Albany Law School

B.Sc., University of Toronto  
LL.B., Osgoode Hall Law School of York University  
LL.M., Columbia University School of Law
(associate editor, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law)

Donna E. Young has taught at Albany Law School since 1993. Prior to coming to the Law School, she worked in litigation at Cornish Roland, a labor law firm in Toronto, Canada, as a consultant at the Ontario Human Rights Commission examining the procedural and adjudicatory treatment of race discrimination cases in Canada, and at the City of New York, Mayor's Office of Labor Relations, Legal Department. She was awarded a Fellowship from Cornell Law School's Gender, Sexuality, and Family Project and was a Visiting Scholar at Osgoode Hall Law School's Institute of Feminist Legal Studies in Toronto. She taught as an Associate in Law at Columbia Law School in 1994-96 while obtaining an LL.M. From 2004 to 2005 Professor Young was a Visiting Scholar at the Facolta di Giurisprudenza, Universita Roma Tre in Rome, Italy, and a consultant to the International Development Law Organization in Rome during which time she traveled to Uganda to conduct fieldwork on the interaction of women's property rights and HIV/AIDS.

As a law student, she was a human rights intern at the Centre for Ethnic Studies in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where she worked on comparative constitutional reform projects. Professor Young researches in the areas of law and development, comparative labor/employment law, feminist legal theory, critical race theory, and international labor and human rights law. She has been invited to present her work at conferences in the U.S., Canada, Sri Lanka, Italy, Germany, Hungary, France, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.K. She teaches Criminal Law, Employment Regulation, Federal Civil Procedure, and Gender and Work. She is admitted to practice in the state of New York.

Criminal Law
Syllabus (.pdf) 

Employment Regulation
Syllabus (.pdf)

Federal Civil Procedure
Syllabus (.pdf)

Gender and Work
Syllabus (.pdf)

Exploring the Boundaries of Antidiscrimination Law and Equality in the Global Workplace, 21(1) Berkeley La Raza Law Journal 197 (forthcoming 2012)

GENDER, WORK AND THE LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS (Carolina Academic Press, forthcoming 2013)

​Domains of Policy: Law & Society Perspectives on Anti-Discrimination in The Wiley Handbook of Law and Society (Austin Sarat and Patty Ewick, eds.)(forthcoming 2014)

Post Race Posthaste: Towards an Analytical Convergence of Critical Race Theory and Marxism, Third National People of Color Conference, Seton Hall, New Jersey September 9-12, 2010.

Discrimination and Equality in the Global Workplace, Latcrit International Comparative Law Colloquium, Paris, France, July 27, 2010.

Food Security and Women's Vulnerability to HIV in Uganda, LatCrit South-North Exchange on "The Global Politics of Food: Sustainability and Subordination," Mexico City, Mexico, May 6-8, 2010

To the Stars Through Difficulties: The Legal Construction of Private Space in the Wizard of Oz, Taking Oz Seriously, Albany Law School, November 13, 2009.

The Economics of Vulnerability: Northeast People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference 2009, "America's New Class Warfare?", University of Buffalo Law School, October 23-24, 2009.

The Spread of HIV/AIDS Among Women Through Domestic Violence and Food Insecurity, SHUR Annual Conference, Rome, Italy, June 4, 2009

Defining Race Symposium, Albany Law Review and Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology, November 14, 2008.

Forum on Race and Education: A Rehearing of Brown v. Board of Education, New York State Bar Association, Albany Law School Government Law Center, NYSUT, Capital Black and Hispanic Bar Association, May 6, 2008

Legal Education: Law, Poverty and Economic Inequality, Valparaiso University School of Law, April 3-4, 2008

Is it Race or Gender?: Discussions about the Roles of Race and Gender in this Presidential Race, Albany Law School, March 11, 2008

On the Backs of Our Children: The International Trade in Child Domestic Labor, Albany Law School, Amnesty International, Feb 1, 2008.

Comparative Perspectives on Race, Slavery, and Social Exclusion: Thoughts on the 200th Anniversary of the End of the Slave Trade
International Conference of Law and Society in the 21st Century, Berlin, Germany, July 26, 2007

Domestic Violence and the Spread of HIV/AID Among Married Women
International Conference of Law and Society in the 21st Century, Berlin, Germany, July 26, 2007

The Comfort of Home: Children as Domestic Workers
30th International Congress on Law & Mental Health, Children in the Post-Nuclear Family University of Padua, Padua, Italy, June 25, 2007

On the Backs of Our Children: Chocolate, Other Comforts and Child Labour
Law Union Annual Meeting, University of Toronto, February 10, 2007

Equality and Discrimination in International Labour Law
University of Western Ontario School of Law, "Labour Law and the Global Workplace" October 20-21, 2006

40 Acres and a Mule: Affirmative Action Now
Boston College School of Law, October 13, 2006

Cross-Border Feminism in the 00s and Beyond
Feminism and Legal Theory Workshop, University of Wisconsin Law School, June 27, 2003

Affirmative Action Law in the United States
State University of New York (SUNY), Albany, January 30, 2003

Working Across Borders: Gender, Work and the Law
Faculty Seminar Series, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, June 19, 2002

Working Across Borders
Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, June 1, 2002

Sexual Harassment Law (CLE)
New York State Assembly, December 7, 2000

Racial Releases
Queen's University Faculty of Law, Kingston, Ontario, September 15, 2000

The Ontario Human Rights Complaint Process
Tulane-Albany Summer Program at McGill University Faculty of Law, Montreal, July 13, 2000

Various Perspectives on Comparative Law
Fourth Annual Northeastern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 15, 2000

Litigating Labor Rights
American Association of International Law Annual Meeting, Wash. D.C., April 8, 2000

Transborder Transgressions
Annie MacDonald Langstaff Workshop, Institute of Comparative Law, Faculty of Law McGill University, February 9, 2000

Sexual Harassment in Public Schools
SUNY New Paltz, Women's Studies Annual Conference, November 6, 1999

Works in Progress Report
Regional Conference on Sociolegal Studies, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, May 7, 1999.

Transborder Transgressions
American Association of International Law (ASIL), Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., March 24, 1999

Comparative Latinas/os: Identity, Law and Policy in LatCrit Theory
Third Annual LatCrit Conference, University of Miami Law School, May 7-8, 1998

The Legal and Social Implications of the Human Genome Project
Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology Symposium, April 2, 1998

What's Gender Got To Do With It?: The Significance and Contribution of Women in Legal Education
Albany Law School, February, 1998

Critical Race Theory and Comparative Law
Critical Race Theory Conference, Yale Law School, November, 1997.

Seeing Women Transnationally
SUNY Women Studies Department Video Series, October, 1997 (Facilitator)

Law School Culture and Legal Pedagogy
Northeastern Students of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, Albany Law School, October, 1997

Critical Race Theory: A Comparative Approach
American Society of International Law (ASIL), Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., April, 1997

LatCrit Theory and Post/Neo Colonialism: A Comparative Discussion of the Conquest and Subjugation of Indigenous Peoples in the Area Now Known as the United States and its Territories, Second Annual LatCrit Conference, St. Mary's University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas, May 2-3, 1997

Vindicating Women's Rights Through Domestic Law
Comparative Law Section, Association of American Law Schools (AALS), Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January, 1997

After Critique
8th Annual Critical Race Theory Workshop, Washington, D.C., November, 1996

Race & Ethnicity in the Law: Classroom Dynamics, Legal Pedagogy and Law Students of Color
Northeastern Students of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, Western New England College School of Law, October, 1996

Gender and Labor Relations
International Conference on Law and Society, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, July, 1996

Affirmative Action: The New Civil Rights Movement?
Conference on "Women of Color and the Law: Confronting the Myth of Neutrality and Seeking Visibility," Columbia University School of Law, March, 1996

Two Steps Removed: The Paradox of Diversity Discourse for Women of Colour in Law Teaching
Conference on "Women in the Academy," Columbia University School of Law, March, 1996

Feminist Perspectives on Law
University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, February, 1996

The Politics of Innocence and Guilt: Bias in the Ontario Human Rights Complaint Process
Women and the Arts Lecture Series, Carleton University, Ottawa, February, 1996

Law and Labor of Color
Law and Society Association Meeting, Toronto, June, 1995

Class Position of the Left Academy
Class and Identity: Crit Networks Conference at American University Washington College of Law and Georgetown University Law Center, March, 1995

Sexual Orientation and the Discourse on Race and Gender
Columbia University School of Law, November, 1994

Feminism in the Workplace
Columbia University School of Law, June, 1994

Breaking Silence: Coming Out in the Workplace
Albany Law School, April, 1994

Affirmative Action, Veterans Preference and the Public Sector
Legal Issues in Redefining the Public Sector Workforce, Government Law Center, Albany Law School, March 1994

An Introduction to Critical Race Theory
Albany Law School, February, 1994

Oleanna: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Capital Repertory Company, Albany, January, 1994

Feminist Jurisprudence: A Primer
Albany Law School, October, 1993

Intersectionality of Race & Gender
Discussion Across Legal Cultures Conference, Columbia University School of Law, June, 1993

Legal and Ethical Implications of Science and Technology
Sri Lankan Association for the Advancement of Science, Colombo, Sri Lanka, June, 1990

Post Race Posthaste: Towards an Analytical Convergence of Critical Race Theory and Marxism, 1 Columbia Journal of Race and Law 499 (2012)

Introduction to Chief Justice Marsha Ternus, 74 Albany Law Review: State Constitutional Commentary 1565 (2010/2011)

The Constitutional Parameters of New York State’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights: Balancing the Rights of Workers and Employers, 74 Albany Law Review 1679 (2010/2011)

To the Stars Through Difficulties: The Legal Construction of Private Space in the Wizard of Oz, 20 Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal 135 (2010)

The Jurisprudence of Vulnerability: Property Rights, Domestic Violence And HIV/AIDS Among Women in Uganda, 9 International Review of Constitutionalism 327 (2009)

Defining Race Through Law: Enforcing the Social Norms of Power and Privilege, 72 Albany Law Review 1041 (2009) (symposium)

Hurricane Katrina in OXFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY (Paul Finkelman, Editor) (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Working Across Borders: Global Restructuring and Women's Work, 2001 Utah Law Review 1 (2001)

Racial Releases, Involuntary Separations and Employment-At-Will, 34 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 101 (2001)

Litigating Labor Rights, 94 Proceedings of the American Society of International Law 151 (2000)

Introduction to Part I: Portrayals of Feminism in the Media
Feminism, Law and the Media (Martha Fineman and Martha McCluskey eds., Oxford University Press, 1997)

Two Steps Removed: The Paradox of Diversity Discourse For Women of Color in Law Teaching
11 Berkeley Women's Law Journal (1996)
2 African American Law and Policy Report (1996)

The Treatment of Race at Arbitration

Labour Arbitration Yearbook (William Kaplan et al. eds., Butterworths, 1992) (with Katherine Liao)

The Canadian Constitutional Crisis and the Meech Lake Accord
3 Thatched Patio: Journal of the Int’l Centre for Ethnic Studies 35 (1990)
(with Peter Halewood)