Employment Law for Business, 10th Edition,
Dawn Bennett-Alexander, Chapters 1 - 16
,TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Regulation of Employment
Chapter 2 The Employment Law Toolkit: Resources for Understanding the Law and Recurring
Legal Concepts
Chapter 3 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Chapter 4 Legal Construction of the Employment Environment Chapter 5
Affirmative Action
Chapter 6 Race and Color Discrimination
Chapter 7 National Origin Discrimination
Chapter 8 Gender Discrimination Chapter 9
Sexual Harassment
Chapter 10 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination Chapter 11
Religious Discrimination
Chapter 12 Age Discrimination Chapter 13
Disability Discrimination
Chapter 14 The Employee’s Right to Privacy and Management of Personal
Information
Chapter 15 Labor Law 857
Chapter 16 Selected Employment Benefits and Protections
Chapter 1
, The Regulation of Employment
Chapter Objective
The student is introduced to the regulatory environment of the employment relationship. The
chapter examines whether regulation is actually necessary or beneficial or if, perhaps, the
relationship would fare better with less governmental intervention. The concepts of ―freedom‖
to contract in the regulatory employment environment and non-compete agreements are
discussed. Since the regulations and case law discussed in this text rely on an individual‘s
classification as an employer or an employee, those definitions are delineated and explored.
Learning Objectives
(Click on the icon following the learning objective to be linked to the location in the outlinewhere
the chapter addresses that particular objective.)
At the conclusion of this chapter, the students should be able to:
1. Describe the balance between the freedom to contract and the current
regulatory environment for employment.
2. Identify who is subject to which employment laws and understand the implication of eachof
these laws for both the employer and employee.
3. Delineate the risks to the employer caused by employee misclassification.
4. Explain the difference between and employee and an independent contractor and the
tests that help us in that determination.
5. Articulate the various ways in which the concept ―employer‖ is defined by the
various employment-related regulations.
6. Describe the permissible parameters of non-compete agreements.
Detailed Chapter Outline
Scenarios—Points for Discussion
, ScenariojOne:jThisjscenariojoffersjanjopportunityjtojreviewjthejdistinctionsjbetweenjanj employeejan
djanjindependentjcontractorjdiscussedjinjthejchapterj(seej―ThejDefinitionjofj Employee,‖jparticularlyj
Exhibitsj1.3–1.5).jDiscussjthejIRSj20-
factorjanalysis,jasjitjappliesjtoj Dalia‘sjposition.jInjlightjofjthejlowjleveljofjcontroljthatjDaliajhadjoverjhe
rjfeesjandjherjworkj process,jandjthejlimitsjuponjherjchoicejofjclients,jstudentsjshouldjcomejtojthejconclus
ionjthatj Daliajisjanjemployeej(therefore,jeligiblejtojfilejanjunemploymentjclaim),jratherjthanjanj inde
pendentjcontractor.
ScenariojTwo:jSorayajwouldjnotjhavejajcausejofjactionjthatjwouldjbejrecognizedjbyjthejEEOC.j Revie
wjthejsectionj―ThejDefinitionjofj‗Employer‘‖jwithjstudents,jandjdiscussjthejrationalejthatj determinesjth
ejstatusjofjajsupervisorjvis-à-visjanti-
discriminationjlegislation.jBecausejSorayajisj Soraya‘sjsupervisor,jnotjherjemployer,jhejcannotjbejthej
targetjofjanjEEOCjclaimjofjsexualj harassment.
CCC,jSoraya‘sjemployer,jwouldjbejvulnerablejtojanjEEOCjclaimjifjthejcompanyjlackedjorjfailedtoj follo
wjajsystemjforjemployeejredressjofjdiscriminationjgrievances.jHowever,jinjthisjcase,j CCCj appearsjtojha
vejajviablejanti-
discriminationjpolicyjthatjitjadheredjtojdiligently;jconsequently,jSorayaj wouldjbejunlikelyjtojwinjajdecis
ionjinjherjfavor.jThejcourtjinjWilliamsjv.jBanningj(1995)jofferedjthej followingjrationalejforjitsjdecisionjinj
ajsimilarjcase:
―Shejhasjanjemployerjwhojwasjsensitivejandjresponsivejtojherjcomplaint.jShejcanjtakej comfort
jinjthejknowledgejthatjshejcontinuesjtojworkj forjthisjcompany,jwhilejherjharasserj doesjnotjandjt
hatjthejcompany'sjpromptjactionjisjlikelyjtojdiscouragejotherjwouldjbej harassers.jThisjisjprecis
elyjthejresultjTitlejVIIjwasjmeantjtojachieve.‖
ScenariojThree:jStudentsjshouldjdiscussjwhetherjorjnotjMyajnon-
competejagreementjisjlikelyjtobej foundjreasonablejbyjajcourt,jandjelaboratejthejaspectsjofjthejagree
mentjthatjMyajmightjcontestjasj unreasonablej(seejsectionjbelow,j―CovenantsjNotjtojCompete‖).jDoesj
Myajhavejajpersuasivej argumentjthatjthejtermsjofjherjnon-
competejagreementjarejunreasonablejinjscopejorjduration?
Mightjshejhavejgroundsjtojclaimjthatjthejagreementjprohibitsjherjfromjmakingjaj living?
Givenjthejdiversityjofjstatejlawsjregulatingjnon-
competejagreements,jdiscussjthejrangejofjlegalj restrictionsjthatjmightjapplyjtojMya‘sjparticularjagree
mentjwithjherjemployer.jAsjanjemployeewhoj worksjacrossjseveraljstates,jMya‘sjdefensejmayjdependj
uponjthejpresence—andjspecificj language—ofjajforumjselectionjclausejinjherjnon-
competejagreement.jConsiderjwhatjlanguagej wouldjbejmorejlikelyjtojprovidejNanjwithjajstrongjdefen
sejagainstjthejbreachjofjcontractjclaim.
Myajmightjalsojarguejthatjthejcompany‘sjclientjlistjisjavailablejthroughjpublicjmeans,jandj therefore,jh
erjaccessjtojthisjlistjshouldjnotjbejprohibited.
GeneraljLecturejNotejforjEmploymentjLawjCourse
Injorderjtojteachjthisjcourse,jinstructorsjhavejfoundjthatjstudentsjmustjbejmadejtojfeeljrelativelyj comfo
rtablejwithjtheirjpeers.jInstructorsjwilljbejaskingjthejstudentsjtojbejhonestjandjtojstayjinj theirjtruth,jevenj
atjtimesjwhenjtheyjfeeljthatjtheirjopinionjonjonejofjthesejmattersjwilljnotjbe