Bringing Home the Supply Chain

SAMUEL ESTREICHER, JONATHAN F. HARRIS

NYU law professors Samuel Estreicher and Jonathan F. Harris describe how the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the United States to confront the problem of unchecked globalization. Estreicher and Harris argue that once the pandemic subsides, U.S. policymakers should, as a matter of national security, mandate that a minimum percentage of essential supplies be manufactured domestically.

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Unconstitutional Chaos: Abortion in the Time of COVID-19

JOANNA L. GROSSMAN, MARY ZIEGLER

SMU Dedman School of Law professor Joanna L. Grossman and Florida State University law professor Mary Ziegler discuss the abortion bans implemented in several states in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Grossman and Ziegler explain why the bans are unconstitutional and comment on the connection between the legal challenges to those bans and the broader fight over abortion rights.

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Smith v. Ochsner Health System

Docket: 18-31264

Opinion Date: April 17, 2020

Judge: Leslie H. Southwick

Areas of Law: Labor & Employment Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of defendants' motion for summary judgment in a Fair Labor Standards Act suit brought by plaintiff for unpaid overtime wages. The court held that the district court properly held that plaintiff was exempt, as a highly compensated employee, from the statutory mandate that employers provide overtime compensation for employees. In this case, plaintiff was an organ procurement coordinator, engaged in a literal procurement for the company. Therefore, the court held that plaintiff's duties directly related to the management or general business operations, that performance was customary and regular, and plaintiff waived his argument that he performed primarily manual work.