Affirmative Action: Are the Equal Protection and Title VII Tests Synonymous?

Over the past decade, the United States Supreme Court has debated the extent to which employment decisions can be based on race or sex. As yet, the Court has not articulated a controlling test to evaluate the legality of all types of affirmative action plans. A review of the relevant cases, however, reveals that the Court uses the same standards to test the validity of both voluntary and court ordered affirmative action plans regardless of whether the challenge is brought under Title VII or the equal protection clauses

The European Union: Where Is It Now?

In four decades, western Europe has, by the force of economics, not blood and iron, united along economic, social and political venues. The western European marketplaces emerging from the devastation of World War II began to integrate with the concomitant benefit of a standard of economic well-being theretofore unknown. The unifying theme underlying the cooperation of the nations of western Europe in the European Economic Community has been that economic union quite necessarily leads to political union and both work in unison to preserve peace. This is the first of two articles on the European Union. The purpose of this article is to help educate the reader generally about the historical development and the law of the European Union, including its sources of law and its institutions

Fundamental Rights in the European Union

The process of European union has evolved from one based on economics alone to one concerned with keeping peace and the rights of individual citizens. This past year, the Member States of the European Union agreed upon the provisions of a new treaty that recognizes that the continued viability of the Union also depends on its people, not merely on its laws and institutions. The Treaty of Amsterdam focuses on the protection of fundamental human rights within the Union. When the member states ratify this treaty, as expected, individual citizens will be assured that the Union will protect their human rights no matter where they choose to travel or live within the Union. The authors believe that this recognition of the role of the individual is a positive step in the growth of a strong and unified European Union

The New Bankruptcy Procedures for Rejection of Collective-Bargaining Agreements: Is the Pendulum Swinging Back

In 1984 the United States Supreme Court, in Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Bildisco & Bildisco, held that a debtor in possession in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding could unilaterally reject existing collective-bargaining agreements. Under pressure from labor interests, Congress acted quickly and enacted amendments to the Bankruptcy Act, whereby executory collective bargaining agreements were removed from the operation of the rejection provisions found in section 365 of the Code. After summarily examining bankruptcy law and the Bildisco case, the authors thoroughly discuss new section 1113 of the Bankruptcy Code, which deals with the treatment of collective-bargaining agreements in the course of bankruptcy proceedings. Anticipating construction of the section\u27s provisions-based on both the legislative background of the amendments, and on general principles of bankruptcy and labor law-the authors conclude that Congress has successfully enacted law which will work to prevent the derogation of labor\u27s collective-bargaining rights as threatened in Bildisco