February 28, 2022
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Cryptocurrency as Wages? NYC Mayor Eric Adams Buys In, But It’s Not That Simple.

         

When New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, announced he was taking his first three paychecks in the form of Bitcoin, it might have been a publicity stunt, and one that backfired as Bitcoin prices took a nosedive, but it has highlighted a new means of employee compensation that is potentially on the horizon. 

Mayor Adams was not alone in this stunt. The mayor of Miami also took compensation in the form of Bitcoin and has been pushing to pay city employees in the digital currency as a bid to make Miami a cryptocurrency hub, similar to New York’s Adams. 

But, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that things aren’t as clear cut as these mayors are making it out to be. For one, the City of New York did not purchase Bitcoin and pay the mayor. Instead, Adams transferred his paycheck and into a “digital wallet” with Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, and then bought Bitcoin and another cryptocurrency, Ethereum.

Why did Adams make a big deal out of being paid in cryptocurrency only to get a traditional paycheck? PR aside, it’s due to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which prohibits employers from paying base salaries in anything other than a fiat currency, that is, a currency issued by a sovereign government. 

Things like bonus compensation could be distributed in a non-fiat currency, such as Bitcoin or Doge Coin, but experts recommend making it clear in writing to employees wanting said payment to understand that these currencies are subject to market forces and potential huge losses, like those which Adams experienced. Additionally, employees should know that cryptocurrency is subject to the same IRS codes that govern securities and similar financial instruments.

Laurie Berke-Weiss Quoted in NY Law Journal Article about Investigation into Sexual Harassment Claims Against Governor Cuomo

March 3, 2021
Sexual Harassment
As New Yorkers follow the sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo with interest, the New York Law Journal explores “What’s Next for the Investigation Into Sexual Harassment Claims Against Cuomo.”

Profile of Silvia Federici Highlights What She’s Been Saying for Decades, Capitalism Exploits Women. The Pandemic Just Made it Impossible to Ignore.

March 2, 2021
Gender Discrimination
As the pandemic has thrown millions into unemployment, has affected women disproportionately, and laid bare just how much working people rely on myriad forms domestic care, others are, as this wide-ranging profile in the New York Times magazine suggests, rediscovering the socialist feminism of Federici and her contemporaries, such as Selma James, Angela Davis, and the Combahee River Collective.

Fed Chair Makes a Case for Affordable Childcare

February 25, 2021
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In a two-day testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chair Jerome Powell let it be known that improved federal child care programs would have a positive impact on women remaining in the workforce.

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