Law in Contemporary Society

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CerrieresAnswer 4 - 17 Apr 2010 - Main.NonaFarahnik
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 Martha Tharaud, the labor lawyer in Cerriere's Answer, wonders about the working lives of people she sees, such as the Ying's server and the Dean & DeLuca? cleaner. I also wonder in this same way about people I see, and I think most union people do. Oddly, Martha has the minimum wage wrong. In 1996, the New York State minimum wage was no more than $4.25, not "five dollars, roughly." That leaves the server’s post-tax income, if you use the same calculations Martha did, at $6400 year, not $7500. (In fact, if the server was a tipped employee -- I can’t tell from the story -- her wage would have been $2.90, putting her post-tax, sans-tips annual income at $4400.)

I'm not sure if we as the audience are supposed to read anything into Martha's mistake. Is writing about a labor lawyer who doesn't know the minimum wage a subtle comment by the author? Or was it just an editing mistake? The New York minimum wage actually went up in 1997 and 1998, to $4.75 and then $5.15. That could have created confusion for whomever fact-checked the book.


Revision 4r4 - 17 Apr 2010 - 14:52:59 - NonaFarahnik
Revision 3r3 - 17 Apr 2010 - 12:03:07 - AmandaBell
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