Looking South: Toward Principled Protection of U.S. Workers

Ann C. McGinley, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Keywords

“Principled Labor Law, ” Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, The Americans with Disabilities Act, Latin American interpretation of labor law, vulnerable workers, unions, employment-at-will, the protective principle, the primacy of reality principle, the non-waiver principle, the continuity principle

Abstract

In Principled Labor Law: U.S. Labor Law through a Latin American Method, authors Sergio Gamonal C. & Cesar F. Rosado Marzán argue that U.S. courts should follow the Latin American method of applying long-held jurisprudential principles to interpret labor law. The authors’ baseline is clear: applying these principles to U.S. employment law will better the employment opportunities and stability of workers who suffer from unequal bargaining power and the ever-present employer-oriented employment-at-will doctrine. Focusing on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and other civil rights provisions, this article imagines how applying the principles described by Gamonal and Rosado to U.S. anti-discrimination law could provide further protection to U.S. employees. It concludes that Latin American principles could effectively give U.S. judges interpretive tools that would make application of the law more consistent and protective of individual civil rights.