Faculty - University of Virginia School of Law

CONTACT
jhv3q@virginia.edu
(434) 924-3463
Room WB313

ASSISTANT
Valerie Listorti

SUBJECTS
Employment discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, disability discrimination and accommodation, employment contracts, wrongful discharge, whistleblowers, wage and hour law, employee benefits, vicarious liability, workplace safety and health, workers' compensation, mediation and arbitration of employment disputes, contract law

Personal Homepage

J. H. Verkerke

Professor of Law
Director, Program for Employment and Labor Law Studies
J.D., Yale Law School, 1990
M.Phil., Yale University, 1988
B.A., Loyola College, 1983

Before he received his law degree in 1990, J. H. (Rip) Verkerke earned a master's of philosophy in economics. Verkerke joined the Law School faculty in 1991 and teaches employment law, employment discrimination law, contracts and a seminar on law and economics.

While at Yale, Verkerke was articles editor and articles administrator for the Yale Law Journal and held a number of fellowships, including the John M. Olin Fellowship in Law, Economics, and Public Policy. After graduation, he clerked for Judge Ralph K. Winter Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

In June 1996 Verkerke received a three-year grant from the University's Academic Enhancement Program to establish the Program for Employment and Labor Law Studies at the Law School. He served as visiting professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1997. Verkerke also participated in an ABA project to draft a new labor code for the transitional government of Afghanistan. In 2007, Verkerke received an All-University Teaching Award from UVA.

Publications

Working Paper:

"Legal Ignorance & Information-Forcing Rules"
SSRN

Book Chapters/Excerpts:

“Discharge,” in Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt et al., eds., Labor and Employment Law and Economics 447 (Edward Elgar, 2009).
SSRN

"The Story of Woolley v. Hoffman-La Roche: Finding a Way to Enforce Employee Handbook Promises, in Samuel Estreicher & Gillian Lester eds., Employment Law Stories 23 (Foundation Press, 2007).

"Towards an Economic Theory of Disability Discrimination Law," in Michael Yelnosky, ed., New York University Working Papers on Labor and Employment Law: 1998-1999 (2001).

"The Triumph of Formalism in the Supreme Court's Recent Employer Liability Decisions," in Samuel Estreicher, ed., Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Proceedings of New York University 51st Annual Conference on Labor (1999).

"Employment Contract Law," in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law (1998).

Articles:

“Is the ADA Efficient?,” 50 UCLA L. Rev. 903 (2003).
SSRN Abstract | HeinOnline (PDF)

"Disaggregating Antidiscrimination and accommodation," 44 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1385 (2003).
HeinOnline (PDF)

"Legal Regulation of Employment Reference Practices," 65 Chi. L. Rev. 115 (1998).
SSRN Abstract | HeinOnline (PDF)

"Un Approccio di Law and Economics alla Questione della Libertá di Licenziamento Negli Stati Uniti," 17 Revista Italiana di Diritto del Lavoro 293 (1998) (Italian translation of "Employment Contract Law" essay).

"An Empirical Perspective on Indefinite Term Employment Contracts: Resolving the Just Cause Debate," Wis. L. Rev. 837 (1995).
HeinOnline (PDF)

"Notice Liability in Employment Discrimination Law," 81 Va. L. Rev. 273 (1995).
HeinOnline (PDF)

"Racial Disparity and Employment Discrimination Law: An Economic Perspective" (with James Heckman), 8 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 276 (1990).
HeinOnline (PDF)

"Compensating Victims of Preferential Employment Discrimination Remedies," 98 Yale L.J. 1479 (1989).
HeinOnline (PDF)

"Open Questions in Defense Economics and Economic Warfare" (with Martin Shubik), 33 J. Conflict Resolution 480 (1989).

Book Review

"Free to Search" (reviewing Epstein, Forbidden Grounds), 105 Harv. L. Rev. 2080 (1992).

Current Courses

All Courses

In the Media

"An Innovative Contracts Course at UVA" (Legal Skills Prof Blog, 01/21/2013)
"Is Facebook Free Speech? UVA Law Profs Weigh In On Hampton Firings" (The Daily Progress, 08/17/2012)
"Norfolk Southern Told to Pay Another Fired Employee" (The Virginian-Pilot, 08/09/2012)
"Survivor of Aurora 'Batman' Shooting Plans Lawsuit" (NewJerseyNewsroom, 07/26/2012)
"In Wake of Tragedy, Lawyers Step In: Colorado Shooting Survivor Plans Suit, Says Publicist" (Yahoo! News, 07/25/2012)
"UI suit concerns area Republicans" (Iowa City Press-Citizen, 04/02/2012)
"Families of Dead Blackwater Contractors Settle Suit" (The Virginian-Pilot, 01/06/2012)
"Norfolk Southern Told to Pay $122,199 to Ex-Employee" (Virginia Pilot, 08/12/2011)
"Williams: Can City Count on Council?" (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 02/01/2011)
"Workers' Comp Case Could Open Floodgates for Cases of Football-Related Dementia" (Neurology Today, 06/03/2010)
City Attorneys: Wilder-Era Suit 'Legally Flawed' (Style Weekly, 05/11/2010)
"Virginia Terminals had 17 Safety Violations in Five Years" (The Virginian-Pilot, 03/06/2010)
"Union Membership Continues Decline" (Newport News Daily Press, 02/27/2008)
"Contract Clause Prompts Discussion" (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 11/20/2007)
"Test Ruled Biased Because of Disparity in Pass Rates" (The Virginian-Pilot, 02/15/2006)
"4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Changes Test for Title VII Claim" (Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 12/05/2005)
"Commentary: I Think, Therefore I Blog" (The New Paper [Singapore], 04/25/2005)
"Coffee, Tea, or Fired for Blogging?/The Queen of the Sky Gets Grounded" (National Review Online, 11/24/2004)
"Fired Flight Attendant Finds Blogs Can Backfire" (The New York Times, 11/16/2004)
"Would You Hire This Man?/Charles Cullen Kept Getting Hired and Fired Until His Murder Arrest. Why Job References Say Too Little" (Christian Science Monitor, 03/01/2004)
"Redskins Seek Relief from Workers' Comp Rules" (NPR, "Weekend Edition", 01/25/2003)
"Harassment Suit Against Radford Police Dismissed" (Roanoke Times, 03/14/2002)