Alaska Employment Law

Guaranteed appellate oral argument:  When the 9th Circuit was recently in Anchorage, some practitioners found out, at the last minute, that the court had cancelled oral argument and taken their matters solely on the briefs.  Unlike the Alaska Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit doesn’t guarantee oral argument - except for pro bono appointed counsel, as discussed in an article in Adjunct Law Professor.

Section 1988 - intervenor fee liability:  The Court applied the “innocent intervenor” holding of IFFA v. Zipes, 491 US 754 (1989), to affirm the denial of a costs and attorney fees award against an unsuccessful intervenor-defendant.  Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Hoen, 2008 WL ________ (9th Cir. Aug. 15, 2008).

Confidentiality in arbitrations:  Adjunct Law Professor discusses whether information disclosed in arbitration is confidential. 

A related issue is whether arbitration awards may (or even must) be accessible to third parties.  Some employee or union-side advocates contend that the award is part of the employee’s (confidential) personnel file.  On the other hand, grievants sometimes assert a right of access to earlier arbitration awards as part of discovery on the merits (given the role of precedence and past practice in arbitrations), or, less frequently, during the selection of the arbitrator, as required by the Due Process aspect of mandatory arbitration.  If the arbitration involves public employment, there’s an argument that the award is a public record, and a countervailing argument that, if so, it’s exempt under a “privacy” or “personal information” rationale.