Associate Professor of Law Alia Al-Khatib’s University of Richmond Law Review article, “More Harm Than Good: Criminal Penalties for Wage Theft,” was reviewed by Professor Charlotte Alexander, the Esther R. and Edward J. Brown Jr. Chair at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, at Jotwell.
Al-Khatib notes, “My article addresses two significant questions about wage theft criminalization: what are the wage theft criminal strategies on the books? And what have they actually accomplished for impacted workers? By surveying criminal penalties provisions in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and examining their enforcement in four jurisdictions, I argue that criminal penalties for wage theft have failed to remedy the extensive harms that workers experience as a result of wage theft. I conclude by discussing other strategies outside of the criminal legal system that center workers and their experiences and encourage broader collective action and coalition building.”