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Academic

Adjunct Law Prof Blog

By Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Post Frequency: 42.5/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 01:00:00

Union's Are Not Perfect

Posted on February 12, 2010
A January 3, 2010 article from the New York Times describes one individual who worked for a union and embezzled millions. As the article states: In her working hours, Melissa G. King administered benefit funds for the sandhogs? union, associating...

Court Dismisses Sexual Harassment Claim Based on Single Specific Incident

Posted on February 11, 2010
Diaz v. The Cayre Group, ___Misc. 3d___, NYLJ Dec. 29, 2009 (N.Y. Co. 2009)(registration required) demonstrates how difficult it it to establish a case of sexual harassment. The court dismissed a sexual harassment claim Based because only a single incident...

For Arbitration To Be Stayed On Public Policy, The Arbitrator Must Not Be Able To Granted Any Remedy Without Violating Public Policy

Posted on February 11, 2010
Matter of State Correctional Officers v. NYS Dep't. of Civil Service, ___A.D.3d___(3d Dept. Dec. 31, 2009), is one of a rare breed of cases staying a labor arbitration on public policy grounds. Here, any arbitral remedy would run afoul of...

Performers Held To Be Independent Contractors

Posted on February 11, 2010
Employee status is important for a whole host of employment law reasons-including eligibility for unemployment insurance-to name one. Matter of Omnipop, Inc. v. Commissioner of Labor, ____A.D. 3d___(3d Dep't Dec. 31, 2009), held that certain performers were independent contractors...

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New study shows students can improve grades through metacognitive techniques

Posted on February 11, 2010
From the Chronicle of Higher Ed: Mr. Zimmerman has spent most of his career examining what can go wrong when people try to learn new facts and skills. His work centers on two common follies: First, students are often overconfident...

Are you an adjunct hoping to land a full time gig? Then read this (and stay away from sharp objects)

Posted on February 11, 2010
Here's a sobering essay called "The Big Lie About the 'Life of the Mind'" from the Chronicle of Higher Ed that warns those students entering graduate school hoping to one day land a tenure track job in the humanities need...

New York Court Again Refuses To Recognize Public Policy Exception To Employment At Will Doctrine

Posted on February 10, 2010
Candela v. Banco, __Misc. 3d___, NYLJ Dec. 29, 2009 (N.Y. Co. Nov. 19, 2009)(registration required), is an interesting case. A former Treasurer Assistant of defendant bank, alleged that her employment was terminated by defendant and that she was asked to...

Craig Becker's NLRB Nomination Appears Doomed

Posted on February 10, 2010
Yesterday, on Feb. 9, 2010, the Democrats failed to get 60 votes to push Becker's nomination forward. They mustered 53 votes with two Democrats voting with Republicans. 60 votes are necessary. Politico states: Labor lawyer Craig Becker's nomination for a...

Should Judges Be Elected Or Appointed?

Posted on February 10, 2010
The December 23, 2009 New York Times ran an article called "Effort Begun to End Voting for Judges," about efforts by Sandra Day O'Connor and others to persuade states to choose judges on the basis of merit, rather than by...

Employer Did Not Unlawfully Refuse To Hire Union SALT

Posted on February 09, 2010
Allstate Power, 354 NLRB No. 111 (Nov. 30, 2009), is an interesting NLRB decsion. The Board held that the employer did not violate LMRA, allegedly by refusing to consider for hire seven job applicants who were overt union salts, where...

NLRB Enters Default Judgment Due To Employer's Failure To Answer

Posted on February 09, 2010
What happens if a party fails to answer a NLRB complaint? The facts will be uncontroverted and the NLRB will issue a default judgment. This obvious rule of law applies equally to pro se litigants who are judged under a...

Video that shows what students really think of profs' use of classroom technology

Posted on February 09, 2010
Below is a parody video made by students and a professor at the University of Denver that tries to get the message across that while some students want more technology from their teachers, others want less. And if the professor...

Like many law profs, judges are tired of dealing with a distracted audience

Posted on February 09, 2010
Law profs complain about laptops and other electronic classroom distractions that keep students from paying attention. Some schools, like U. of Chicago, have gone as far as banning electronic devices from all classrooms. Following on their heels, many judges are...

Insubordination Is Disqualifying Misconduct For Unemployment Purposes

Posted on February 08, 2010
Matter of Smith v. Commissioner of Labor, ___A.D.3d___(3d Dep't. Dec. 17, 2009), is an example of a case where an employee was disqualified for misconduct. The misconduct here was insubordination. As the court explained: Claimant, who was employed as a...

NLRB Chair Liebman Expresses Frustration With Inability To Get NLRB Members Appointed

Posted on February 08, 2010
NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman (a term she prefers) who is someone I have met several times and admire issued a press release on Feb. 5, 2010 expressing frustration with the inability of the President and the Congress to appoint additional...

Book Review Highlight 2009 Supp Osborne Labor Union Law and Regulation

Posted on February 08, 2010
Labor Union Law and Regulation (2003)is a one vol treatise that covers the regulation of unions an the relationship between unions and individuals. This is an absolute must have book for union counsel. The 2009 Supp just came out and...

Use of Profanity Disqualifies Employee From Unemployment

Posted on February 08, 2010
Matter of Hoffman v. Commissioner of Labor, ____A.D.3d____(3d Dep't. Dec. 17, 2009), is an interesting New York Unemployment Insurance decision. As readers to this blog know, an employee discharged for misconduct is not eligible for unemployment. This case holds that...

Employee?s termination after the loss or expiration of license required to perform the duties of the position does not constitute disciplinary action

Posted on February 07, 2010
Matter of Stolzman v New York State Dept. of Transp., 2009 NY Slip Op 09136, decided on December 10, 2009, Appellate Division, Third Department Michael A. Stolzman was employed by respondent Department of Transportation as a bridge repair mechanic and...

Two Senior New York Attorneys Suspended From Practice For Failing To Pay Taxes

Posted on February 07, 2010
The New York Appellate Division, which regulates lawyers, recently suspended two lawyers for failing to pay income tax. Both were convicted of felonies and did not pay taxes for years. A New York Law Journal story about these unfortunate cases...

Obama May Make Recess Appointment To NLRB

Posted on February 07, 2010
TMP reported on Feb. 4, 2010, that the President is considering making a recess appointment to the NLRB. The article reports that Senator Reid has expressed frustration with spending an entire week on the nomination of two people (one of...

7thCir: High-ranking sales manager failed to make out age bias claim

Posted on February 06, 2010
The 7th held that a reasonable jury could not find that a 58-year-old sales manager was discharged as a result of age bias, rather than for asserted performance related reasons. In the year preceding his termination, the manager had been...

Education Law Jobs

Posted on February 06, 2010
School Law Jobs Job Title Employer Job Location General Counsel Oxnard School District Oxnard, California School Attorney Harbottle Law Group Orange County, California General Education / Labor & Employment Attorney Lozano Smith Los Angeles, California Special Education Attorney Lozano Smith...

Illinois Supreme Court Strike Med-Mal Damages Caps

Posted on February 05, 2010
The Illinois Supreme Court yesterday ruled that an Illinois statute capping damages in medical malpractice lawsuits violates the state constitution's separation of powers clause. The court's opinion, including concurrences and dissents, is here. Craig Estlinbaum

2ndCir: Amtrak may discipline union rep for attempted bribery of witness at hearing

Posted on February 05, 2010
The 2d Circuit issued a very important RLA case that has implications for the broader field of labor arbitration. A special adjustment board complied with the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and acted within the scope of its jurisdiction under the...

Union Did Not Breach DFR By Settling Grievance

Posted on February 05, 2010
Thompson v. Transportation Union, ___F.3d___(8th Cir. Dec. 8, 2009), is an interesting case. Railway union did not breach its fair-representation duty to former members when, after discovering that grievance settlement fund exceeded outstanding claims, it scrapped plan to make pro...

5thCir: Employer must bargain over effects of layoffs of unit employees following Hurricane Rita

Posted on February 05, 2010
An employer was required to bargain with a union over the effects of its layoff of bargaining unit workers following Hurricane Rita and its hiring of non-unit personnel to fill jobs formerly held by unit workers. In response to a...

What Makes a Great Teacher?

Posted on February 04, 2010
From The Atlantic magazine: For years, the secrets to great teaching have seemed more like alchemy than science, a mix of motivational mumbo jumbo and misty-eyed tales of inspiration and dedication. But for more than a decade, one organization has...

Association of American Colleges and Universities discuss ways to improve quality of teaching

Posted on February 04, 2010
From the Chronicle of Higher Ed: Nearly 1,900 presidents, provosts, and faculty members who gathered [at the recent AACU conference in Washington, D.C.]generally said that they welcome the White House's efforts to increase the proportion of Americans who earn college...

Dissatisfaction with one's work schedule or a reduction in work hours does not constitute good cause for leaving one's employment

Posted on February 04, 2010
Matter of DeGennaro v. Commissioner of Labor, ___A.D.3d___(3d Dep't. Dec. 10, 2009), demonstrates an important principle of unemployment insurance law. An employee cannot quit because of a reduction in hours and remain eligible for unemployment. As the court explains: "Dissatisfaction...

Decrease In Union Membership Is Not Indicative Of Lack Of Majority Support

Posted on February 04, 2010
I bring Crete Cold Storage, 354 NLRB No. 114 (Dec. 9, 2009), to your attention because it highlights an important point in labor law. A Board determination that a union has or lacks majority support is based upon whether a...

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