Professor of Legal Studies in Business
J.D., University of Denver
M.B.A., University of Southern California
B.S.B.A., University of Denver
Courses
MGT 4340 Law for Managers
MGT 4350 Commercial Law
MGT 4360 Business Law for Entrepreneurs
Service
University of Wyoming Faculty Senate Chair, 2023–2024
American Business Law Journal Editor-in-Chief (Vol. 53), 2015–2016
Selected Publications
Books
Robert Sprague, Editor-in-Chief. 2013. Workplace Data: Law & Litigation. Arlington, VA: Bloomberg BNA. By invitation.
Robert Sprague. 2010. Legal Guide for Small Business. Chicago, IL: American Bar Association. Sole author of second edition update; by invitation.
Textbook
Robert Sprague. 2015/2020. Law for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners. New York, NY: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Recent Journal Articles
Robert Sprague. 2023. Privacy Self-Management: A Strategy to Protect Worker Privacy from Excessive Employer Surveillance in Light of Scant Legal Protections. American Business Law Journal, 60(4).
Stephanie Geiger–Oneto & Robert Sprague. 2022. Cultivating Deviance in the Marijuana Industry. Seton Hall Legislative Journal, 46(3), 661–703. By invitation.
Stephanie Geiger–Oneto & Robert Sprague. (2020). Cannabis Regulatory Confusion and Its Impact on Consumer Adoption. American Business Law Journal, 57(4), 735–772.
Robert Sprague. 2020. Are Airbnb Hosts Employees Misclassified as Independent Contractors? University of Louisville Law Review, 59(1), 63–88.
Robert Sprague. 2020. It’s a Jungle Out There: Public Policy Considerations Arising from a Liability-Free Amazon.com. Santa Clara Law Review, 60(2), 253–287.
Robert Sprague. 2020. Using the ABC Test to Classify Workers: End of the Platform-Based Business Model or Status Quo Ante? William & Mary Business Law Review, 11(3), 733–767.
Robert Sprague. 2020. Updating Legal Norms for a Precarious Workforce, American Bar Association Journal of Labor & Employment Law, 35(1), 85–114.
Robert Sprague. 2018. SLAPPed by RICO: Corporations Punishing Social Activism. American Business Law Journal, 55(4), 763-808.
Robert Sprague. 2018. Survey of (Mostly Outdated and Often Ineffective) Laws Affecting Work-Related Monitoring. Chicago-Kent Law Review, 93(1), 221-253. By invitation.
Robert Sprague. 2016. Employee Electronic Communications in a Boundaryless World. University of Louisville Law Review, 53(3), 433-465. By invitation.
Robert Sprague. 2015. Worker (Mis)Classification in the Sharing Economy: Trying to Fit Square Pegs into Round Holes. American Bar Association Journal of Labor & Employment Law, 31(1), 53-76.
Robert Sprague. 2015. Welcome to the Machine: Privacy and Workplace Implications of Predictive Analytics. Richmond Journal of Law and Technology, 21(4), 13.
Charles E. Stevens, Roland E. Kidwell, and Robert Sprague. 2015. Bound by Laws, or by Values? A Multi-Level and Cross-National Approach to Understanding the Protection of Minority Owners in Family Firms. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 23(3), 203-215.
Robert Sprague. 2014. No Surfing Allowed: A Review & Analysis of Legislation Prohibiting Employers from Demanding Access to Employees’ & Job Applicants’ Social Media Accounts. Albany Law Journal of Science & Technology, 24(3), 481–513.
Robert Sprague and Abigail E. Fournier. 2013. Online Social Media and the End of the Employment-at-Will Doctrine. Washburn Law Journal, 52(3), 557–579.
Robert Sprague. 2012. Facebook Meets the NLRB: Employee Online Communications and Unfair Labor Practices. University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law. 14(4), 957–1012.
Robert Sprague & Mary Ellen Wells. 2012. The Supreme Court as Prometheus: Breathing Life Into the Corporate Supercitizen. American Business Law Journal, 49(3), 507–556.
Lothar Determann and Robert Sprague. 2011. Intrusive Monitoring: Employee Privacy Expectations are Reasonable in Europe, Destroyed in the United States. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 26(2), 979–1036.
Robert Sprague. 2011. Invasion of the Social Networks: Blurring the Line between Personal Life and the Employment Relationship. University of Louisville Law Review, 50(1), 1–34.
Robert Sprague and Aaron Lyttle. 2010. Shareholder Primacy and the Business Judgment Rule: Arguments for Expanded Corporate Democracy. Stanford Journal of Law, Business & Finance 16(1), 1–42.
Robert Sprague and Mary Ellen Wells. 2010. Regulating Online Buzz Marketing: Untangling a Web of Deceit. American Business Law Journal, 47(3), 415–454.
Robert Sprague. 2010. Beyond Shareholder Value: Normative Standards for Sustainable Corporate Governance. 1 William & Mary Business Law Review 47. Inaugural issue.
Sean Valentine, Gary Fleischman, Robert Sprague, and Lynn Godkin. 2010. Exploring the Ethicality of Firing Employees Who Blog. Human Resource Management, 49(1), 87–108.
Roland E. Kidwell and Robert Sprague. 2009. Electronic Surveillance in the Global Workplace: Laws, Ethics, Research and Practice. New Technology, Work and Employment, 24(2), 194–208.
Robert Sprague and Corey Ciocchetti. 2009. Preserving Identities: Protecting Personal Identifying Information Through Enhanced Privacy Policies and Laws. Albany Law Journal of Science & Technology, 19(1), 91–141.
Robert Sprague. 2008. Orwell Was An Optimist: The Evolution of Privacy in the United States and Its De-evolution for American Employees. John Marshall Law Review, 42(1), 83–134.
Robert Sprague. 2008. Rethinking Information Privacy in an Age of Online Transparency. Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal. 25(2), 395–417. By invitation.
Robert Sprague and Karen L. Page. 2008. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and the Entrepreneur: Protecting Naïve Issuers from Sophisticated Investors. Wyoming Law Review, 8(1), 167–191.
Robert Sprague. 2007. Business Blogs and Commercial Speech: A New Analytical Framework for the 21st Century. American Business Law Journal, 44(1), 127–159.
Robert Sprague. 2007. Fired for Blogging: Are There Legal Protections for Employees Who Blog? University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor & Employment Law, 9(2), 355–387. (Now the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law.)
Robert Sprague. 2007. Googling Job Applicants: Incorporating Personal Information into Hiring Decisions. The Labor Lawyer, 23(1), 19–40. Selected for "The Best Articles Published by the ABA" issue of GPSolo Magazine, published by the American Bar Association (ABA) General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division, Vol. 25, No. 2, p. 40 (March 2008).
Robert Sprague. 2007. From Taylorism to the Omnipticon: Expanding Employee Surveillance Beyond the Workplace. John Marshall Journal of Computer & Information Law, 25(1), 1–35.
