# Lack of Oxford comma costs Maine company millions in overtime dispute

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-oxford-comma-costs-maine-company-millions-in-overtime-dispute/782367>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 17, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-oxford-comma-costs-maine-company-millions-in-overtime-dispute/782367 "2017-03-17T01:10:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-oxford-comma-costs-maine-company-millions-in-overtime-dispute/782367/1 "2017-03-17T01:10:33Z")

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[Story here](https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/03/16/lack-oxford-comma-costs-maine-company-millions-overtime-dispute/BIxK837fA2C06qavQMDs5J/story.html)

> [@](#):
>
> A class-action lawsuit about overtime pay for truck drivers hinged entirely on a debate that has bitterly divided friends, families and foes: The dreaded — or totally necessary — Oxford comma, perhaps the most polarizing of punctuation marks.
> 
> What ensued in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and in a 29-page court decision handed down Monday, was an exercise in high-stakes grammar pedantry that could cost a dairy company in Portland, Maine, an estimated $10 million.

Below is the wording of the specific state law.

> [@](#):
>
> 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.

It’s the lack of a comma after _shipment_ that sunk the company The appeals court decided that there was enough uncertainty in the text, absent the comma, to support a ruling in the drivers’ favor (the drivers distributed the food but did not pack the boxes for shipment.)

> [@](#):
>
> The language in the law followed guidelines in the Maine Legislative Drafting Manual, which specifically instructs lawmakers to not use the Oxford comma.

I always thought that the reverse was the practice in the US and that the Oxford comma was generally used. In the UK where I live it’s normal to omit it.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-oxford-comma-costs-maine-company-millions-in-overtime-dispute/782367/2 "2017-03-17T01:11:32Z")

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[Existing thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=821728).