Government 218 - Workplace Law in Capitalist America

A critical introduction to government regulation of employment and to legal theories of freedom and justice in the workplace. Topics: 1) the development of laws granting workers the right to form labor unions and to collectively bargain, culminating with discussion of the current debate on the labor rights of public sector workers in Wisconsin and other states; 2) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other anti-discrimination laws designed to protect women, persons of color, the disabled and GLBT individuals in the workplace as well as the rights of immigrant workers; and 3) privacy at work, including how law impacts the use of social media like Facebook and Twitter in the employment context. Lecture/Discussion. To be offered once only Enrollment limited to 30.