Elective Course
Employment Law
This course provides a broad overview of the legal regulation of employment relationships. The extent to which the law creates protections for employees will be explored by examining two major themes in employment law. First, to what extent is an employee's job security protected by the law? The legal theories under which employees can seek job protection be will examined in turn, including individual express and implied contracts, tort claims, good faith obligations, and public policy and statutory limitations on the employer's right to discharge. Second, to what extent does the government regulate the conditions under which employees work? Here, we will examine issues of employee free speech and privacy, employee duties to the employer, and the regulation of compensation. Finally, the course will conclude with an exploration of the various tools by which employees can seek to enforce their employment rights, with special attention to large class action suits which currently dominate the employment litigation arena.
Prerequisite: None