Employment Law
Workplace issues have become one of the fastest-growing areas of state and federal law. Employment-related lawsuits filed in federal court have tripled in volume in the past decade, and now account for a tenth of all civil cases. Many state courts have experienced a similar burgeoning of their employment law caseloads. This course examines this diverse, rewarding, and rapidly evolving area of legal practice by considering the diverse array of laws and institutions that regulate the employment relationship. The focus of the course is on laws that affect employees in non-unionized settings, such as protections against dismissal without cause, wage and hour restrictions, workplace privacy, covenants not to compete, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and mandatory arbitration of employment disputes. The course does not cover either employment discrimination or labor law, both of which are offered as separate courses.