New Books Network Elizabeth Chika Tippett, "The Master-Servant Doctrine: How Old Legal Rules Haunt the Modern Workplace" (U California Press, 2025)
Dec 3, 2025
Elizabeth Chika Tippett, a law professor at the University of Oregon and former Silicon Valley lawyer, reveals how historical master-servant doctrines shape today's workplace. She discusses the persistence of employer control and how it manifests in issues like safety and the rise of employment-at-will post-Civil War. Tippett also explores the Fair Labor Standards Act's impact on inequality and theories behind union decline. She advocates for healthcare reform to reduce employer power and previews her future research on employee ownership and AI liability.
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Old Doctrines Still Shape Modern Law
- Modern employment law still relies heavily on centuries-old master-servant concepts that fill gaps left by statutes.
- Elizabeth Tippett describes statutes as "rocks" and master-servant principles as the "water" that fills the rest of the jar.
Tyson Plant COVID Conditions
- Elizabeth Tippett recounts Tyson meat-plant conditions during COVID where workers stood packed and unsafe while OSHA lagged.
- Local responses failed and workers resorted to makeshift protections like handkerchiefs.
Origins Of Employment-At-Will
- Employment-at-will became dominant after the Civil War as courts stopped protecting wage contracts once formerly enslaved people entered wage labor.
- That doctrinal shift made firing-at-will a convenient legal default for employers.
