{"id":2226,"date":"2017-04-09T19:28:29","date_gmt":"2017-04-09T19:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-journal-of-law-and-public-policy.pantheonsite.io\/?p=2226"},"modified":"2017-04-09T19:28:29","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T19:28:29","slug":"dairy-farmers-a-missing-comma-oconnor-v-oakhurst-dairy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/2017\/04\/09\/dairy-farmers-a-missing-comma-oconnor-v-oakhurst-dairy\/","title":{"rendered":"Dairy Farmers & a Missing Comma: O\u2019Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy"},"content":{"rendered":"A missing comma caused much consternation over the meaning of a state\u2019s employment laws at the First Circuit recently. In a March 13, 2017 decision<\/a>, the appellate court worked overtime to analyze Maine\u2019s Wage and Hour Law and a specific statutory exemption that would apply to drivers of enumerated food products.\n\nSpecifically, this exemption noted that Maine\u2019s overtime protection would not apply to workers involved in \u201c[t]he canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of<\/strong>: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish products; and (3) Perishable foods.\u201d 26 M.R.S.A. \u00a7 664(3)(F)<\/a> (emphasis added). The emphasized portion was the core of the dispute, and the court\u2019s reasoning provides insights for lawyers arguing about ambiguity before the First Circuit.\n\nThe delivery driver plaintiffs argued that the exemption referred to the packing<\/em>, either for shipment or distribution, of perishable foods. They neither packed product for shipment nor packed it for distribution. As the drivers were involved with the delivery, not the packing of these foods, they claimed they fell outside the exemption and, therefore, were allowed to collect overtime pay.\n\nThe dairy farm defendants were steamed and contended in opposition that the exemption referred to two distinct activities, either packing<\/em> or distributing<\/em> the food products. As the delivery drivers distributed these foodstuffs, the defendants argued that they were subject to the statutory exemption and would fall outside the state\u2019s overtime protections.\n\nThe court below had ruled in favor of the dairy farm defendants, with a federal magistrate and district judge ruling that the drivers fell within the statutory exemptions. The court reviewed the case de novo<\/em>.\n\nWriting for the unanimous panel, Judge David Barron concluded that the text was ambiguous but noted that the exemption was \u201cclearer than it looks.\u201d Beginning with a textual analysis, Judge Barron examined Maine\u2019s legislative drafting conventions, grammar, and gerund usage. In a footnote, he also examined the actual practice of the dairy farm, writing:\n
\n

\u201cWe also note that there is some reason to think that the distinction between \u2018shipment\u2019 and \u2018distribution\u2019 is not merely one that only a lawyer could love. Oakhurst’s own internal organization chart seems to treat the two as if they are separate activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nUnfortunately, the text did not get the court very far, turning out to be a tie between the parties. The court then turned to the legislative history behind the provision, examining the changes to the state\u2019s law over time. After several pages spent examining the state\u2019s employment laws related to workers handling perishable foods, the court was no further along than where it began.\n\nThe court did not cry over the spilled ink in this dairy farm case. Instead, the panel looked to the state\u2019s default rule of statutory construction when examining ambiguous passages within its wage and hours laws. Relying on state supreme court precedent, the court reasoned that ambiguity must be read liberally as \u201cto further the beneficent purposes for which they are enacted.\u201d With regard to the state\u2019s wage and hour law, the law\u2019s opening subchapter declared, inter alia<\/em>, that workers should receive compensation commiserate with services rendered.\n\nEven with the \u201copacity of the text and legislative history\u201d involved with this case, the First Circuit panel was satisfied that the state\u2019s default rule of statutory construction favored the delivery drivers. The drivers\u2019 interpretation \u201cfurther[ed] the broad remedial purpose of the overtime law,\u201d namely providing overtime pay to employees. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court\u2019s decision below.\n\nDespite Vampire Weekend’s suggestion to the contrary, the First Circuit does indeed care quite a bit about commas. The Oakhurst Dairy<\/em> case is more than one that would fascinate grammar and statutory interpretation aficionados. Instead, it suggests the First Circuit\u2019s preferred order of operations when it comes to ambiguous text. The court first looked at the plain meaning of the text itself, then went to its historical antecedents and purpose, and finally to the jurisdiction\u2019s default rule. The case provides lessons for lawyers arguing about ambiguity before the court so that they may\u2014to paraphrase John Mayer\u2014say what they need to say.\n\n*Tommy Tobin is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School. Tommy has served as a Teaching Fellow in the Harvard Economics Department and Instructor of Law at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. His writing has appeared in scholarly journals and major newspapers, such as the Baltimore Sun, Charlotte Observer, and San Francisco Chronicle.\n\n \n\nSuggested citation: Tommy Tobin, Dairy Farmers & a Missing Comma: O\u2019Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy<\/em>, <\/span>Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol\u2019y, The Issue Spotter<\/span>, (Apr. 9, 2017), https:\/\/live-journal-of-law-and-public-policy.pantheonsite.io\/dairy-farmers-a-missing-comma-oconnor-v-oakhurst-dairy\/.<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A missing comma caused much consternation over the meaning of a state\u2019s employment laws at the First Circuit recently. In a March 13, 2017 decision, the appellate court worked overtime to analyze Maine\u2019s Wage and Hour Law and a specific statutory exemption that would apply to drivers of enumerated food products. Specifically, this exemption noted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16,18,19,27],"tags":[438,658,1118,1144],"class_list":["post-2226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-blog-news","category-feature","category-feature-img","category-recent-stories","tag-dairy","tag-first-circuit","tag-oconnor","tag-oxford-comma"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}