Ellen Dannin
Encyclopedia
Ellen Dannin is professor of law at the Dickinson School of Law
at Penn State University, and an expert in the labor law of New Zealand
and the United States
.
. She received a bachelor of arts
degree in 1975 and a juris doctor
degree in 1978, both from the University of Michigan
.
She has one child (a daughter).
After obtaining her law degree, Dannin clerked for Cornelia G. Kennedy, a judged on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
in Detroit, Michigan
. She clerked for Judge Kennedy from 1978 to 1979. When Kennedy was elevated in 1979 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
, Dannin clerked for her for a second year (from 1979 to 1980).
In 1980, Dannin became an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB), serving in the seventh region office in Detroit. She held that position until 1991. During her tenure at the Board, Dannin was appointed a visiting professor at the Department of Commerce at Massey University
in Palmerston North
, New Zealand. She spent all of 1990 in New Zealand.
In 1991, Dannin left NLRB and was appointed a professor of law at California Western School of Law
in San Diego, California
. She taught there until 2002. In 1992, she took a leave of absence to spend a year as a scholar in residence at the Center for Industrial Relations at Victoria University of Wellington
in Wellington
, New Zealand. She returned in 1994 as a scholar in residence in the university's Law Department. In 1996 she was a scholar in residence at the University of Otago
in Dunedin
, New Zealand, and held a similar position at the University of Waikato
in Hamilton, New Zealand
. She returned to Victoria University in as a scholar in residence in 1997.
Concurrently with her position at California Western, she held a position as a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
from 1999 to 2002, and was a visiting professor of law at the University of Michigan in 2002.
In 2002, Dannin permanently left California Western and obtained an appointment as a professor of law at the Wayne State University
Law School. She left Wayne State in 2005.
In the fall of 2006, Dannin became a professor of law at the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State University
.
Dannin has also been a consultant for the United States Department of Labor
(1987), U.S. General Accounting Office
Workplace Quality Issues Panel (2003), and the New Zealand Department of Labour (1997). She also taught labor law in the Program in Union Leadership and Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1999 to 2002).
, New Zealand labor law, collective bargaining, privatization, and legal education.
Dannin's most recent book is Taking Back the Workers' Law (2006), in which she calls for the American labor movement
to adopt a strategy used by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1930s. Dannin argues that civil rights attorneys for the NAACP laid out a long-term litigation strategy designed to overturn 70 years' of court rulings which had limited the advancement of civil rights in the United States. NAACP lawyers chose to attack discrimination in law schools because judges were most familiar with those organizations. Once the legal case had been made and won ending racial discrimination in law schools, NAACP lawyers rapidly expanded their attack to public colleges and university, public elementary and secondary education, and the workplace.
Dannin outlines court rulings and NLRB decision that have, in her opinion, undermined the National Labor Relations Act
(NLRA) and contributed to a legal environment no longer conducive to union organizing and effective union activities (such as economic pressure). Dannin argues that the American labor movement must undertake a strategy similar to the one adopted by the NAACP. She emphasizes a program designed to educate judges and lawyers about the nature of work (including the collapse of the "bright line" between supervisor and employee), arguing that most judges have little real-world experience in this regard. The book focuses heavily on the NLRA's stated goals of social and economic justice, and Dannin pushes for a legal strategy that takes the preamble to the NLRA seriously; in other words, that labor attorneys should force courts to see how existing rulings undermine the NLRA's goals of social justice and an effective, active, even powerful labor movement.
Many American labor movement activists have argued that the legal framework of the NLRA has been so significantly undermined that union organizing should no longer occur under the auspices of the NLRA but should occur in extra-legal contexts (such as pressure campaigns).
Taking Back the Worker's Law, however, has won praise from the legal community for rejecting this characterization of the NLRA and case law and putting forth a creative and legally strong program. "Ellen Dannin proposes something unique and, ironically, much more likely to have practical effect: an articulate, passionate, even romantic defense of the nation’s basic labor law. Taking Back the Workers' Law invites labor leaders, lawyers, and academics to develop innovative litigation strategies for restoring the original intent of the law," observed Christopher Cameron, a professor of law at Southwestern University School of Law
.http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4465 Fred Feinstein, former general counsel for the NLRB, noted, that Dannin "puts forth an important perspective on how to breathe new life into our labor law. ... In original and provocative ways, Dannin maintains that too many have lost sight of what our labor law could be and argues forcefully that it can be restored to realize its fundamental purpose."http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4465
Others have been less enthusiastic about the book's prescriptive program, but acknowledged that it contains a wealth of information about U.S. labor law and the history of court rulings going back seven decades.
, Michigan Bar Association, Labor and Employment Relations Association
(LERA), Law and Society Association
, United Association for Labor Education
, and the Association of American Law Schools
.
She is editor of the LERA newsletter, Labor and the Law, a highly popular publication widely read by academics, lawyers and labor movement activists.
Co-Chair, Collaborative Research Network 8 on Labor Rights, Law and Society Association 2003-
She is an advisor to or reviewer for the Labor Law Journal
, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law
, Labor Studies Journal
, Law and Society Review, WorkingUSA
, and the Journal of Socio-Economics.
Dickinson School of Law
Penn State University Dickinson School of Law is the law school of The Pennsylvania State University...
at Penn State University, and an expert in the labor law of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early life and education
Dannin was born in MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. She received a bachelor of arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1975 and a juris doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree in 1978, both from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
She has one child (a daughter).
Career
After obtaining her undergraduate degree, Dannin was a teaching fellow in the Women's Studies Department at the University of Michigan from 1977 to 1978.After obtaining her law degree, Dannin clerked for Cornelia G. Kennedy, a judged on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan is the Federal district court with jurisdiction over of the eastern portion of the state of Michigan. The Court is based in Detroit, with courthouses also located in Ann Arbor, Bay City, Flint, and Port Huron...
in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. She clerked for Judge Kennedy from 1978 to 1979. When Kennedy was elevated in 1979 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
, Dannin clerked for her for a second year (from 1979 to 1980).
In 1980, Dannin became an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...
(NLRB), serving in the seventh region office in Detroit. She held that position until 1991. During her tenure at the Board, Dannin was appointed a visiting professor at the Department of Commerce at Massey University
Massey University
Massey University is one of New Zealand's largest universities with approximately 36,000 students, 20,000 of whom are extramural students.The University has campuses in Palmerston North , Wellington and Auckland . Massey offers most of its degrees extramurally within New Zealand and internationally...
in Palmerston North
Palmerston North
Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...
, New Zealand. She spent all of 1990 in New Zealand.
In 1991, Dannin left NLRB and was appointed a professor of law at California Western School of Law
California Western School of Law
California Western School of Law, founded in 1924, is a private, non-profit law school located in San Diego, California. It is popularly known as California Western or Cal Western and formerly California Western University. The school was approved by the American Bar Association in 1962 and became...
in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. She taught there until 2002. In 1992, she took a leave of absence to spend a year as a scholar in residence at the Center for Industrial Relations at Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand. She returned in 1994 as a scholar in residence in the university's Law Department. In 1996 she was a scholar in residence at the University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...
in Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, New Zealand, and held a similar position at the University of Waikato
University of Waikato
The University of Waikato is located in Hamilton and Tauranga, New Zealand, and was established in 1964. It has strengths across a broad range of subject areas, particularly its degrees in Computer Science and in Management...
in Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
. She returned to Victoria University in as a scholar in residence in 1997.
Concurrently with her position at California Western, she held a position as a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
from 1999 to 2002, and was a visiting professor of law at the University of Michigan in 2002.
In 2002, Dannin permanently left California Western and obtained an appointment as a professor of law at the Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
Law School. She left Wayne State in 2005.
In the fall of 2006, Dannin became a professor of law at the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
.
Dannin has also been a consultant for the United States Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
(1987), U.S. General Accounting Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
Workplace Quality Issues Panel (2003), and the New Zealand Department of Labour (1997). She also taught labor law in the Program in Union Leadership and Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1999 to 2002).
Research interests
Dannin's research interests focus on United States labor lawUnited States labor law
United States labor law is a heterogeneous collection of state and federal laws. Federal law not only sets the standards that govern workers' rights to organize in the private sector, but also overrides most state and local laws that attempt to regulate this area. Federal law also provides more...
, New Zealand labor law, collective bargaining, privatization, and legal education.
Dannin's most recent book is Taking Back the Workers' Law (2006), in which she calls for the American labor movement
Labor unions in the United States
Labor unions in the United States are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries. The most prominent unions are among public sector employees such as teachers and police...
to adopt a strategy used by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1930s. Dannin argues that civil rights attorneys for the NAACP laid out a long-term litigation strategy designed to overturn 70 years' of court rulings which had limited the advancement of civil rights in the United States. NAACP lawyers chose to attack discrimination in law schools because judges were most familiar with those organizations. Once the legal case had been made and won ending racial discrimination in law schools, NAACP lawyers rapidly expanded their attack to public colleges and university, public elementary and secondary education, and the workplace.
Dannin outlines court rulings and NLRB decision that have, in her opinion, undermined the National Labor Relations Act
National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act , is a 1935 United States federal law that limits the means with which employers may react to workers in the private sector who create labor unions , engage in collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in...
(NLRA) and contributed to a legal environment no longer conducive to union organizing and effective union activities (such as economic pressure). Dannin argues that the American labor movement must undertake a strategy similar to the one adopted by the NAACP. She emphasizes a program designed to educate judges and lawyers about the nature of work (including the collapse of the "bright line" between supervisor and employee), arguing that most judges have little real-world experience in this regard. The book focuses heavily on the NLRA's stated goals of social and economic justice, and Dannin pushes for a legal strategy that takes the preamble to the NLRA seriously; in other words, that labor attorneys should force courts to see how existing rulings undermine the NLRA's goals of social justice and an effective, active, even powerful labor movement.
Many American labor movement activists have argued that the legal framework of the NLRA has been so significantly undermined that union organizing should no longer occur under the auspices of the NLRA but should occur in extra-legal contexts (such as pressure campaigns).
Taking Back the Worker's Law, however, has won praise from the legal community for rejecting this characterization of the NLRA and case law and putting forth a creative and legally strong program. "Ellen Dannin proposes something unique and, ironically, much more likely to have practical effect: an articulate, passionate, even romantic defense of the nation’s basic labor law. Taking Back the Workers' Law invites labor leaders, lawyers, and academics to develop innovative litigation strategies for restoring the original intent of the law," observed Christopher Cameron, a professor of law at Southwestern University School of Law
Southwestern University School of Law
Southwestern Law School is a private ABA-accredited law school located in Los Angeles, California , with about 1,000 students. Its campus includes the Bullocks Wilshire building, an admired art deco National Register of Historic Places landmark built in 1929...
.http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4465 Fred Feinstein, former general counsel for the NLRB, noted, that Dannin "puts forth an important perspective on how to breathe new life into our labor law. ... In original and provocative ways, Dannin maintains that too many have lost sight of what our labor law could be and argues forcefully that it can be restored to realize its fundamental purpose."http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4465
Others have been less enthusiastic about the book's prescriptive program, but acknowledged that it contains a wealth of information about U.S. labor law and the history of court rulings going back seven decades.
Memberships
Dannin is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
, Michigan Bar Association, Labor and Employment Relations Association
Labor and Employment Relations Association
The Labor and Employment Relations Association, founded in 1947, as the Industrial Relations Research Association, is an organization for professionals in industrial relations and human resources. Headquartered at the at the , the national organization has more than 3,000 members...
(LERA), Law and Society Association
Law and Society Association
The Law and Society Association is an association founded in 1964. Its members come from many fields and countries and are interested in "the place of law in social, political, economic and cultural life". The association publishes the academic journal Law & Society Review.The LSA's executive...
, United Association for Labor Education
United Association for Labor Education
United Association for Labor Education is an international association for post-secondary, community, union and associated labor educators based in Chicago, Illinois....
, and the Association of American Law Schools
Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools is a non-profit organization of 170 law schools in the United States. Another 25 schools are "non-member fee paid" schools, which are not members but choose to pay AALS dues. Its purpose is to improve the legal profession through the improvement of legal...
.
She is editor of the LERA newsletter, Labor and the Law, a highly popular publication widely read by academics, lawyers and labor movement activists.
Co-Chair, Collaborative Research Network 8 on Labor Rights, Law and Society Association 2003-
She is an advisor to or reviewer for the Labor Law Journal
Labor Law Journal
The Labor Law Journal is a journal which publishes articles regarding labor law, labor-management relations, and labor economics in the United States....
, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law
Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law
The Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law is a law journal that publishes articles in the field of labor and employment law. It was founded in 1979 as the Industrial Relations Law Journal. It changed its name to the current title in 1993...
, Labor Studies Journal
Labor Studies Journal
Labor Studies Journal is a multi-disciplinary academic publication about workers and labor organizations in the United States as well as internationally. It was founded in 1975....
, Law and Society Review, WorkingUSA
WorkingUSA
WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society is a comprehensive and significant critical source on the "work" experience, labor movements, and class relations throughout the world...
, and the Journal of Socio-Economics.
Books
- Taking Back the Workers' Law. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-8014-4438-1
- Working Free: The Origins and Impact of New Zealand's Employment Contracts Act. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press, 1997.
Edited works
- The Developing Labor Law: The Board, the Courts, and the National Labor Relations Act. 4th ed. Patrick Hardin, et al., eds. Ellen Dannin, et al., contr. Eds. Washington, D.C.: BNA Books, 2005. ISBN 1-57018-505-0
Selected solely-authored articles
- "Collective Bargaining, Impasse and the Implementation of Final Offers: Have We Created a Right Unaccompanied by Fulfillment?" University of Toledo Law Review. 19:41 (1987).
- "Consummating Market-Based Labor Law Reform in New Zealand: Context and Reconfiguration." Boston University International Law Journal. 14:267 (1996).
- "Hail, Market, Full of Grace: Buying and Selling Labor Law Reform." Law Review of Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law. 2001:1090.
- "Labor Law Reform: Is There a Baby in the Bathwater?" Labor Law Journal. 44:626 (1993).
- "Legislative Intent and Impasse Resolution Under the National Labor Relations Act: Does Law Matter?" Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal. 15:11 (1997).
- "Monday Morning Quarterbacks and Salts: How Not to Argue a Supreme Court Case." Labor Law Journal. 47:199 (1996).
- "NLRA Values, Labor Values, American Values." Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law. 26:223 (2005).
- "Red Tape or Accountability: Privatization, Public-ization, and Public Values." Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy. 15:1111 (2006).
- "Statutory Subjects and the Duty to Bargain." Labor Law Journal. 39:44 (1988).
- "Teaching Labor Law Using Socio-Economic Methodology." San Diego Law Review. 41:93 (2004).
- "To Market, To Market: Privatizing and Subcontracting Public Work." University of Maryland Law Review. 60:249 (2001).
- "Union Mergers and Affiliations: Discontinuing the Continuity of Representation Test." Labor Law Journal. 32:170 (1981).
- "A Union Movement of the New Century." WorkingUSA. 8:489 (2005).
- "Using the NLRB as a Resource." Labor Studies Journal. 24:38 (1999).
Selected co-authored articles
- Dannin, Ellen and Wagar, Terry. "How True Is What Everyone Knows? Board Avoidance, First Contract and the Organizing Versus Servicing Model." Labor Law Journal. 51:3 (2000).
- Dannin, Ellen and Wager, Terry. "Impasse and Implementation – How to Subvert the National Labor Relations Act." WorkingUSA. 3:73 (Fall 2000).
- Dannin, Ellen and Wager, Terry. "Lawless Law: The Subversion of the National Labor Relations Act." Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review. 34:197 (2000).