Alaska Employment Law

The 9th Circuit panel that sat in Anchorage on August 7th has resolved another appeal. 
A parent sued the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, alleging that DEED had violated IDEA when it refused to accept an unsigned administrative complaint.  District Judge Ralph Beistline dismissed the suit without prejudice, and awarded attorney […]

The Alaska Judicial Council has released a survey of judicial applications and appointments from 1984 through 2007.
Among the Council’s findings are these:
•  A higher percentage of applicants are women, tracking a similar change among the Alaska bar membership. The percentage of women nominated tracked the percentage at which they applied, but the percentage of women appointed has […]

The 1991 civil rights amendments included the Government Employees Rights Act, which protected state political appointees from employment discrimination based on sex, age, etc.   The issue now before the 9th Circuit on rehearing en banc is whether Congress failed to abrogate the states’ 11th Amendment immunity when it relied on earlier congressional findings that didn’t […]