T—Civil Rights

Definitions

Worker

Workers are people who engage in a field, activity or cause.

Dictionary.com defines “worker” as

[ LADI//LBE

a person engaged in a particular field, activity, or cause

“Worker” means employee

Business Dictionary17[“employee” LADI

Employee: An individual who works part-time or full-time under a contract of employment, whether oral or written, express or implied, and has recognized rights and duties. Also called worker.

“Worker” can be either employees or contractors

Oregon Department of Agriculture 06[“IRS 20 Factor Test – Independent Contractor or Employee?” Oregon.gov, 2006 is last date cited] LADI

The IRS test often is termed the “right-to-control test” because each factor is designed to evaluate who controls how work is performed. Under IRS rules and common-law doctrine, independent contractors control the manner and means by which contracted services, products, or results are achieved. The more control a company exercises over how, when, where, and by whom work is performed, the more likely the workers are employees, not independent contractors. A worker does not have to meet all 20 criteria to qualify as an employee or independent contractor, and no single factor is decisive in determining a worker's status. The individual circumstances of each case determine the weight IRS assigns different factors. NOTE: Employers uncertain about how to classify a worker can request an IRS determination by filing Form SS-8, “Determination of Employee Work Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding.” However, some tax specialists caution that IRS usually classifies workers as employees whenever their status is not clear-cut. In addition, employers that request an IRS determination lose certain protections against liability for misclassification.

Civil Right

Civil rights can be extended solely to particular groups.

Dictionary.com defines “civil rights” as:[Dictionary.com. “Civil rights,” LADI//LBE

rights to personal liberty established by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and certain Congressional acts, especially as applied to an individual or a minority group.

Civil rights must apply to all individuals in a society.

Merriam Webster defines “civil rights” as:[Merriam Webster English Dictionary. “civil rights” LADI//LBE

the rights of each person in a society, including equality under the law and in employment and the right to vote:

Civil rights apply to everyone within US jurisdiction.

West’s Encyclopedia of American Law 08[Civil Rights. West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. (2008). Retrieved July 24 2017 from LADI//LBE

The first civil rights law guaranteed equal rights under the law for all people who lived within the jurisdiction of the United States. The second guaranteed each citizen an equal right to own, inherit, rent, purchase, and sell real property as well as personal property. The third original civil rights law, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 (17 Stat. 13), provided citizens with the right to bring a civil action for a violation of protected rights. The fourth law made violation of such rights a criminal offense.

Civil rights are universal; they can’t only apply to sex workers.

US Legal 16[US Legal Inc. LADI//LBE

Although civil rights are considered to be universal rights that apply to all persons, the question of who specific civil rights apply to is a subject of some controversy. In many countries, citizens have greater protections against infringement of rights than non-citizens; at the same time, civil and political rights are considered to be universal rights that apply to all persons. When civil and political rights are not guaranteed to all as part of equal protection of laws, social unrest may ensue.

Negative

1NC—NLRA

Interpretation: Civil rights are enforceable rights whose interference give rise to action for injury

Cornell Law School 17[Cornell Law School, A small research, engineering, and editorial grouphoused at theCornell Law Schoolin Ithaca, NY. Our collaborators include publishers, legal scholars, computer scientists, government agencies, and other groups and individuals that promote open access to law. “Civil Rights,” 2017] LADI//OR

A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, press, and assembly; the right to vote; freedom from involuntary servitude; and the right to equality in public places. Discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or interfered with because of their membership in a particular group or class. Various jurisdictions have enacted statutes to prevent discrimination based on a person's race, sex, religion, age, previous condition of servitude, physical limitation, national origin, and in some instances sexual orientation.The most important expansions of civil rights in the United States occurred as a result of the enactment of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States. See U.S. Const. amend. XIII. In response to the Thirteenth Amendment, various states enacted "black codes" that were intended to limit the civil rights of the newly free slaves. In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment countered these "black codes" by stating that no state "shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of the citizens of the United States... [or] deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, [or] deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." See U.S. Const. amend. XIV. Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment gave Congress the power by section five of the Fourteenth Amendment to pass any laws needed to enforce the Amendment. During the reconstruction era that followed, Congress enacted numerous civil rights statutes. Many of these are still in force today and protect individuals from discrimination and from the deprivation of their civil rights. Section 1981 of Title 42 (Equal Rights Under the Law)protects individuals from discrimination based on race in making and enforcing contracts, participating in lawsuits, and giving evidence. See 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Other statutes, derived from acts of the reconstruction era, that protect against discrimination include: Civil Action for Deprivation of Rights (See 42 U.S.C. § 1983); Conspiracies to Interfere With Civil Rights (See 42 U.S.C. § 1985); Conspiracy Against Rights of Citizens (See 18 U.S.C. § 241); Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law, (See 18 U.S.C. § 242); The Jurisdictional Statue for Civil Rights Cases (See28 U.S.C. § 1443); and Peonage Abolished (See 42 U.S.C. § 1994).

The NLRA process is not a civil right – it doesn’t have sufficient penalties or a private action for injury

Imhotep Royster 14 [(Imhotep Royster, Contributor) Why Labor Organizing Should Be a Civil Right, Century Foundation 7-30-2014] AT

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) recently announced plans to introduce legislation that would make labor organizing and union activity a legally protected civil right. Inspired by the work of TCF fellows Moshe Marvit and Richard Kahlenberg (who detail just such a proposal in their book Why Labor Organizing Should Be A Civil Right), Rep. Ellison has taken up their mantle and seeks to codify this needed change into Federal law.

I have detailed the merits of such a proposal in the past. Although the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) already makes it illegal for an employer to fire or otherwise discipline employees for their union activities, the negligible penalties associated with the violation of this right do not deter corporations from regularly taking adverse action against union-friendly employees, especially as employer opposition to unions has intensified.

Many forms of employment discrimination are illegal. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, and national origin. The NLRA prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of union activity. But the procedures and remedies available through the Civil Rights Act make it much more effective as an anti-discrimination measure than the NLRA.

The NLRA and the Civil Rights Act, Compared

At present, if an employee is fired, suspended, or harassed, or experiences a reduction in hours or pay, and feels that that action is due to her race, gender, religion, or national origin, or due to an attempt to join or form a union, that employee can file a charge with a federal agency. If the adverse employment action stems from union activity, that charge is filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). If it stems from the race, religion, sex or national origin of the employee, that charge is filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

NLRB Process

When an employee files a charge with the nearest regional branch of the National Labor Relations Board, that branch conducts an investigation. If that investigation yields sufficient evidence for a claim, the NLRB files a complaint against the employer.

The NLRB also may elect not to file a complaint, at which point the aggrieved employee’s only recourse is to appeal to the NLRB’s general counsel. The decision of the general counsel is final.

In these cases, it is the NLRB, not the employee, that serves as is the prosecuting party. There is no alternative, private right of action available to that employeein the event that the NLRB investigates and concludes that the evidence is insufficient to file a complaint against the employer

And, if and when the NLRB does file a complaint on behalf of the employee, there are still more steps before any justice. Neither the administrative law judge (ALJ) before whom the hearing is conducted, nor the five member NLRB board to which the ALJ’s order is appealed, possess enforcement powers. The prevailing party before both the ALJ and the NLRB must seek enforcement from a federal court of appeals.

This extended process is the only remedy available to employees discriminated against for union activity. It often means waiting for years before any resolution, and the remedies are “so late and so weak that it may pay to violate the law,” according to Penn State labor law professor Ellen Dannin.

In the end, the penalties levied against employers for illegal firing under the NLRA include reinstatement of the worker with back pay, minus any wages earned from a separate employer during the period of unlawful discharge.

1NC—Civil Rights Apply ToAll Workers

Interpretation—“Civil rights” must apply to all individuals in a society

Merriam Webster defines “civil rights” as: [Merriam Webster English Dictionary. “civil rights” LADI//LBE

the rights of each person in a society, including equality under the law and in employment and the right to vote:

Legal definitions agree.

West’s Encyclopedia of American Law 08[Civil Rights. West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. (2008). Retrieved July 24 2017 from LADI//LBE

The first civil rights law guaranteed equal rights under the law for all people who lived within the jurisdiction of the United States. The second guaranteed each citizen an equal right to own, inherit, rent, purchase, and sell real property as well as personal property. The third original civil rights law, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 (17 Stat. 13), provided citizens with the right to bring a civil action for a violation of protected rights. The fourth law made violation of such rights a criminal offense.

1NC—Workers Are Employees

Interpretation—“Worker” means employee

Business Dictionary17[“employee” LADI

Employee: An individual who works part-time or full-time under a contract of employment, whether oral or written, express or implied, and has recognized rights and duties. Also called worker.

Sex workers are independent contractors, not employees

Smith 16[S.E. Smith, “Strippers Are Fighting a Quiet Revolution for Employment Rights, But Nobody Is Paying Attention,” June 9, 2016, LADI//OR

If disputes over labor classification sound familiar, they should. Exploitation of the independent contractor system is rife, most particularly in the tech industry, where it's become a bone of growing contention. Sex workers, however, have beenquietly fighting independent contractor status for decades, and they've been steadily winning. The distinctions between independent contractors and employees are important. For employers, independent contractors offer a number of advantages. There's no requirement to pay payroll tax, Social Security, and other payroll-associated financial liabilities. This makes it much less costly to hire independent contractors, especially when you factor in the lack of need for unemployment insurance payments, workers' comp, health care, and other benefits that employers may be required to provide their staff, depending on state or municipality. Thanks to the classification of independent contractors, they're not covered by antidiscrimination laws, which allows employers to engage in gross discriminationthat would be impossible if they were hiring and managing regular employees. People who aren't regular employees also can't do things like file sexual harassment complaints, which is a big problem in the sex work industry. The environment in strip clubs can be hostile, with numerous dancers reporting systemic harassment from supervisors and employers. Independent contractors are effectively disposable, low-risk employees, and strip clubs take shameless advantage of them.

Affirmative

1AR—NLRA

Counter-interpretation: civil rights are rights that restrict the power of government, and includes freedom of association.

Milovanovich04 [Zoran, Ph.D. Professor, Sociology & Criminal Justice at Lincoln University. “Civil and Political Rights” SOC 34E.01 HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE, 8/9/04] LADI//AT

As already stated earlier, civil and political rights are the rights that generally restrict the powers of the government in respect of actions affecting the individual and his or her autonomy (civil rights), and confer an opportunity upon people to contribute to the determination of laws and participate in government (political rights). CIVIL RIGHTS Some of the most important rights in this category are: Right to Life Everyone has the right to life, and - according to the international human rights mechanisms - this right can be violated in a variety of ways, including: deaths in custody as a result of torture, neglect, the use of force, or life-threatening conditions of detention; killings by state agents, or persons acting in direct or indirect compliance with the State, when the force used is not absolutely necessary and proportionate to the circumstances; expulsion or "refoulement" (illegal return) of persons to a country where their lives are in danger; failure by the state to investigate alleged violations of the right to life and to bring those responsible to justice. International human rights mechanisms also place limits on the use of the death penalty. The right to freedom from torture Everyone has the right to freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. According to the international human rights mechanisms, this right can be violated in a variety of ways, including: the deliberate infliction of severe physical or psychological pain by state agents with the intention of causing suffering; expelling or returning a person to a country in which they face a real risk of being tortured or subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; keeping persons in very poor conditions of detention, even if there is no intention to inflict suffering; corporal (physical) punishment of children in schools. The right to a fair trial Everyone has the right to a fair trial, and - according to the international human rights mechanisms - this right can be violated in a variety of ways, including by: hearing criminal charges before administrative bodies which are not independent and impartial courts; trials in which, from the beginning, one party has a significant advantage over the other (this is said to breach the principle of "equality of arms"); excessive delays in bringing a case to trial and/or in completing court proceedings; secret trials; failing to respect the presumption of innocence by denying procedural protection to accused persons (e.g. information about the nature of the charge, time to prepare a defense, access to a lawyer, the possibility to confront witnesses and (if necessary) access to interpretation). The right to freedom of assembly and association Everyone has the right to freedom of assembly and association. According to the international human rights mechanisms, this right can be violated in a variety of ways, including: preventing peaceful public demonstrations (unless it can be shown that there would be a serious danger to public safety and order if the demonstration took place); restricting possibilities to join voluntary associations; denying persons the right to form and/or join organized unions. The Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching. Coercing people to adopt certain religion and imposing unreasonable restrictions, including criminal penalty, for exercising one’s own religion are the most typical violations of this right. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

We meet—the status quo’s exclusion of farm workers/sex workers from the NLRA violates their freedom of association

Compa08 [Lance, Senior Lecturer at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Ithaca, New Yor. In C. Soohoo, C. Albisa & M.F. Davis (eds.), Bringing human rights home: A history of human rights in the United States (pp. 209-253). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing.] LADI//AT

The Taft-Hartley Act added supervisors and independent contractors to the list of workers, like agricultural employees, "excluded" from protection of the NLRA.Excluded workers can be fired with impunity for trying to form unions. Since then, Supreme Court and NLRB decisions have amplified the "exclusion" clause, leaving taxi drivers, college professors, delivery truck drivers, engineers, sales and distribution employees, doctors, nurses, newspaper employees, Indian casino employees, "managers" with minimal managerial responsibility, graduate teaching assistants at universities, disabled workers, temporary employees, and others stripped of any protection for exercising rights of association. A 2002 government study found that more than 30 million U.S. workers are excluded from protection of freedom of association rights.12