Tuesday, October 25, 2022

2023 Louis Jackson Student LEL Writing Competition

Chi-kentNicole Porter (Chicago-Kent) is distributing a flyer for the 2023 Louis Jackson Memorial National Student Writing Competition in Employment & Labor Law, sponsored by Chicago-Kent’s Martin H. Malin Institute for Law & the Workplace and Jackson Lewis P.C. She encourages students writing papers in the labor and employment law field to submit. The deadline for submissions is January 17, 2023.

rb

October 25, 2022 in Scholarship, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Conference Celebrating Karl Klare

From Northeastern University comes word of a conference on April 8, 2022, celebrating the vision and advocacy of labor law scholar Karl Klare.

The conference will be in-person with a live stream for a virtual audience. The four conference panels are titled “Transformative Constitutionalism”, “Unions and Workers (Solidarity Forever)”, “The Law School Classroom (Teaching as a Tool of Progress)”, and “Critical Legal Studies (Why Karl Starts with K)”. For details, including the extraordinary list of speakers and how to register, see here.

– Sachin S. Pandya ORCID logo

February 5, 2022 in Faculty Presentations, Labor Law, Scholarship, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, August 23, 2021

Teaching Workplace Health & Safety

DickensAlvin Goldman (retired, U. Kentucky) asked me to share this link, of Hazel Dickens singing about Black Lung, that would be a great introduction to covering the topic of employee health and safety. Thanks, Alvin!

rb

August 23, 2021 in Teaching, Workplace Safety | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday, April 2, 2021

Petition for New AALS Section on Law Profs with Disabilities & Allies

LogoNicole Porter (Toledo) sends this letter from Katie Eyer (Rutgers):

As many of you know, for the past two years, we have been moving toward launching a proposed AALS Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies. I am pleased to announce that we are at the stage of having a petition and bylaws drafted, and can now collect signatures for provisional recognition. We need 50 signatures from 25 institutions in order to obtain provisional recognition, but we are hoping to obtain more to demonstrate to AALS the strong support for the proposed Section. (A note: under AALS rules, these signatures must be from full-time faculty or professional staff).

Please sign this form to support the recognition of the Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies by AALS. You can email the form to me at [email protected]. Electronic signatures are acceptable. Anyone who signs will automatically be added as members to the new section and added to the Section listserv. I’d love to get enough signatures to submit to AALS by Wednesday April 14. But even if you are digging through your email later and still want to support the proposed Section, please send along your form even after that deadline. Please also feel free to forward this message on to your own faculties or other groups that may have interested members.

We are still awaiting final word from AALS on whether we will be able to have programming at the 2022 Meeting, but are hoping to be able to do so. We have already identified an awardee that we are hoping to honor (more on that soon once we know for sure if we can honor her this year), and are hoping to launch with a program titled “The Forgotten Demographic: Law Professors With Disabilities in Legal Academia.”

This has definitely been a group effort to get this launched. Many thanks to all of those involved in moving it forward, including our inaugural leadership (in addition to myself: Megan Wright, Chair-Elect; Stacey Tovino, Secretary; and our Executive Committee, Katherine Macfarlane, Pamela Foohey and Nicole Buonocore Porter). Kat Macfarlane deserves particular credit as the person who really nurtured this idea in its early stages and kept it moving forward. Thank you also to the others who have already expressed an interest in joining the leadership moving forward (and if you have not yet expressed such an interest, but are interested, please let me know, since we are keeping track of these names!)

Apologies for those of you who have received this message (or a version of it) on multiple lists. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions, and I look forward to hearing from many of you!

All my best,
Katie

rb

April 2, 2021 in Disability, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (1)

Friday, March 19, 2021

The Best Teaching Feedback

NoSince many readers of this blog teach, I thought folks might enjoy this discussion of "the most useful teaching feedback I ever received". Mine was in my second year of teaching, when I put a video camera in front of the classroom facing me, and was appalled at what I saw.  Sometimes we can be our own best teachers if we look at ourselves honestly.

rb

March 19, 2021 in Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, December 21, 2020

A Radio Story of United Steelworkers v. Weber

For employment discrimination law in the U.S., United Steelworkers v. Weber, 443 U.S. 193 (1979), remains a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling on how Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to an employer’s voluntary affirmative action plan. On the details and context of the Weber litigation, there are a lot of good secondary sources (e.g., Malamud 2006). Add to that list a recent radio story from WNPR’s United States of Anxiety and reporter Marianne McCune.

Come for the interviews with Dennis English (in charge of labor relations at Kaiser Aluminum), the son of Jim Nailor (selected for Kaiser’s training program), and Brian Weber himself. Stay for the oral argument exchange between Weber’s lawyer and Thurgood Marshall, plus commentary by Hina Shah.

–Sachin Pandya ORCID logo

References

Malamud, Deborah. 2006. “The Story of United Steelworkers of America v. Weber.” In Employment Discrimination Stories, edited by Joel Wm. Friedman. New York: Foundation Press.

December 21, 2020 in Employment Discrimination, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, January 27, 2020

Essay on Affirmative Action

MLouis Menand (Harvard Arts & Sciences; degree from Harvard Law) published a great essay in last week's The New Yorker on affirmative action: Integration by Parts. I'm posting the take-away below, but the entire essay is well worth reading, not least for its historical description of the concept.

The whole history of affirmative action shows ... that when the programs are shut down minority representation drops. Diversity, however we define it, is politically constructed and politically maintained. It doesn’t just happen. It’s a choice we make as a society.

It is possible to understand the opposition to affirmative action of white conservatives, like Ronald Reagan, who regard civil-rights laws as federal overreach and affirmative action as enshrining the un-American notion of group rights. And it is possible to understand the opposition of black conservatives, like Clarence Thomas, who see it as patronizing to African-Americans.

But it is hard to understand the opposition, often diehard, of many white liberals that has persisted since the nineteen-seventies. Did these people really imagine that passing a law against discrimination would reset race relations overnight? Do they really think that white Americans, wherever they work or go to college, do not carry a lifelong advantage because of the color of their skin? Do they really believe that there should be no sacrifice to make or price to pay for the systematic damage done to the lives of millions of American citizens and the men and women who are their ancestors?

rb

January 27, 2020 in Employment Discrimination, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (3)

Friday, January 12, 2018

Student Writing Competition on Employee Benefits

AcebPaul Caron over at TaxProf Blog sends word that the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel is sponsoring its 14th Annual Employee Benefits Writing Competition on any topic in the field of employee benefits law. The competition is open to any J.D. and graduate (L.L.M. or S.J.D) law students enrolled at any time between August 15, 2017 and August 15, 2018. Two $1,500 prizes may be awarded. The submission deadline is June 1, 2018.

rb

January 12, 2018 in Pension and Benefits, Scholarship, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, January 23, 2017

Teaching Labor in Saigon


TDTU

I've mentioned on Facebook that I've spent the last couple of weeks teaching at a Saigon labor college. I'm writing now to give an update -- and a heads-up to anyone who might be interested in either a short-term gig or a longer-term Fulbright here. Both, I think, would be terrific options.

TDTU is a public university located in an affluent (mostly Korean ex-pat) suburb of Siagon. Students come from middle- and working-class families. They are dedicated and work hard. The school aspires to be a top-100 university worldwide, and a big part of its definition of success is ensuring that all students know English (which is still a work-in-progress).
 
The campus is beautiful. It is indistinguishable from a suburban American campus and is very well-maintained. Security is tight and everyone feels safe walking around campus at all hours of the day or night. Students are incredibly deferential to faculty - a head-bow is the norm even in casual passing with students you've never seen before -- and students often approach to speak informally and practice their English skills.
 
Though facilities and groundskeeping are generously funded, domestic faculty workloads are heavy. The Uni supplements its faculty by hiring copious adjuncts in the law school and by inviting foreign visitors to teach for anywhere from 2 weeks (my gig) to a year (my successor who is coming on a Fulbright). The Uni has robust business schools and a labor relations school. It also has a new law school, which despite being only 3 years old already enrolls nearly 1000 (mostly undergraduate) students.
 
Visitng faculty are treated well. I was housed in a University apartment, which was a spacious accommodation immediately underneath the soccer bleachers. Staff are incredibly attentive to your every need, including laundry. Food is plentiful and dirt-cheap at the student canteens, faculty dining hall, and street-food stalls across the street, (There's also plenty of higher-end, sit-down service nearby, but I only went there when the Uni folks took me out -- the other options were cheaper (hard to spend more than $2/meal) and at least as good.
 
There's a group of about 10-ish Americans, mostly labor-activist types, who teach at TDTU regularly on a purely volunteer basis. These tend to be Vietnam-war-activist-types who see this as a way of giving back. I get the impression that their virulent pro-labor quasi-socialist ideology is taken with a grain of salt by the more pragmatic University folks and students. Official government policy is still socialist, but Saigon is as wildly capitalistic as you can imagine. Workers rights are important but so is overall economic prosperity. Most folks here recognize that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Indeed, the ILO and he Better Works Program have accomplished huge strides in convincing foreign brands and local manufacturers that reasonable workplace standards make good business sense.
 
I suspect that many of you would be most interested in either a short-time visit like I did or a Fulbright. A short-time visit can be for as little as two weeks (that's what I did - I tag-teamed a course with an American instructor who will finish the course I started. I paid my travel; TDTU provided my accommodation, but did not provide a stipend (not did I ask for one). They treated me like royalty. An ideal visit might be on a Fulbright,which would pay you nicely for your time and travel. The Uni is  also looking for retired American faculty who are looking to do something different for a year. Under that arrangement, room/board would be provided generously, but the stipend, which I believe is still under negotiation, would be reasonable but hardly generous by Western standards.
 
The huge academic plus from my perspective is that this is where all the action is in labor law/markets. Major labor law reform happens here every couple of years. In 5 years Vietnam has gone from an undeveloped country to a middle-income country. Five years ago garment manufacturing was king and was ruled by foreign capital and management. In 5 short years Vietnam (especially the south, in the Saigon area) has invested heavily in ports/highways/education/general infrastructure, so the big manufacturing facilities increasingly are being managed (and staffed with back-office professionals) locally. As in China, wages are rising proportionally, leading to some migration of low-cost work to Bangladesh Cambodia and Myanmar. Labor markets and labor law are in tremendous flux, and though I would not pretend to be any expert on it, it is fascinating to observe from both an snails-eye and an bird's eye view.
 
Feel free to email me if I can answer any further questions.

rb

January 23, 2017 in International & Comparative L.E.L., Teaching | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, December 16, 2016

New Book: Arnow-Richman & Ruan on Workplace Skills

Workplace lawCongratulations to Rachel Arnow-Richman and Nantiya Ruan (both at Denver) on the publication of their new book Developing Professional Skills: Workplace Law (West 2016). Here's the author's description:

Incorporating professional skills and ethics into the traditional workplace law course is a critical but challenging undertaking. This easy-to-use book simplifies the effort, offering eleven discrete exercises designed to help students develop skills in the key areas of drafting, counseling, negotiation and advocacy. Each exercise involves a different substantive area of workplace law, including covenants-not-to compete, wage and hour law, employment discrimination, whistleblower protection and general common law and tort principles. The book is flexible enough to supplement any doctrinal casebook, or can be used to teach a stand-alone skills course.

Marty Katz (Denver) reviewed the book in a blog post at IALS Online. Here's an excerpt from his post:

Fortunately for us in the field of workplace law, Rachel Arnow-Richman and Nantiya Ruan have just eliminated a tremendous amount of that work. Over several iterations, they developed a first-rate experiential course in this field. And they are willing to share their work, so that we do not have to reinvent this well-designed wheel. The result is their forthcoming book (due for release in the next week or so), Developing Professional Skills: Workplace Law.

This narrow volume provides a rich set of workplace law problems that can be used, off the shelf, to teach a problem-based course. There are 11 chapters, each of which contains a detailed but manageable workplace law scenario. And while all of the scenarios are fun and thoughtfully crafted, you might consider using even a subset of them, given the book’s low price point ($25, from what I understand).

This is terrific. Developing the material for teaching skills is by far the hardest and most time-consuming part.This book is a very welcome addition to our pedagogical toolbox.

rb

December 16, 2016 in Book Club, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, March 19, 2016

ABA JLEL Student Writing Competition

AbajlelLaura Cooper (Minnesota) writes to tell us:

Labor and employment law professors and their students should take note of the new rules for the 2016 American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law and The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers Annual Law Student Writing Competition.  The competition has doubled its award for the first-prize essay to $3000.  The prize also, as before, brings with it the opportunity of publication in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law that has tens of thousands of practicing attorneys as subscribers.  Another change in the rules permits essays to be as long as thirty-five pages.  Students may find it easier to prepare their spring semester seminar papers in the competition’s format now that the submission deadline has been set for June 15, 2016, well after the end of final exams.  See the complete competition rules here.

rb

March 19, 2016 in Scholarship, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, February 1, 2016

Abarams: New Book on the Practice of Labor Arbitration

BookRoger Abrams (Northeastern) has just published The Labor Arbitration Workshop: An Experiential Approach (Carolina Academic Press, 2016). The book is a fascinating collection of (mostly) arbitration awards. An accompanying website contains simulations that can be used to develop lawyering skills. Here's the publisher's description:

Using these unique experiential materials, students explore the important role of alternative dispute resolution in the workplace. Using court and arbitration decisions as well as supplementary materials and problems, students discuss the role of the advocate, the relationship between arbitration and the judicial system, issues of arbitrability, evidence and procedure, as well as a variety of substantive contractual issues normally addressed in arbitration, such as seniority, fringe benefits, wages and hours, subcontracting and union security. In particular, the workshop focuses on "just cause" discharge and discipline cases. Using transcripts and simulations provided in a supplementary website, students draft an arbitration brief based on a transcript of a hearing and participate in an arbitration simulation using witnesses and documentary evidence.

rb

February 1, 2016 in Book Club, Labor Law, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Student Opportunities in Employee Benefits Law

AcebcKatie Kennedy (John Marshall--Chicago) and Israel Goldowitz (Pension Ben. Guar. Corp.), members of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (ACEBC) Law Student Outreach Committee have written to tell us of a couple of exciting opportunities for law students to help foster interest in employee benefits as a practice area.

The committee has developed:

  • A mentorship program that connects interested law students with ACEBC Fellows to learn what day-to-day practice is like as an attorney who is either in-house, government, law firm, not-for-profit or teaching; and
  •  A writing competition on an employee benefits topic that opens each January and closes in May/June.

Information on both of these programs is available at http://www.acebc.com.  Check it out!

MM

October 7, 2015 in Labor and Employment News, Pension and Benefits, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, October 5, 2015

New ED Casebook by Seiner

SeinerCoverCongratulations to our own Joe Seiner on the publication of his casebook, Employment Discrimination: Procedure, Principles, and Practice. I have had a chance to look through it quickly and, as the title might suggest, it brings together two of Joe's areas of expertise: procedure and employment discrimination law. In addition to the usual cases, notes, and questions, the text also contains interactive problems, notes about newsworthy issues,  and exercises. From the news release: 

This text offers a fresh perspective on employment discrimination law, presenting a procedural-based approach to the topic with interactive materials throughout the book. While still providing the traditional employment discrimination casebook coverage, this text emphasizes the importance of procedural issues in workplace cases. It includes a unique “best practices” chapter which discusses the most effective ways to address workplace discrimination, from both a theoretical and legal perspective. Numerous exercises and problems foster classroom discussion. Practice tips situate students in the role of a practicing lawyer.

Cases are modern and cutting-edge, demonstrating the importance of employment discrimination law. Each chapter includes a chapter-in-review, and summary charts and graphs are used throughout the text to further student comprehension. Text boxes within cases, historical notes, and news events are all used to help bring the material to life in an innovative new way.  Instructors will have access to sample exam problems and answers, proposed syllabi, Teacher’s Manual with problem answers, and PowerPoint slides.

A great resource that's worth checking out, for sure. 

MM

October 5, 2015 in Books, Employment Discrimination, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, September 28, 2015

Disability Law Student Writing Competition

Scholarly writing Friend of the blog Susan Bisom-Rapp (Thomas Jefferson) sends along exciting news of a new student writing competition:

Thomas Jefferson School of law is pleased to announce the second Jameson Crane III Disability and the Law Writing Competition. Made possible by the generous gift of Thomas Jefferson School of Law alumnus Jameson Crane III, the Crane Writing Competition seeks to encourage outstanding student scholarship at the intersection of law and medicine, or law and the social sciences. The competition promotes an understanding of these topics, furthers the development of legal rights and protections, and improves the lives of those with disabilities.

The competition is open to currently enrolled law students, medical students, and doctoral candidates in related fields who attend an accredited graduate program of study in the United States. Submitted papers may be on any topic relating to disability law, including legal issues arising with respect to employment, government services and programs, public accommodations, education, higher education, housing, and health care.

Submissions will be judged anonymously by an independent panel of experts. The winner of the competition will receive a $1,500 cash prize and the Thomas Jefferson Law Review (TJLR) will consider the paper for publication under the TJLR’s editorial standards. Two second place winners will each receive a $1,000 cash prize.  Preference for these additional winners will be given to submissions from disciplines not represented by the grand prize winner.

All submissions must be submitted electronically to: [email protected]. All entries must be received by midnight, Pacific Standard Time, January 15, 2016. Winning submissions will be announced by April 15, 2016.  

For further details, please consult the competition webpage: http://www.tjsl.edu/cranewritingcompetition. Please distribute this information broadly so that we may reach as many eligible students as possible. Questions may be directed to Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp, who will be coordinating the competition: [email protected].

What a great opportunity!

MM

September 28, 2015 in Disability, Scholarship, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Teaching Sex Stereotyping

CorrellI used this video clip by Shelley Correll (Stanford - Sociology) today to introduce the topic of sex discrimination and stereotyping, to terrific effect. Students are appropriately outraged by the facts of Price Waterhouse, but they also know that few employers these days are so stupid as to be as overtly discriminatory. Today's flavors of discrimination are much more subtle, and this 20-minute video does a nice job of illustrating that.

I followed the video by asking the students to describe sex stereotyping that they had observed at our law school, at our university, and in the law firms and courtrooms they were working and interning in. This generated an animated discussion, and wearing my decanal hat, gave me some ideas of things I can do to improve our law school environment. One of the many interesting directions our discussion took was that law student perceptions of the expertise of junior law professors can vary considerably by gender, and that that in turn may influence the "personas" that male and female law professors may adopt in the classroom.

Thanks to my colleague Dacy Wilcox for sending the video to me.

rb

September 17, 2015 in Employment Discrimination, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, July 20, 2015

Deadline Approaching for the 10th Annual Colloquium

If you are planning to attend the annual Colloquium on Scholarship in Employment and Labor Law (COSELL), please remember to register. This conference, now in its tenth year, brings together labor and employment law professors from across the country. It offers participants the opportunity to present works-in-progress to a friendly and knowledgeable audience. It will be held at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Sept. 11-12, 2015, in Bloomington, Indiana.

More information and links to register are available at: http://www.law.indiana.edu/cosellThe registration deadline is August 1.

MM

July 20, 2015 in Conferences & Colloquia, Faculty Presentations, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Tenth Annual Colloquium Registration Open

WPBDeborah Widiss (Indiana) has good news to share:

The annual Colloquium on Scholarship in Employment and Labor Law (COSELL) will be held at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Sept. 11-12, 2015, in Bloomington, Indiana. This conference, now in its tenth year, brings together labor and employment law professors from across the country. It offers participants the opportunity to present works-in-progress to a friendly and knowledgeable audience.

 Registration is now open at: http://www.law.indiana.edu/cosell.

 If you’re planning to come, please go ahead and register now; you can fill in details about the project you will present later in the summer.

 The conference is free, and we will provide all meals during the conference. Travel & hotel information is found on the website.

 Please feel free to contact any of us with questions.

 We will look forward to hosting you in Bloomington!

MM

April 28, 2015 in About This Blog, Conferences & Colloquia, Disability, Employment Common Law, Employment Discrimination, Faculty News, Faculty Presentations, International & Comparative L.E.L., Labor Law, Labor/Employment History, Pension and Benefits, Public Employment Law, Religion, Scholarship, Teaching, Wage & Hour, Worklife Issues, Workplace Safety, Workplace Trends | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Senior Fullbright Scholar award for Secunda

SecundaCongratulations to blogger emeritus and our friend Paul Secunda (Marquette), who has been awarded a Senior Fullbright Scholar award for this fall. He will be teaching and conducting research on the national pension program in Australia. Paul will become a senior fellow at the Melbourne University Law School, teaching courses and conducting  research on the Australian Superannuation workplace pension system, which is widely considered to be a global benchmark for workplace pension programs. You can get more detail from Marquette's press release.  Great work, and wonderful news, Paul!

MM

March 31, 2015 in Faculty News, International & Comparative L.E.L., Pension and Benefits, Scholarship, Teaching | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Monday, December 1, 2014

AALS workplace sections joint newsletter

Aals Thanks to Monique Lillard (Idaho), chair of the AALS Labor Relations and Employment section and Natasha Martin (Seattle), chair of the AALS Employment Discrimination section for sending along the joint newsletter of the two sections for posting. Download it while it's hot:  Download Joint Newsletter for AALS Sections

MM

December 1, 2014 in Disability, Employment Common Law, Employment Discrimination, Faculty News, International & Comparative L.E.L., Labor and Employment News, Labor Law, Public Employment Law, Scholarship, Teaching, Wage & Hour | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)