Do you remember the Oxford comma? Here’s a comic to jog your memory:

If you’re like most people you barely care or notice the difference.

But if you’re a dairy truck driver in Maine USA, you care very much. 2 weeks ago that comma saved your overtime pay!

Here’s what happened. The law in Maine says that you can’t make an employee work more than 40 hours a week unless you pay 1½ times the hourly rate for those extra hours.

BUT the law has an exception called Exemption F which states that this overtime law does not apply to:

The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish products; and (3) Perishable foods.

Notice anything wrong with that sentence? Right, it’s missing the Oxford comma. It says:

“packing for shipment or distribution of…”

instead of

“packing for shipment, or distribution of…”

If you’re a driver and your job is distribution, that’s a BIG difference.

Without the comma the law says that overtime pay is not required for packing (whether for shipment or distribution).

With the comma it says that overtime pay is not required for packing for shipment AND is also not required for distribution.

Judge David Barron who wrote the surprisingly readable ruling commented:

“We conclude, however, that Exemption F is ambiguous…For that reason, we conclude that, under Maine law, we must construe the exemption in the narrow manner that the drivers favor”

In all fairness the judge didn’t rule ONLY on grammar. He took the very sensible position that the law:

“should be liberally construed to further the beneficent purposes for which they are enacted.”

Meaning that he sided with the drivers to support the spirit of the law which is to encourage fair wages for overtime work.

Let this be a reminder to all of us to never underestimate the power of the smallest comma because our entire case may rest on it.

In the words of Judge Barron: