I am delighted to have received, hot off the presses, Michael Fischl's article "Rethinking the Tripartite Division of Work Law" that has been published in Volume 28 of the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law (p.163). In this piece, Michael convincingly makes the case that the law has effectively outgrown the familiar categorization of disputes into labor law cases (Union based, NLRA, etc.) or employment law cases (wrongful termination, workplace safety, whistleblower) or employment discrimination cases (race, gender, disability, etc.). He demonstates that today's skilled practitioner must of necessity be familiar with all three of these formally distinct areas of law. And, he shows how labor unions, institutions normally associated with "labor law," have become increasingly important engines of workplace equality for members of historically burdened groups, while traditional employment discrimination claims have become the tool of choice for those challenging unfair conduct in the workplace. Michael's work has implications both for how law is now understood and practiced as well as for how we might structure our "work law" curriculum.
Congratulations Michael!
Jeremy Paul
