Current Issues in Employment Law

This seminar focuses on recent trends and developments in employment law as seen from the perspective of a practitioner. Topics include recent legislative and practice developments related to paid leaves of absences, restrictive covenants, the #me too movement, specifically efforts to end non-disclosure provisions and efforts to make discrimination and harassment claims easier to bring, and salary transparency. Topics also include: increased prevalence of retaliation claims and wage and hour claims, including with respect to the latter the challenges created by a "gig economy" (i.e., employee vs. independent contractor classification); increases in unionization efforts, and the complexities caused by remote workers. NOTE: Prior labor/employment law coursework preferred but not strictly required. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.