Employment Law (Lee)
Faculty
|
|
| Sophia Z. Lee Professor of Law and History slee@law.upenn.edu |
Additional Information
Skills Training
Other Professional Skills: There will be a number of opportunities for small group and class discussion of hypotheticals and a negotiation exercise.
Grading
5% Participation,
95% Exam
Exam
Essay,
Take Home,
Open-Book
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- Class sessions are regularly recorded. I will make these recordings routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.
- I will make PowerPoint slides or other class materials routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.
Meeting Times/Location
TR 10:30AM - 11:50AM
Gittis Hall 2
Category
Upper-Level
Credits
3.0
You have a near guarantee that this course will be relevant to your post-law school life. Not only is employment law a booming area for litigation and policy making, but today work occupies a large part of our waking hours. Most if not all of you will go on to be employees, independent contractors, and/or employers. The subjects covered in this class will be relevant to your personal and professional lives.
This course will examine the employment relationship from entry through exit and beyond, covering the major statutes, regulations, and common law doctrines affecting that relationship. Topics will include the origins of at-will employment; the legal definitions of the employer-employee relationship; workers’ rights in the workplace, including the rights to organize, to privacy, to nondiscrimination, and to a minimum wage; employers’ rights, including the rights to alter employment terms and terminate employment; the laws providing for workers’ welfare, including laws governing workers’ compensation, retirement, and healthcare; and the restraints that persist after employment ends.
Themes that we will consider include the relationship between private and public ordering of the workplace; the interactions among workplace law, gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, and family life; and how workers’ citizenship status affects the laws governing their employment. Throughout, we will also analyze how well the existing legal regimes address the needs of our changing workforce and economy. Students will be challenged not only to learn what current workplace law is, but also to think critically about what workplace law should be.
In terms of course planning, this course will introduce students to a number of the common law and statutory rules governing the employment relationship. It will overlap only briefly with more specialized courses in the labor and employment law field, such as courses in Employment Discrimination, Labor, and Employee Benefits law. As a result, this course can--but need not--serve as an introduction to these more specialized courses.
Business and Corporate Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of business and corporate law; Perform legal analysis in the context of business and corporate law; Communicate effectively on topics related to business and corporate law; Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnection between the world of business and finance and that of business and corporate law, and how they affect other areas of law and society.
Constitutional Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of constitutional law; Perform legal analysis in the context of constitutional law; Communicate effectively on topics related to constitutional law; Demonstrate an understanding of constitutional law affects other areas of law.
Employment Law and Employee Benefits Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of employment law and employee benefits; Perform legal analysis in the context of employment law and employee benefits; Communicate effectively on topics related to employment law and employee benefits; Demonstrate an understanding of how employment law and employee benefits affect other areas of law.
Administrative and Regulatory Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of administrative and regulatory law and the administrative process, including the role of statutory authorization and work of administrative agencies; Perform legal analysis in the context of administrative and regulatory law; Communicate effectively on topics related to administrative and regulatory law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role administrative and regulatory law play in our legal system and in society as a whole.
Public Interest Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of the varied legal aspects of public interest law; Perform legal analysis in the context of public interest law; Communicate effectively on topics related to public interest law; Demonstrate an understanding of how public interest law is connected to and affected by a wide variety of legal and regulatory structures and doctrines.
Equity and Inclusion Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of the varied legal aspects of equity and inclusion; Perform legal analysis in the context of topics related to equity and inclusion; Communicate effectively on the legal aspects of equity and inclusion; Demonstrate an understanding of how equity and inclusion are connected to and affected by a wide variety of legal and regulatory structures and doctrines.
Textbooks
"Employment Law: Private Ordering and Its Limitations" by Glynn, Sullivan, & Arnow-Richman |