A562 Employment Law – Winter 2014
Jennifer Schubert, Lecturer
William H. Gates Hall, Room 133
Tuesday/Thursday – 9:00 – 10:20 a.m.
TEXTBOOK AND CLASS MATERIALS
Steven L. Willborn, Stewart J. Schwab, John F. Burton, Jr., and Gillian L. Lester,
Employment Law: Cases and Materials (5th ed. 2012).
Case law is also used, with a focus on Washington law. Citations are provided in the
syllabus. Cases may posted to the class page and are also available through online
sources such as Westlaw.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Welcome to Employment Law! This 3-credit course is a topical study of the individual
employment relationship. Topics include the “at will” nature of employment and the
statutory and common law limitations on at-will employment; employee privacy and
employer information gathering (surveillance, drug testing, etc.), state and federal
regulation of wages, hours, and leave benefits; agreements not to compete and
agreements to arbitrate employment disputes; and workers’ compensation insurance
systems. The focus will be on the non-unionized private sector, and does not include antidiscrimination law.
Coverage of these diverse topics is necessarily abbreviated. The course is intended to
give students (1) a basic familiarity with these areas of employment law, (2) an
awareness of employment law issues when encountering them in practice or later
coursework, (3) an understanding of the policy considerations in play, (4) an appreciation
for employment law as a dynamic field with areas of grey, conflict, and tension, and (5)
an ability to tap appropriate legal resources when researching or answering questions
about employment law issues.
This course schedule provided below is subject to change with reasonable notice.
Changes will be announced in class and an updated syllabus will be posted. The course
will feature some guest lecturers who are experts in the featured areas of law, and who
can speak to different career paths in employment law, such as plaintiff’s work, class
action litigation, and government work. We may shift the timing of some parts of the
course to accommodate a guest lecturer’s schedule.
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COURSE STRUCTURE AND GRADING
This course will use a combination of lectures, discussions, and independent work. You
will be evaluated on three criteria: a final examination, a team research/presentation
project, and class participation.
Course Grade: Your final course grade calculated per Law School curve requirements
and will be based on the following criteria:
1. Final Exam – 50%
2. Team Project – 35%
3. Class participation – 15%
Class participation: This course is a joint endeavor of the teacher and the students. All
students are expected to prepare for and attend all classes and fully participate in class
discussions and exercises. I consider the class to be a community of learners and future
colleagues. In assessing class participation, I consider a willingness to ask and answer
questions and share ideas more important than being “right”.
Names: Please bring a table tent to each class with your name printed in large block
letters front and back so that we can all be reminded of and learn each others’ names.
Final Exam: There is one final exam which will consist of multiple choice, short answer
and essay questions.
Term Project: Leave law research, short report, and class presentation. Teams of
students will work together to research and create short reports on elements of leave law
and policy, which they will present to each other in class on November 4 and 6.
Attendance and participation in these class sessions is mandatory and is a component of
the project grade.
Contact Information: (206) 684-8230 / e-mail: isocrinus@comcast.net
Disability Statement: Disability Resources for Students (DRS) offers resources and
coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary
health conditions. Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive
process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS. If you have not yet established
services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability
that requires accommodations (this can include but not limited to; mental health,
attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome
to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu.
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FALL 2014 SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS
I.
INTRODUCTION
Tues. 9/23
1. Regulation of the Employment Relationship
2. Historical Foundations of Employment at Will – WSB 47-64
Thurs. 9/25
3. Employee Status – WSB 13-44.
Sec. Labor v. Lauritzen, p. 13-26; n. 3, 5, 6;
Wolf v. Coca Cola, p. 31-33; n. 2, 3;
Zheng v. Liberty Apparel, p. 35-41.
II.
Tues. 9/30
CONTRACT PRINCIPALS IN EMPLOYMENT LAW
5. Contract Erosions and Express Modification of Definite-Term Contracts
Chiodo v. General Waterworks Corp., p. 66-69; n. 1, 3, 6
Hetes v. Schefman & Miller Law Office, p. 72-73, n. 1-4
Ohanian v. Avis Rent a Car System Inc., p. 74-80, n.1, 2, 4
6. Good Faith and Fair Dealing
Fortune v. National Cash Register, WSB p. 167-171
Murphy v. American Home Products, WSB p. 174-179
Thurs. 10/2
7. Reliance/Implied Contracts and Employment Manuals
Grouse v. Group Health Plan, WSB p. 83-87; n. 1
Pugh v. See’s Candies, WSB p. 90-94; n. 1, 2
Veno v. Meredith, WSB p. 85-88
Wooley v. Hoffman-LaRoche, WSB p. 98-106, n.1
Bulman v. Safeway, 144 Wash.2d 335 (2000)
Tues. 10/7
8. Researching Employment Law
III.
TORT PRINCIPALS IN EMPLOYMENT LAW
Thurs. 10/9
6. Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy
Nees v. Hocks, p. 117-120, n.1, 3, 4,
Weiss v. Longquist, 173 Wash.App. 344 (2013);
Thompson v. St. Regis Paper Co., 102 Wash.2d 219 (2013) (pp. 221-213;
321-234)
Tues. 10/14
7. Whistleblowing
Wright v. Shriners Hospital, WSB p. 127-130; n.1, 3, 4
Balla v. Gambro, WSB 133-140.
Cudney v. ALSCO, 172 Wash.2d 534 (2011)
Piel v. City of Federal Way, 2013
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Thurs. 10/16
9. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Agis v. Howard Johnson, WSB p. 155-157
Bodewig v. K-Mart, WSB p. 157-161, n. 3
10. Defamation and Other Torts – WSB 311-329
Elbeshbeshy v. Franklin Institute, WSB p. 312-313, n.2-4
Zinda v. Louisiana Pacific Corp., WSB p. 315-320
Sigal Construction Corp. v. Stanbury, WSB p. 321-326, n. 5
IV.
EMPLOYEE PRIVACY
Tues. 10/21
11. Privacy on and off the Job
City of Ontario v. Quon, WSB p. 239-246
K-Mart Corp Store No. 7441 v. Trotti, WSB p. 248-250, n. 3, 4
Pure Power Boot Camo v. Warrior Fitness, WSB p. 253-261, n.1.
Brunner v. Al Attar, WSB p. 263-264
Rulon-Miller v. IBM Corp., WSB p. 267-273
Roe v. Teletech: 257 p.3d 586
Thurs. 10/23
12. Employee free speech
Rutan v. Republican Party, p. 205-210, n 1-3
Garcetti v. Ceballos, p. 213-221, n. 1, 3
Tues. 10/28
13. Employee Testing; References; Negligent Hiring
Drug testing, WSB 274-277;
Sims v. NCI Holding Corp, WSB 278-279
Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corp., WSB 291-298, n. 1, 3, 4, 6-10
Thatcher v. Brennan, WSB p. 305-308, n. 1-3
V.
Thurs. 10/30
EMPLOYEE DUTIES
14. Duty of Loyalty and Trade Secrets
15. Agreements Not to Compete
Pacific Aerospace & Electronics v. Taylor, 295 F.Supp.2d 1205 (E.D.
Wash. 2003) AND 295 F.Supp.2d 1188 (E.D. Wash. 2003);
Labriola v. Pollard Group,100 P.3d 791
VI.
STATUTES REGULATING EMPLOYMENT
Tues. 11/4
16. Leave Law I
CLASS PRESENTATIONS
Thurs. 11/6
17. Leave Law II
CLASS PRESENTATIONS
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Thurs. 11/13
18. Arbitration Agreements
Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., WSB 1166-1174, n.1, 5-11
Little v. Auto Stiegler, Inc., WSB 1179-1187
Tues. 11/18
19. Wage and Hour Law I
Lochner v. New York, WSB p. 577-584, n. 2
Morgan v. Family Dollar Stores, WSB p. 624-630
Miller v. Farmer Bros., 136 Wn. App. 650 (2007)(focus on discussion re
outside sales exemption)
Thurs. 11/20
20. Wage and Hour Law II
Alvarez v. IBP, Inc., 126 S. Ct. 514 (2005). (focus on “what is work”);
Stevens v. Brink’s Home Security, Inc., 162 Wn.2d 42 (2007) (re travel time);
Pellino v. Brink’s Incorporated¸ 164 Wn. App. 668 (2011)(re meal and rest
break violations);
Anfinson v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., 174 Wn.2d 851 (2012)
(misclassification of employees)
Thurs. 11/25
23. Workers’ Compensation: WSB 875-882
Tues. 12/2
24. Workers’ Compensation:
Rothwell v. Nine Mile Falls School District, 173 Wn.App. 812, 295 P.3d 328
(2013);
Ball-Foster Glass Container Company v. Giovanelli, 163 Wn.2d 133, 177
P.3d 692 (2008).
Course evaluation
Thurs. 12/11
* Final Exam -- 8:30 am
* Note: Exam date & time set at time of syllabus preparation. You are
responsible for checking with the Law School to confirm this schedule at
http://www.law.washington.edu/Students/Exams/Default.aspx.
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