LEGL 2700 Hackleman Ch. 20, 21, & Enron

who were the "smartest guys in the room?"

ken lay and jeff skilling

enron contributed to which president's campaign?

george w. bush

valhalla scandal

-two oil traders from enron made bets on if the price of oil would rise or fall, and Enron always seemed to win

-president louis borget had 3+ mil of corporate funds and put it into his funds

-a bunch of accounts led to a mysterious lebanese speculator no one could find: m. yass

what was skilling's condition before he'd join enron?

they had to use "mark-to-market" accounting

mark-to-market accounting

-allowed enron to book potential future profits on the day the deal was signed, regardless of how much cash they had actually received

-to the outside world, enron's profits were whatever they said it was

prc: performance review committee

-everyone is rated 1-5

-10% of people had to be 5s and they were supposed to be fired

-"rank and yank"

who are the guys with spikes?

ken rice, cliff baxter, and lu pai

lu pai

-ran the enron energy services (EES)

-"invisible CEO"

-two motivations: money and strippers

-lost interest in EES as soon as the numbers got high enough and left enron with more money than anybody

-became the second largest landowner in colorado

cliff baxter

committed suicide after enron declared bankruptcy

pump and dump

top execs would push the stock price up then cash in multi million dollar options

who did ken lay present the enron prize to?

alan greenspan, chairman of the federal reserve

andy fastow

-enron's chief financial officer (CFO)

-had to keep stock price up despite enron being $30 billion in debt

-created companies to make it look like money was coming into enron

-set up as the fall guy

john olson

skeptical of enron

bethany mcclain

fortune reporter that wrote an article suggesting enron was overpriced

how did enron "make the numbers?"

california rolling blackouts

charges (4)

-andy fastow: pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and testified against other enron executives

-jeff skilling: indicted for insider trading and conspiracy to defraud investors

-arthur anderson accounting firm: convicted of obstructing justice

-ken lay: indicted for conspiracy to commit fraud

title VII applies to employers with

15+ employees

title VII purpose

eliminate job discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

price waterhouse v. hopkins

-price waterhouse had legit and illegitimate reasons based on her sex to not consider her as a partner

-hopkins sued price waterhouse for sex discrimination under title VII

-SCOTUS said unless could prove they would have denied her if not because she was a women but for other reasons

types of sexual harassment

quid pro quo and hostile work environment

quid pro quo

-this for that

-employee has been threatened with loss if they don't provide sexual favors

-no defenses if they can prove it

for every ______ quid pro quo claims, ______ is made by a man

5; 1

hostile work environment

-co-worker makes a sexual comment/touch, stares, blocking your path, unwanted gifts

who is liable in a hostile work environment?

employers are liable if they know or should have known about the problem and didn't take reasonable steps to stop it

sexual harassment must be:

severe and pervasive

pregnancy discrimination act

employer can't force a pregnant woman to leave if she can still perform her duties

family & medical leave act (FMLA)

allows eligible employees who worked a year for covered employers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period if certain situation

FMLA listed events

1. birth or care of newborn child of employee

2. placement with employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care

3. care of an immediate family member with serious health condition

4. employee is unable to work due to a serious health condition

equal pay act

-similar work for the same company

-includes all pay, not just the salary

bostock v. clayton county, georgia

-child welfare services coordinator fired after joining a gay softball team

-SCOTUS found that firing someone due to sexual orientation or gender identity is a violation of title VII

Zarda, gay skydiver

Harris funeral homes, trans women

can religious institutions discriminate?

based on religion only

discrimination is prohibited in the following employer actions:

1. discharge

2. refusal to hire

3. compensation

4. promotion

5. terms, conditions, or privileges of employment

what is not an argument for BFOQ?

customer preference

the employment opportunity commission (EEOC) possesses the authority to:

1. hold hearings

2. obtain evidence

3. subpoena and examine witnesses under oath

4. file a civil suit in federal district court on behalf of persons

1991 amendments

-allow the recovery of compensatory and punitive damages

-prohibits race norming of employment tests and quota setting

disparate treatment

employer intentionally discriminates

disparate impact

discriminatory effect

retaliation

adverse employment actions against employee

thompson v. north american stainless

-thompson's fiance filed for discrimination

-three weeks later, NAS fires thompson since they can't touch his fiance

-SCOTUS found that firing her fiance was retaliation

zone of interest test

purpose of title VII is to protect employees from their employers' unlawful acts

ricci v. destefano

-firefighters took an oral and written test to get promotions

-black firefighters argued the test was disparate treatment, but white/hispanic firefighters argued that throwing out the test was disparate treatment

-no showing of disparate impact; the city should have certified the results

5 employment practices that may be challenged

1. testing and educational requirements

2. height and weight requirements

3. appearance requirements

4. affirmative action

5. seniority systems

is there clarity with appearance requirements?

no clarity with regard to its legality; case by case

affirmative action

federally contracting employers must recruit members of minority groups being underused in the workforce

private employers affirmative action

voluntarily adopt affirmative action or agree to it with unions

civil rights act of 1866 includes protection against racial discrimination in

contracts

2 advantages of the civil rights act of 1866

-bypass the EEOC to go straight to the courts

-no caps on damages

disadvantage of the civil rights act of 1866

very narrow, only covers racial discrimination

age discrimination in employment act (ADEA)

prohibits discrimination against employees aged 40+ on account of their age

according to ADEA, it is illegal to impose a mandatory retirement age for employees unless

they are a "bona fide executive/high policy maker"

ADEA applies if there are more than _____ employees

20+

what is considered a disability according to the americans with disabilities act (ADA)?

any physical or mental impairment that substaintially limits one or more major life activities

qualified disabled

-employer must make reasonable accommodations for a qualified disabled

-can do the job as well as anyone else with the accommodation

does the employer have to make any accomodation for a qualified disabled?

no, if undue burden or extreme expense

genetic information nondiscrimination act (GINA)

prohibits covered employers from discriminating based on employees/family's genetic information

health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPPA)/affordable care act

-can't discriminate based on pre-existing conditions (denying life insurance, etc)

employment-at-will means employees can be terminated if:

1. employer has lost confidence in the employee

2. employer feels like firing the employee

3. employer has a change in business needs

employment-at-will means that employers can't terminate if it violates statutes or public policy

-labor-management relations act prohibits employers from firing based on unionizing

-jury duty

-military duty

-whisteblowing

federal labor standards act (FLSA)

exempt: white collar, certain salary, professionals exempt from overtime pay

non-exempt: employers must pay non-exempt employees overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 hours/week

Employee must file charges of illegal discrimination with EEOC within

180 days after notice of unlawful practice OR 300 days if first filed with state

federal law doesn’t

pre-empt state fair employment laws

Defense for disparate impact

business necessity