Amy Sepinwall

Amy Sepinwall
  • Associate Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    642 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    3730 Walnut Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: corporate constitutional rights, gender and racial justice, individual and collective responsibility for corporate and financial wrongdoing, law and religion

Links: CV

Overview

Education

Ph.D., Georgetown University (2011, with distinction); J.D., Yale Law School, 2004; M.A., McGill University (Philosophy and Bioethics), 1999; B.A., McGill University (Joint Honors: English and Philosophy), 1997

Career and Recent Professional Awards, Teaching Awards

Wharton Teaching Awards for 2018-2020

Distinguished Proceedings Award, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2016

Virginia Maurer Best Ethics Paper Award, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2015

Charlotte Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Foundation, 2007-2008

Academic Positions Held

Wharton:

2009-2011 – Lecturer;

2011 to 2016 – Assistant Professor;

2016-2017 — James G. Campbell, Jr. Memorial Term Assistant Professor;

2017 to date — Associate Professor (with tenure)

Previous appointment: Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Winter 2009

Other Positions:

2017-2018 — Laurance S. Rockefeller Faculty Fellow, University Center for Human Values, Princeton

2004-2005- Judicial clerk, The Honorable Louis H. Pollak, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Public Service and Leadership:

Board Member and Board Development Chair, Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance, a non-profit organization devoted to socially and environmentally responsible ways of improving quality of life for downtown Baltimore families, Baltimore, MD, 2008-2009

Organizer, monthly French conversation group, 2012 to date

Volunteer, weekly after-school program with immigrant children through HIAS PA, 2018-2020

Continue Reading

Research

Teaching

All Courses

  • LGST1000 - Ethics & Social Resp

    This course explores business responsibility from rival theoretical and managerial perspectives. Its focus includes theories of ethics and their application to case studies in business. Topics include moral issues in advertising and sales; hiring and promotion; financial management; corporate pollution; product safety; and decision-making across borders and cultures.

  • LGST1008 - Ethics & Social Resp

    This course explores business responsibility from rival theoretical and managerial perspectives. Its focus includes theories of ethics and their application to case studies in business. Topics include moral issues in advertising and sales; hiring and promotion; financial management; corporate pollution; product safety; and decision-making across borders and cultures.

  • LGST2080 - Law At Work: Emp Law Mgr

    This course is based on the principle that knowledge and understanding of employment law facilitate (1) promotion of a workforce with a high degree of commitment to reaching business goals, (2) the development of practical business solutions to problems arising in the workplace, (3) effective human resources policy and procedures that comply with applicable laws, and (4) justice for workers. The course provides students with an introduction to the law of the workforce and examines the balance between business goals and employment law compliance. The course examines the various employment laws with which businesses must comply and the legal rights and responsibilities of employees and employers. The emphasis is on laws concerning equal employment opportunity with respect to discrimination and harassment because of sex, race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability and other characteristics protected by workforce laws; constitutional -- and especially free speech -- rights at work; work-related privacy including investigations, electronic communication and social media; classifying workers in the gig economy; diversity and affirmative action; and the legal and regulatory environment regarding immigration, wage and hour, leaves of absence, hiring, termination and afterwards; and labor/management relations and collective bargaining.

  • LGST2210 - Const Law & Free Enterpr

    The course explores the fundamentals of U.S. constitutional doctrine and adjudication, with an emphasis on commercial and business issues and implications of constitutional law. The course starts by considering the Constitution and the structure and relationship of the governmental entities it establishes and upon which it depends. Special attention is given to the role of the federal courts, especially the Supreme Court, in interpreting and applying constitutional principles. From this foundation, the course moves on to examine in detail the major economic and business implications of constitutional law in different eras of the nation's history. A core theme is how historical events and changing notions of public policy have affected and been affected by the evolution of constitutional doctrine.

  • LGST8080 - Employment Law

    This course is based on the principle that knowledge and understanding of employment law facilitate (1) promotion of a workforce with a high degree of commitment to reaching business goals, (2) the development of practical business solutions to problems arising in the workplace, (3) effective human resources policy and procedures that comply with applicable laws, and (4) justice for workers. The course provides students with an introduction to the law of the workforce and examines the balance between business goals and employment law compliance. The course examines the various employment laws with which businesses must comply and the legal rights and responsibilities of employees and employers. The emphasis is on laws concerning equal employment opportunity with respect to discrimination and harassment because of sex, race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability and other characteristics protected by workforce laws; constitutional -- and especially free speech -- rights at work; work-related privacy including investigations, electronic communication and social media; classifying workers in the gig economy; diversity and affirmative action; and the legal and regulatory environment regarding immigration, wage and hour, leaves of absence, hiring, termination and afterwards; and labor/management relations and collective bargaining.

  • LGST9200 - Ethics in Bus & Econ

    The seminar explores the growing academic literature in business ethics. It also provides participants an opportunity to investigate an ethical issue of their choosing in some depth, using their field of specialty as context. The seminar assumes no previous exposure to business ethics. Different business ethics theories and frameworks for investigating issues will be discussed, including corporate social responsibility, corporate moral agency, theories of values, and corporate governance. In turn, these theories will be applied to a range of issues, both domestic and international. Such issues include: corruption in host countries, the management of values in modern corporations, the ethical status of the corporation, ethics in sophisticated financial transactions (such as leveraged derivative transactions), and gender discrimination in the context of cultural differences. Literature not only from business ethics, but from professional and applied ethics, law, and organizational behavior will be discussed. Often, guest speakers will address the seminar. At the discretion of the class, special topics of interest to the class will be examined. Students will be expected to write and present a major paper dealing with a current issue within their major field. The course is open to students across fields, and provides integration of ideas across multiple business disciplines.

  • PPE3999 - Independent Study

    Student arranges with a faculty member to pursue a research project on a suitable topic. For more information about research and setting up independent studies, visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/independent-studies

  • PPE4998 - Directed Honors Research

    Student arranges with a Penn faculty member to do research and write a thesis on a suitable topic. For more information on honors visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/honors-theses

Awards and Honors

  • Wharton Teaching Award, 2018-2019
  • Dean’s Research Fund award to pursue work on money and expressive implication., 2016
  • Dean’s Research Fund award to pursue work on complicity., 2015
  • Dean’s Research Fund award to pursue work on corporate conscience., 2014
  • Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research Award to pursue work on corporate conscience., 2014
  • Wharton Public Policy Initiative Summer Research Program Funding, 2013 Description

    Covered expenses for a full-time R.A. over summer 2013. 

  • Dean’s Research Fund award of $1500 to pursue work on constitutional commodification, 2013
  • Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research award of $3500 to pursue work on faultless wrongdoings, 2013
  • Dean’s Research Fund award of $3500 to pursue work on corporate moral personality, 2012
  • LGST Reach Fund award f $10,000 to pursue work on responsibility in corporate and international criminal law, 2012
  • Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research award of $3500 to pursue work on the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine, 2012
  • Legal Studies Summer Research award of $10,000 to pursue work on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case, 2010
  • Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research award of $2500 to pursue work on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case, 2010

In the News

Knowledge at Wharton

Activity

In the News

Why the Supreme Court Bakery Ruling Raises More Questions Than It Answers

The Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple leaves open major questions about the right to turn customers away due to religious objections.Read More

Knowledge at Wharton - 6/5/2018
All News

Wharton Magazine

Can Companies Be Held Morally Responsible?

In a new book, two Wharton professors consider recent scandals and examine contrasting viewpoints on corporate ethics.  

Wharton Magazine - 10/11/2017