Alexandra Singer

Sovereign immunity traces its roots back to English common law, but it attained constitutional status in Georgia in 1974 with an amendment to the Constitution of 1945 that allowed the General Assembly to waive sovereign immunity. The concept of sovereign immunity is that the State (the “sovereign”) cannot be sued. The public policy considerations underlying the principle protect taxpayer dollars and allow the government to operate unencumbered by courts. The State of Georgia remained absolute...

In this era of independent contractors, workers have the ability to work for themselves as consultants for other companies. If they’d like, they can simply fulfill tasks that companies outsource. Companies such as the taxi firm Uber are a prime example of this. Unfortunately, companies like this are also an example of the number of employment law cases that have recently been involved in a class action lawsuit. The way in which these workers are treated compared to the huge profits these comp...

As the Erin Andrews case has shown, sharing nude pictures of celebrities is punishable in law. Andrews was awarded $55 million after she was illegally recorded in the privacy of her hotel room by a stalker and the footage was shared online. Now, the Erin Andrews case was distinctive due to the fact that she was videotaped without her knowledge in a hotel room, and the hotel was partly responsible for this. However, the sharing of her nude picture over the internet has raised the question of w...

The laws that govern employment in one nation have an impact on other nations, too. This is perhaps most true when it comes to China and US. In this era of globalized trade, the way that a nation creates jobs and governs employment will inevitably affect commerce. Many products that sell in the United States are made in China. Many American workers, particularly professionals, leave the United States to work in China. Though Chinese employment laws aren’t necessarily of concern to American la...

The E-Verify program is a key component of employment law in the United States. Why? Federal law obliges all companies to ensure that only citizens of the United States (or foreign citizens who have received the requisite legal authorization to work in the country) are able to take up jobs in America. Although the United States is unparalleled when it comes to its diversity, this does sometimes invite problems concerning unauthorized employment. The E-Verify system directly addresses these pr...

In Georgia, where the right to bear arms is historic, many people are adamant that they ought to be able to take their guns where they please. Some people carry their arms at work and they don’t expect any problems. Unfortunately for them, however, this expectation may not always be a reality.
The recent lawsuit concerning the right to openly carry guns at the Atlanta Botanical Garden has highlighted the issue of whether people should be able to openly carry firearms onto private property. Ge...

New York has led the way in promoting social rights in the United States. The passing of the Family Leave policy in April 2016 is the latest evidence of this. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Family Leave program into law so that both men and women who have worked for any New York employer for 26 consecutive weeks, regardless of the size of the business, will be entitled to take eight weeks of paid leave at 50% of their usual weekly pay. They can use this leave to care for a new child, a fami...

Have you ever left your job and moved your family across the country for a job that doesn’t live up to its description? Unfortunately, many people have. In some cases, either the job offer or the company itself collapses. In others, the actual job turns out to have nothing in common with the job that was offered. Entire lives can be ruined this way. Why? Once the decision to leave previous employment has been made, it can very difficult for people to return. This is why accurate job descripti...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (known as the EEOC) is in trouble again for its aggressive behavior. In CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. EEOC, the court held that the defendant was entitled to payment of its attorney’s fees due to the EEOC’s failure to satisfy its pre-suit obligations. In this sexual harassment case filed by the EEOC (on the behalf of a large number of employees), the court held that the decision to award fees was not a material part of the claim as a whole. This judgm...