Laws, Legal Interpretations and Government Flashcards
Fellow Servant Rule
absolves employers of responsibility if a co-workers actions caused the injury
Doctrine of Contributory Negligence
used to mitigate employers responsibility if the workers actions contributed in any way to the injury
Voluntary Assumption of Risk
workers who knew the dangers of the job when they took it assume associated risk
FECA (1916)
Federal Employee’s Compensation Act: federal employees equivalent of workers comp. Administered by the DOL.
LHWCA (1927)
Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act: provides workers comp for maritime workers whos injuries occur on the navigable waters of the US or on piers, docks, or terminals
BLBA (1969, amended 1977)
Black Lung Benefits Act: provides benefits to coal minters who have been disabled by pneumoconiosis. Benefits also paid to surviving dependents if its their cause of death
EEOICP (2000)
Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program: provides comp to employees and contractors of the DOE who were subject to excessive radiation while producing or testing nuclear weapons.
Burlington Industries vs. Ellerth
Establishes vicarious liability - “An employer is subject to vicarious liability to a victimized employee for an actionable hostile environment created by a supervisor with immediate (or successively higher) authority over the employee.”
An employer may be held accountable even if the employer isn’t aware of the actions.
Closely related to respondeat superior
Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988
Applies to Federal Contractors with $100,000 or more in federal contracts
Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.
Ruled that “sexual harassment of any kind that meets the statutory requirements” must be covered under Title VII.
Meritor Savings Bank vs. Vinson (1986)
SC found that a claim of “hostile environment” sex discrimination is actionable under Title VII. The court rejected the idea the the “mere existence of a grievance procedure and a policy against discrimination” is enough protect an employer from acts of its supervisors.
Harris vs. Forklift Systems (1993)
Further defines hostile work environment as one that falls between one which is merely offensive and that which results in tangible psychological injury.
Faragher vs. City of Boca Raton (1998)
Found employers are responsible for the actions they employ and have a responsibility to control them.
Further, the supervisor doesn’t need to make explicit threat of tangible employment action (TEA) for the harassment to be actionable.
ECPA (1986)
Electronic Communication Privacy Act: the law permits employers to monitor communication that occurs in their normal course of business and when the employees give consent
prima facie violation
- The employee was engaged in a protected activity.
- The employer suspected or knew that the employee was engaged in the protected activity.
- The employee suffered an unfavorable employment action.
- The unfavorable action by the employer was circumstantially linked to the employee’s participation in the protected activity in a way that implied that their participation was a contributing factor in the unfavorable action.
FSAB
Financial Accounting Standards Board
Officially recognized by the SEC as the authority for accounting practices.
Securities Exchange Act
1934: Gave statutory authority for establishing reporting standards for publicly held companies to the SEC
AICPA
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Developed GAAP
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (1977)
Prohibits the payment of bribes and requires accounting practices that preclude the use of covert bank accounts that could be used to make these payments.
Davis-Bacon Act (1931)
First act to regulate basic hourly rate of pay to employees.
Portal to Portal Act (1947)
Generally, the Portal to Portal Act provides that as long as an employee is engaging in activities that are designed to benefit the employer, he or she should be paid for her services regardless of where that work is performed.
It also determined that employees are not to be paid for their travel time from home to the office.
WPDA (1958)
The Welfare and Pension Disclosure Act (WPDA) of 1958 was passed in Congress in order to regulate private pensions plans.
Payne v. The Western & Atlantic Railroad Company (1884)
Set the original standard for employment-at-will
Griggs vs Duke Power (1971)
Introduced Disparate Impact, added to the Civil Rights Act of 1991
Executive Order 13087
Executive Order 11478 (1969) was amended in 1998 with Executive Order 13087 to include sexual orientation as a protected class for federal employees.
EEOA (1972)
Equal Employment Opportunity Act was created to provide coverage to the federal, state, and local governments, and education institutions
Grants authority to the EEOC to sue in federal courts if an agreement can’t be reached between the EEOC and employers or employment agencies
Title VII 1978 Ammendment
the amendment stated that women should not be discriminated against due to pregnancy, childbirth, or any related medical condition.
Title VII 1991 Ammendment
CRA amendments included the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Washington v. Davis
Carries that determined employment procedures or tools are not unconstitutional just because they adversely impact a protected class and predict future workplace success.
ADA 1990
Added disabled persons as a protected class.
GINA 2008
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) was signed into law by President George W. Bush. This act prohibits discrimination against employees with certain genetic disorders.
Glass Ceiling Act 1991
To identify and eliminate the invisible barrier, or glass ceiling, that women and minorities face in moving up the ranks to executive positions.
EO 13658
Mandating that individuals working on or part of a federal contract be paid a min wage of 10.35
Required tipped workers be paid no less than the 7.25 min wage
