For Maryland’s guest teachers, an expensive lesson in labor rights

The U.S. Department of Labor ruled in April that Prince George’s County, Maryland, in suburban Washington, had violated federal labor law by failing to reimburse immigrant teachers for visa application fees. It fined the schools $1.7 million and also ordered them to pay $4.2 million in back pay to 1,044 teachers, most of whom come from the Philippines. “If that finding stands, the system will be unable to renew any three-year visas for its foreign employees.” Many teachers are distraught about the prospect of losing their jobs and green cards, which could happen as early as next month; Charisse Cabrera “said she would rather keep her job than recoup the back pay, about $4,000 per teacher.” [Washington Post, PhilStar.com]

“‘Social justice’ in contracts costs S.F. millions”

San Francisco’s public contracting requirements could drive both taxpayers and vendors batty: “[C]ity purchasing policies, if followed, would mean paying about $240 for getting a copy of a key that actually cost a worker $1.35 to get done at a hardware store on his break,” according to one whistleblowing employee. [SF Chronicle via Matt Welch]

“NLRB’s Boeing attack is a strike against economic reality”

“If the NLRB succeeds, a federal official will command a private corporation it may not produce in one place and must produce in another. Never mind what makes business sense. … And you wonder why Ayn Rand’s novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is selling briskly?” [Steve Chapman, D.C. Examiner] A contrasting view: Jeff Hirsch, Workplace Law Prof.

More: George Will, Hans von Spakovsky and James Sherk, related, ShopFloor.

Perennial litigant cuts wide swath among Newark landlords

Well-written article about the lengthy career of one pro se litigant in Newark who has been tying up landlords and others in court for years; it took a fair bit of gumption to publish, given the tendency of many litigious persons to sue those who would expose their litigiousness to public notice. Worth careful study for the light it sheds on the difficulty our legal system so often has in bringing down the curtain on determined perennial litigants [Barry Carter, Newark Star-Ledger]