A History of Thinking and Doing - the Regulation of Workers' Human Capital in the United States

Posted: 6 Dec 2004

See all articles by Katherine V.W. Stone

Katherine V.W. Stone

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law

Abstract

Today, the ownership of human capital has become a highly contested issue in employment law. Covenants not to compete are widely used in the American workplace and the source of an enormous volume of litigation. Trade secret disputes are also widespread. The issues raised by these cases are not new, but they are being posed in a new way. In the past, the regulation and ownership of human capital were matters of custom and institutional practice. There were disputes, but the disputes were fought in the marketplace either collectively, as industrial warfare, or individually, as part of the contention within the individual employment relationship. Today these disputes are fought in the courts. This paper presents a survey of the history of disputes about ownership of human capital in order to clarify what is new in today's disputes and to provide guidance about how courts should approach them.

Keywords: Employment law, ownership of human capital

Suggested Citation

Stone, Katherine Van Wezel, A History of Thinking and Doing - the Regulation of Workers' Human Capital in the United States. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=629463

Katherine Van Wezel Stone (Contact Author)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law ( email )

385 Charles E. Young Dr. East
Room 1242
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1476
United States

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