WORKPLACE INJURIES AND THE LAW (2) (LEL170)

Professors Audrey Browne & Dominick Tuminaro

This course will use the construction and destruction of the World Trade Center towers as a backdrop to explore the laws (federal, state & local) that protect workers in varied occupations and trades (including construction & clerical workers, firefighters, etc.) in their respective workplaces.

In the beginning of the course you will meet an ironworker, his wife and their four children, all of whom were connected, at different times through their occupations, to the World Trade Center. By following the experiences of this imagined family in their work environment, students in this course will examine how the law really works in a practical sense. Through an interactive classroom experience, with interviews of injured workers, employers, and others, you will learn how to determine worker’s/employer’s respective rights and learn how to advise your client on appropriate legal remedies. A take home examination will be given at the end of the course. Grades will be determined by classroom participation and the examination. Emphasis will be on ‘thinking like a lawyer’, not necessarily coming up with the right answer.

Laws and legal theories covered will include, inter alia:

• OSHA (and its state counterpart PESH)
• Workers Compensation
• Americans With Disabilities Act, State & Local Disability Laws
• Family Medical Leave Act & Title VII
• Collective Bargaining Agreements (additional protections established through bargaining)
• Negligence & Toxic Torts