Classical political theory asks what social arrangements are productive of good citizens. Employment law offers an opportunity to think about the nature of law in a different way. For the most part, our legal curriculum presents subjects where we assume law s neutrality. We usually adopt also a perspective that assumes the field of study can be characterized in terms of individual rights. But for workplace regulation, law s intervention is necessarily political, and we must consider not only the individual, but also the struggle of competing group and social interests.
Employers claim the right and authority to run their business as they see fit.
We will study the law of wrongful termination, Title VII and related statutes governing workplace discrimination, the National Labor Relations Act regulating unionization and collective bargaining, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. We will explore the different approaches reflected in these different areas and study them critically, striving to take nothing for granted. In each instance we will investigate the manner of regulation, explore the assumptions on which the method rests and evaluate its success in shaping the law of work. Oral communication is essential to effective lawyering and I expect each student to use the classroom as a laboratory to develop that skill. This means learning to listen effectively, and I will sometimes ask you to repeat what you have heard others say.