Settling old intellectual debts, one article at a time

I released a new version of my open-access textbook: Work Law: Open Cases and Materials. Now with more introductory materials, and the starting phases of a new chapter: work law procedures and remedies. My students know this textbook which is freely available to all. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

The scale is horrifying. (The proposal is to let companies set their own line speed - but the current max is already *1,106* hogs/hour.)

Call for Papers: the Berkeley Law-Cornell ILR Junior Work Law Scholars Conference! Submit here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Gali Racabi (@gracabi.bsky.social), assistant professor of labor & employment law at #CornellILR, comments on the legislative hurdles to banning AI-related layoffs in the U.S. (via @politico.com).

Join us at Berkeley Law, Sept. 17! DM or Email for questions. CFP will be out soonish!

New from me on OnLabor.org: "Employers ought to internalize the costs of dismantling and cutting holes into the national economic citizenship framework. . . . Waiting, stalling, and obfuscating are the employers’ tools. The question is what labor does next." onlabor.org/employers-sh...

Published. In Lieu of the NLRA. Still very much a project in progress. Tell me what you think! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Reading the acknowledgment section as an undergrad is a tell-tale sign of a young academic

The corporate takeover of civil rights was embodied in private-sector DEI initiatives. But it wasn't about "weak" or "strong" civil rights, it was about who governs; and it wasn't about what corporations are, but about what courts wanted them to do: sort out civil rts lpeproject.org/blog/how-cor...

Some more writing in the NYT about how Chavez's UFW leadership was based on personality worship, which, eventually, crashed the UFW. Things that were well-known in academic writings on Chavez and the inner circle of the UFW. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/u...

Join us May 1st-2nd at Cornell University ILR School for a conference on Labor, Discipline, and the Carceral State. Wonderful speakers, beautiful spring in Ithaca, good vibes. events.cornell.edu/event/labor-...

Save the date: Labor, Discipline and the Carceral State, Friday-Saturday, May 1-2, 2026, at Cornell University ILR School. events.cornell.edu/event/labor-...

It was an honor to be @ohiostatelaw.bsky.social for a symposium honoring the work of the legendary Ruth Colker alongside many friends & mentors @katmacfarlane.bsky.social @sbagen.bsky.social @jasmineeharris.bsky.social @anneralph.bsky.social Jamelia Morgan, LaToya Baldwin Clark, Liz Emens & others

As always, I invite Cornell University ILR School and Cornell Law School students to reach out if they would like to chat about the ME, Israel, Iran, Gaza, and their interrelations with campus life/politics. No preaching, no solutions, a lot of active listening, and coffee on me.

Super interesting.

Going to Berkeley School of Law next week to present my work on state alternatives to the National Labor Relations Act. Come say hi if you are around!

@gracabi.bsky.social outlines what could happen in his paper "In Lieu of the NLRA" here. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Thrilled to share that I’m co-organizing the Columbia–Cornell Political Economy of Work Junior Scholars Workshop; our second year organizing the junior work law scholars.

Looking for good books/articles on prison abolition and defunding the police as alternative futures of criminal justice. What should I read/assign?

Come to ILR! www.ilr.cornell.edu/programs/mas...

I am just thrilled to have my new article Third-Party Accommodations officially out @michlawreview.bsky.social! The MLR editors were a pleasure to work with and sharing the same volume as @kovarsky.bsky.social & Daniel Fryer is the cherry on top. Read it: repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol124/i...

Amazon can either have a Constitutional NLRA preempting state law or an unconstitutional NLRA that opens the door for state regulations. They cannot have both. www.reuters.com/legal/govern... Wrote about it here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

We’re off to a great start at COSELL (Colloquium on Scholarship on Employment & Labor Law) 2025 hosted by Seton Hall Law! A fascinating panel “Expanding Labor Law” ft. Andrew Elmore (BU), Cesar Rosado (Iowa), and Jonathan Iwry (Wharton), moderated by @gracabi.bsky.social (Cornell ILR) 🥳

📖 Excited to see my article “DEI: Son of Deference” in print in the Berkeley Journal of Employment & Labor Law! The idea first took shape at COSELL two years ago, thanks to the great feedback there, it’s now fully developed and published. Read on SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

This goes on the door! A new NY law, flipping the federal default by making the Board assert authority over private sector labor disputes. Wrote about it here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

By definition, if the NLRA is gone/powerless - states gain regulatory powers of labor relations. Be careful what you wish for, California employers. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

From an outsider's point of view, the suggestion of a partisan makeup of a (hypothetical) labor court is bizarre. And if we're already doing institutional design, why not a tripartite labor court composed of workers, employers, and state representatives as judges? onlabor.org/why-not-a-re...

"The time has come for the labor movement and its lawyers to come to terms with the disintegration of federal labor governance." My paper, now in more complete form, is forthcoming at the Wisconsin Law Review. Available at SSRN here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Today I started my 4th year teaching Intro to Labor and Employment Law at Cornell ILR. For our first class, we do a contract reading exercise, going over employment contracts assigned to groups of interns, associates, and executives. We then spot legal issues and try to negotiate solutions. Cool!

Thrilled to have my work on Third-Party Accommodations (forth. @michlawreview.bsky.social) featured on the Chemical Sensitivity Podcast (@podcastingmcs.bsky.social) that amplifies voices of people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) & research about the illness. Take a listen: shorturl.at/RbT4e

First time teaching labor and employment law as an offline class - no laptops, phones, etc. The packet I'll use is a modified version of my open-access textbook, freely available here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

The final version of "DEI as Deference" is now available on SSRN. In it, I argue that DEI rose out of judicial deference to employers. Fifty-year deference annointed employers as civil rights' governors of the workplace, a legal period that is currently changing. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

The only viable path to continued federal governance of private sector labor relations during R administrations is a strong state-based alternative. www.nlrb.gov/news-outreac... Working paper around those themes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... A more developed Law Rev was submitted.

Bumping this opportunity for feedback on junior scholars' work. Having someone read and comment on your work in progress is a rare privilege in academic life. Submit your work, tell a friend, dm for qs. politicaleconomy.columbia.edu/news/call-pa...

Unilaterally assigning status by executive action - I hope labor advocates are taking notes news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

I just got the plaque for the Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Award from Cornell University for 2025. Deeply humbling. לחיי הספינות שבדרך,

So, I see we're back to NLRA business as usual, flipping and flopping our way to 0% union density. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

If you want a functioning Board and NLRA - invest in countervailing state labor laws. Scare them back into the NLRA. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

The struggle to classify gig workers as employees was the biggest policy defeat for labor progressives in the 2010s. I'm glad to see new venues opening up. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-... My (first) old paper holds up well: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

RIP Dick Fallon. A devastating loss professionally and personally.

I highly recommend reading @gracabi.bsky.social's paper. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... For another idea that complements his, check out Brian Callaci and my paper on how Parker Immunity can be used to create sectoral bargaining. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

If you think the NLRA is doomed, you should push for state private sector labor laws to protect workers' rights to power and voice on the job. If you want to protect the NLRA, you should advocate for state labor laws as a counterbalance to employers' efforts to undermine the Board. All roads etc.

De-minimis slavery is allowed news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

Memes for my work law textbook for the notes on Katie Wood v. Fl dept of Ed. (11th Cir).

I know this is not the most important thing going on in the world right now but also yes it absolutely is. The reboot of Mountain Monsters (IYKYK) has now opened its fundraising page so they can make the show and I want these men drowning in lucre: www.indiegogo.com/projects/son...

Future R administrations

Are you going to LLRN and looking for something to say to the folks at the Oxford Handbook of the Law of Work panel? Read my review of their mega-project and speak truth to power! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

🎧 Curious whether workers might be stronger without the NLRA/NLRB? This Power At Work episode challenges assumptions about U.S. labor law and organizing rights. Essential listening for labor folks. 🔗 poweratwork.us/would-worker... #Labor #Unions #NLRA #NLRB #WorkerPower #LaborLaw

Thinking about getting rid of labor law in the US? @poweratwork.bsky.social hosted @gracabi.bsky.social, @mrsethharris.bsky.social@sethunion.bsky.social, Lynn Rhinehardt, and myself to talk about that and what could replace it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDI...