Topic Outlines

[Below are links to lecture notes, overheads, etc.--in other words, your virtual "course reader." Download these links before each class to help organize your thinking or annotation with your notes in class. Enjoy!!]

 


 

Topic (1):

Introduction to the Employment Relationship & Regulation of Employment: Significance of Employee and Employer Status; Independent Contractor/Outsourcing/Contingent Workforce issues; FLSA “Exempt/Non-exempt” Compensation issues

Chapter Overheads and Discussion Outline—Topic 1

Supplemental materials:

 


 

Topic (2):

Employment at Will, Exceptions (Implied Contracts, Employee Handbooks, Public Policy, Whistle blowing), and Employment Contracts (Union, others); Privacy & related Employee Rights issues [electronic surveillance; workplace searches; monitoring of telephone, email, and internet usage; drug testing; regulation of off-work activity, social media issues]

Chapter Overheads and Discussion Outline—Topic 2

Supplemental materials:

 


 

Topic (3)

The Employment Relationship and Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991; State Fair Employment Practices Acts (e.g., California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act); Disparate Treatment, Adverse Impact, proving and defending discrimination claims in general; Race Discrimination and Harassment

Chapter Overheads and Discussion Outline—Topic 3

Supplemental materials:

How to analyze employment discrimination cases: disparate treatment vs. adverse impact

 


 

Topic (4):

Legal issues in establishing and managing the employment relationship [recruitment, affirmative action, selection testing, and performance appraisal]; Arbitration, Non-competition, and Trade Secrets Non-Disclosure Agreements [NDAs]

Chapter Overheads and Discussion Outline—Topic 4

Supplemental materials:

Job Analysis, Validation, and Performance Appraisal in Discrimination Litigation

 


 

Topic (5):

Gender Discrimination under Title VII; Sexual Harassment and Sexual Affinity Orientation Discrimination under Title VII and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act [FEHA]

Chapter Overheads and Discussion Outline—Topic 5

Supplemental materials:

Overview of harassment analysis--quid pro quo vs. hostile environment

EEOC Guidelines re: Faragher/Ellerth defense to employer's vicarious liability for harassment by supervisor

AB1825—California Law Requires Sexual Harassment Training as of 2005

 


 

Topic (6):

Religion & National Origin Discrimination and related Immigration issues

Chapter Overheads and Discussion Outline—Topic 6

Supplemental materials:

 


 

Topic (7):

Age Discrimination and related retirement and benefits issues [e.g., OWBPA; ERISA] 

Chapter Overheads and Discussion Outline—Topic 7

Supplemental materials:

 


 

Topic (8): 

Disability Discrimination and related issues in Occupational Safety and Health (e.g., OSHA compliance, AIDS, Workplace Violence, Cumulative Trauma Disorders, Ergonomic Standards), Workers Compensation, and the federal Family & Medical Leave Act [FMLA] and state California Family Rights Act [CFRA] 

Chapter Overheads and Discussion Outline—Topic 8

Supplemental materials: