Retaliatory Discharge for Filing a Workers\u27 Compensation Claim: The Development of a Modern Tort Action

To protect employees from being discharged in retaliation for filing a workers\u27 compensation claim, courts and legislatures have fashioned a remedy-the tort action of retaliatory discharge. While this Article examines the tort of retaliatory discharge for workers\u27 compensation in particular, its analysis applies as well in other retaliatory discharge contexts. The Article surveys the development of the tort of retaliatory discharge, sets forth the prima facie case of liability, and explores problems in proving causation. The Article then discusses available defenses and recommends that courts and legislatures recognize both legal and equitable remedies. Finally, the Article examines legislation that may be enacted by states that wish to provide a complementary administrative remedy

The Synergistic Evolution of Liberty and Equality in the Marriage Cases Brought by Same-Sex Couples in State Courts

Legal scholars have expressed varying views about the roles of liberty and equality in the area of lesbian and gay rights. Some have encouraged gay rights litigators to stress one form of argument over the other. At least one commentator, Pamela Karlan, has suggested that looking at the issue through the lenses of both the due process clause and the equal protection clause simultaneously can have synergistic effects, producing results that neither clause might reach by itself. This article examines selected marriage cases brought by same-sex couples in state courts in order to understand the role played by liberty and equality in this one segment of gay rights litigation. It is the thesis of this Article (written with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight) that, by focusing on the two constitutional issues simultaneously, gay rights litigators in the state court marriage cases have sparked a synergistic evolution of both liberty and equality under state constitutional law