AMERICAN LABOR LAW This rese

This research paper discusses in the form of answers to six questions various aspects of American labor law based on the assigned text and materials referenced therein.

At common law, the compensation to be paid to a worker was decided by the competitive marketplace. In the absence of fraud, duress, coercion or incapacity to contract, Epstein says that "so long as it is accepted that the employer is the full owner of his capital and the employee is the full owner of his labor, the two are free to exchange on whatever terms they see fit . . ." In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Supreme Court held that liberty of contract was a property right guaranteed against denial of due process through state action under the 5th Amendment of the Bill of Rights which was applicable to the states through the 14th Amendment. The Court upheld some but invalidated many other state laws regulating aspects of worker compensation, such as maximum hours of work and minimum wages. Courts regularly enjoined strikes and union organizing efforts, sending leading labor leaders such as Eugene Debs to prison for contempt of court and ruled in the 1890s that the Sherman Anti-trust law could be used to enjoin labor activities in restraint of trade. Labor was exempted under the 1914 Clayton Act.

Various abuses committed by unbridled capitalism and changing social mores led eventually to Supreme Court decisions in the late 1930s upholding

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his firing was not solely or primarily his age but rather his years of service. While the courts constantly pay lip service to the concept of age discrimination, it remains one of the most insidious and least protected against forms of employment discrimination. In addition to other obstacles, employers can use as a defense that their decision to retire the older worker was based on bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) considerations. The use of early retirement plans to ease out older employees has been upheld by the courts. (b). Affirmative Action. Affirmative action plans and programs were an outgrowth of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and various federal and state statutes and executive orders and regulations. They typically involve the setting of targets for the hiring, training and promotion of greater numbers of or women or individuals from racial or other minorities, than has historically been the case. The most recent case upholding their constitutionality is Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, Cal. in which Justice William Brennan for the majority upheld a county transit plan to "permit attainment of an equitable representation of minorities, women and handicapped persons." The C
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4606
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)

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