Emily A. Spieler
Hadley Professor of Law Emerita
Education
Yale University, JD 1973
Bio
Professor Spieler, an expert in labor and employment law, retired in 2023. From 2002 until 2012, she was dean of the School of Law.
Professor Spieler focuses on the challenges faced by low wage workers and ways in which workers may exercise voice, with an emphasis on issues of retaliation and whistleblowing. She has particular interest and expertise in areas relating to workplace injuries and illnesses and the problems faced by injured workers. She is currently active in attempts to address the effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable workers, working with the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH).
Professor Spieler has served as chair of the US Department of Labor Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee, of the US Department of Energy Worker Advocacy Advisory Committee regarding implementation of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, and of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Institute for Work and Health in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as well as serving as a member of numerous national committees relating to workplace safety and compensation for occupational injuries. During the winter of 2008-2009, she was a member of President Obama's transition team for the Department of Labor.
Professor Spieler is an elected fellow to the Pound Civil Justice Institute, the Collegium Ramazzini, the American Bar Foundation, and the College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Prior to coming to Northeastern she practiced law in both Massachusetts and West Virginia, held several senior positions in West Virginia state government and was a member of the faculty at the West Virginia University College of Law.
Fields of Expertise
- Employment Law
- Labor Law
- Occupational Safety and Health
- Social Security and Workers' Compensation
- Whistleblower Law
Selected Works
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- “The Occupational Safety and Health Legal Regime in the United States: Myths and Realities,” 2 Journal of Public Interest Law (Peking University, Beijing, China) (forthcoming).
- “(Re)assessing the Grand Bargain: Compensation for Work Injuries in the United States, 1900-2017,” 69 Rutgers University Law Review 891 (2017).
- “Whistleblowers and Safety at Work: An Analysis of Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act,” 32 ABA Journal on Labor and Employment Law 1 (2016).
- “Introduction: Employment Law and the Evolving Organization of Work - A Commentary,” 6(2) Northeastern University Law Journal 287 (2014).
- “The Paradox of Access to Civil Justice: The 'Glut' of New Lawyers and the Persistence of Unmet Need,” 44 Toledo Law Review 365 (2013).
- “The lack of correspondence between work-related disability and receipt of workers’ compensation benefits,” 55(6) American Journal of Industrial Medicine 487 (2012) (co-author).
- “On the Road: Images of Truthtelling in Rural America,” 6 Michigan Journal of Gender & Law 377 (2000).
- “Recommendations to Guide the Revision of the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment,” 283 JAMA 519 (2000) (co-author).
- “Perpetuating Risk? Workers' Compensation and the Persistence of Occupational Injuries,” 31 Houston Law Review 119 (1994).
- “Social Welfare Policy in the Context of Economic Restructuring,” 30 Urban Studies 351 (1993).
- “Workers’ Compensation and Older Workers,” Health and Income Security for An Aging Workforce, No. 3 (National Academy of Social Insurance, 2001) (co-author).
- “On the Road: Images of Truthtelling in Rural America,” 6 Michigan Journal of Gender & Law 377 (2000).
- “Assessing Fairness in Workers’ Compensation Reform: A Commentary on the 1995 West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Legislation,” 98 West Virginia Law Review 23 (1995).
- “Social Welfare Policy in the Context of Economic Restructuring,” 30 Urban Studies 351 (1993).
- “Can Coal Miners Escape Black Lung? An Analysis of the Coal Miner Job Transfer Program and Its Implications for Occupational Medical Removal Protection Programs,” 91 West Virginia Law Review 775 (1989).
- “Is the US Chest X-Ray Surveillance Program Succeeding in Controlling Lung Disease?,” Proceedings of the VII International Conference on Pneumoconioses (1988) (co-author).
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- “Protecting Workers’ Health, Safety, and Wellbeing.” In Public Health and Preventive Medicine 16th eds. Maxey-Rosenau-Last (2020) (co-author).
- “The Roles of Government in Protecting and Promoting Occupational and Environmental Health.” In Occupational and Environmental Health, eds. B. Levy et al. (Oxford University Press, 2017) (co-author).
- “Workers Compensation.” In The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Social Policy (Oxford University Press, 2014) (co-author).
- “Legal Remedies and Social Benefits for Occupationally and Environmentally Injured Workers.” In Occupational Health: Recognizing and Preventing Work-Related Disease and Injury, 5th ed. ed. B. Levy et al. (Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2006) (co-author).
- “The Americans with Disabilities Act and Family Medical Leave Act.” In Occupational Safety and Health Law, ed. R. Rabinowitz (Bureau of National Affairs, 2002).
- “Solutions for the Problems of Special Populations at Risk. In Special Populations in Occupational Health.” In Occupational Medicine: State of the Art Review, ed. H. Frumpkin et al. (1999).
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- “For West Virginia Teachers, Peia’s Financial Crisis Has Real Costs,” Mountain State Spotlight (February 3, 2023).
- “Workers’ Compensation Leaders Recognized with IAIABC President’s Awards,” WorkersCompensation.com (November 5, 2021).
- “Professor Spieler Honored with IAIABC 2021 Samuel Gompers Award,” Northeastern Law News Announcement (October 28, 2021).
- “Here’s Why the New Union at Google Could be Good for Silicon Valley,” News@Northeastern (January 25, 2021).
- “Federal Agency Reports NIH Doesn’t Consider Drug Affordability,” Workers Comp Matters (December 23, 2020).
- “What Happens If You Get Coronavirus at Work? Experts Say It Might Be Hard to Prove,” The Washington Post (May 29, 2020).
- “Despite Pandemic, No One Expects OSHA Emergency Regs,” Law360 (April 27, 2020).
- “Let’s Make Workers’ Comp Work,” CommonWealth (March 5, 2020).
- “The Workers’ Comp Option,” Safety & Health Magazine (September 27, 2015).
- “The Outcomes Assessment Project,” NUSL Faculty Blog (January 6, 2015).
- “Sick Leave Measure Divides Workers, Businesses,” The Boston Globe (September 22, 2014).
- “Fighting for Whistleblower Rights,” NUSL Faculty Blog (January 7, 2014).
- “Laying Down the Law,” Women at the Top Blog (November 8, 2011).
