston, Chair, Faculty Appointments, Pepperdine School of Law, 24255 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu CA 90263.

Workplace Bullying

David Yamada (Suffolk) has received a fair amount of popular press recently for his "Healthy Workplace Act" proposal.  His idea is to create a statutory cause of action against workplace bullies and the employers who permit bullying.  It's like sexual harassment without the sex.  His magnum opus on point is

The Phenomenon of "Workplace Bullying" and and the Need for Status-Blind Hostile Work Environment Protection, 88 Geo. L.J. 475 (2000).

Recent press releases aimed at the popular press are at:

Professor Yamada's 'Healthy Workplace Act" Profiled.

Professor Yamada Comments on Longevity of the Workplace Bully.

SEIU Contest

The SEIU yesterday launched a contest calling upon ordinary Americans to suggest "common sense ideas that improve the day-to-day lives of working families."  The person with the best idea will win $100,000; two runners-up will win $50,000 each.  The contest is targeting ideas that will, among other things, "create good-paying jobs that allow people to raise a family, afford health insurance, pay for their children’s college education, get additional training and save for retirement."  For more information, visit the contest's website at Since Sliced Bread.

Teaching Positions Available

Vanderbilt University Law School is accepting applications to teach in all subject areas, including Employment Law, Employment Discrimination, and Labor Law.  Both tenured and tenure-track positions are available.  Contact Tracey George (Chair, Entry-Level Appointments Committee) or Robert Thompson (Chair, Lateral Appointments Committee).

Discrimination Casebooks

We have an adjunct who will be teaching Employment Discrimination for the first time next semester.  He's asked me for advice on choosing a casebook.  The casebook I have always used is a bit out-of-date, and its lengthy notes might make it a bit daunting for a first-time adjunct (though I like them).  If any of you have a recommendation, please drop me an email at balesr@nku.edu.

Welcome . . .

. . . to the reincarnated Workplace Prof Blog! Professor Raphael Gely started LaborProf Blog about a year ago, and until recent months the blog has been kept alive thanks to dedication of Joe Hodnicki. I’ve officially taken over responsibility effective October 1.

You’ll note a few changes. First and most obviously, the name has changed. Whereas LaborProf Blog focused primarily (though not exclusively) on issues related to unions and collective bargaining, the new Workplace Prof Blog will also focus on issues related to employment law and employment discrimination.

Another change will be the updating of the material on the left sidebar. Many of those links no longer work. I hope to have that fixed within the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, please share generously with me any ideas you might have for enhancing the site and/or for daily content. You can reach me at balesr@nku.edu.

Thanks!

-Rick Bales

NLRB/DOL 33rd Annual Joint Conference

Date: Thursday, October 27, 2005

Location: Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA

Time: 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Keynote Speakers:

Wilma Liebman, Board Member, NLRB

Howard Radzely, Solicitor of Labor, DOL

For more information, go to NLRB/DOL Joint Conference.

Top-5 SSRN Employment/Labor Downloads for Last Week

Rank	Downloads	Paper Title
1	95	Flexibilization, Globalization, and Privatization: Three Challenges to Labor Rights in Our Time Katherine V.W. Stone, University of California, Los Angeles - School of Law, Date posted to database: August 11, 2005 Last Revised: August 26, 2005
2	79	Managerial Incentives in Highly Levered Firms Alex Edmans, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management, Date posted to database: July 21, 2005 Last Revised: September 7, 2005
3	68	Effect of Single-Tier versus Two-Tier Partnership Tracks at Am Law 200 Law Firms: Theory and Evidence William D. Henderson, Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington, Date posted to database: August 19, 2005 Last Revised: September 7, 2005
4	65	Trade and Employment: Stylized Facts and Research Findings Bernard Hoekman, L. Alan Winters, World Bank - Development Economics Research Group (DECRG), World Bank - Development Economics Research Group (DECRG), Date posted to database: August 19, 2005 Last Revised: August 19, 2005
5	57	Tax and Disability: Ability to Pay and the Taxation of Difference Theodore P. Seto, Sande Buhai, Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), Date posted to database: August 18, 2005 Last Revised: August 26, 2005

Recently Published Scholarship

Paul M. Secunda, A Public Interest Model for Applying Lost Chance Theory to Probabilistic Injuries in Employment Discrimination Cases, 2005 Wisc. L. Rev. 747.

Julie A. Seaman, Form and (Dys) Function in Sexual Harassment Law: Biology, Culture, and the Spandrels of Title VII, 37 Ariz. St. L. Rev. 321 (2005).

Mitchell H. Rubenstein, Advisory Labor Arbitration Under New York Law: Does It Have a Place in Employment Law?, 79 St.John's L. Rev. 419 (2005).