Employment Litigation in the United States

Constitutional Employment Litigation: Trial of the Political Discharge Case

This section examines the Constitutional Employment Litigation: Trial of the Political Discharge Case subject in its related phase of trial. In some cases, other key elements related to trials, such as personal injury, business, and criminal litigation, are also addressed.

Workmen’s Compensation–Employment Party Injury Litigation

This section examines the Workmen’s Compensation–Employment Party Injury Litigation subject in its related phase of trial. In some cases, other key elements related to trials, such as personal injury, business, and criminal litigation, are also addressed.

Employment Litigation Practice

This section offers an overview of employment cases in state and federal court. There are cross references to each major area in this subject, from job application through termination, including discrimination, harassment, wages and hours, leaves, tort and contract wrongful discharge claims. Summaries and Cross references to contents in this American legal encyclopedia cover:

• Employment contract claims
• Employment torts and related claims
• Layoffs and plant closings
• Employment discrimination in general
• Age discrimination
• Disability discrimination
• Harassment
• Compensation
• Leaves of absence
• Workplace safety
• Unfair competition
• Preemption
• Other defenses
• Remedies
• Settlement and ADR
• Practice and procedure
• Professional responsibility
• Insurance and indemnification

Public Sector Employment Litigation

This section covers lawsuits involving public employees and public agencies. While public agencies and private employers are equally subject to antidiscrimination laws and to statutory enactments such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, public agencies have many protections not enjoyed by private companies. These include special immunities, claim requirements, exhaustion requirements, limits on common law wrongful discharge actions, protections against punitive damages, and exemption from most state wage and hour laws. At the same time, public employees have far more potent rights than private employees:

• Constitutional rights (e.g., due process and First Amendment protections)
• Property rights in employment
• Civil service rules
• Labor law protections
• Public meeting
• Public records laws

Summaries and Cross references to contents in this American legal encyclopedia cover:

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT

This topic includes the following:

• Sources of Terms and Conditions of Public Employment
• Sources of Public Employee Causes of Action: Constitutional Claims and Statutory Claims
• Limitations on Causes of Action Against Public Employers
• Limitations on Court Authority Over Public Employers

PROCEDURAL DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION

This topic includes the following:

• Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
• Exhaustion of Judicial Remedies
• Government Claims Act
• Writ Review of Agency Action
• Statutes of Limitation
• Service of Process
• Venue
• Evidentiary Privileges Available to Public Agencies and Officials
• Settlement
• Attorney Fees and Costs
• Defense and Indemnity of Employees

CONSTITUTIONAL CLAIMS AND DEFENSES

This topic includes the following:

• Procedures for Bringing Constitutional Claims: 42 USC §1983
• Substantive State and Federal Constitutional Claims.

The Substantive State and Federal Constitutional Claims are based on:

• Contracts Clause
• First Amendment
• Fourth Amendment
• Fifth Amendment
• Fourteenth Amendment: Due Process and Equal Protection

HIRING AND PROMOTION

This topic includes the following:

• The Local Civil Service Systems
• Classification of Teachers and Other Academic Employees
• Discrimination In Hiring and Promotion
• Privacy Issues Related to Hiring

Privacy Issues Related to Hiring includes:

• Polygraph Examinations
• Medical Information
• Suspicionless Drug Testing

COMPENSATION

This topic includes the following:

• How Compensation Is set in the public sector
• Vacation
• Incentive Pay
• Longevity Pay
• Application of Labor laws
• Prevailing Wage Laws
• Challenging Compensation Decisions
• Wage Issues
• Hour Issues

Wage and Hour Issues include:

• Minimum Wage
• Overtime Pay
• Compensatory Time Off

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

This topic includes the following:

• Health Benefits
• Holidays
• Sick Leave
• Disability Retirement
• Challenging and Defending Employee Benefits Decisions
• Other Leaves

Other Leaves include:

• Family and Medical Leave Act
• Lab.C. §4850 Leave
• Military Leave

PENSIONS AND OTHER POSTEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

This topic includes the following:

• Statutory Authorization for Public Employee Pensions
• Public Pension Systems and Administration
• Vested Right to Pension Benefits, including limitations on Pension Benefits
• Right to Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEBs)
• Litigating Changes to Pensions and OPEBs

DISCIPLINE AND DISCHARGE

This topic includes the following:

• Bases for Discipline
• Procedural Rights Related to Discipline and Discharge
• Investigation of Misconduct
• Procedural Due Process
• Public Safety Officers and Firefighters Bill of Rights Acts
• Internal Procedures for Challenging Discipline
• Judicial Review of Disciplinary Decisions
• Remedies for Improper Discipline

LAYOFFS, FURLOUGHS AND CONTRACTING OUT

This topic includes the following:

• General and Special Authority to Furlough
• Authority for and Limitations on Contracting Out
• Layoffs

Layoffs include:

• Authority for layoffs
• Grounds for layoffs
• Layoff Procedures
• Challenging Layoffs, and
• Layoff Procedures

IMMUNITIES, DEFENSES AND REMEDIES

This topic includes the following:

• Eleventh Amendment Immunity
• Tenth Amendment Reservation of Rights
• Judicial Immunity
• Qualified Immunity
• Prosecutorial Immunity
• General Defenses in Public Employment Cases
• Defenses to Specific Tort and Contract Claims
• Limits on Remedies Against Public Agencies