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The Oxford in Maine Isn’t That One

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit handed down a 29-page decision for a class-action lawsuit against a Portland, Maine, dairy company. The suit alleged that Oakhurst Dairy illegally denied overtime pay to truck drivers. At issue was the interpretation of one particular phrase in a state law that says overtime rules don’t apply to workers involved in “canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of” certain products, including perishable foods. The Maine Legislative Drafting Manual specifically instructs lawmakers to not use the so-called Oxford comma, leaving the phrase “packing for shipment or distribution of” up to interpretation. Drivers distribute, but don’t pack — so are they exempt from overtime rules or not? The court ruled that the absence of a comma produced enough uncertainty to rule in the drivers’ favor, reversing a lower court decision. “That comma would have sunk our ship,” said David Webbert, a lawyer who represented the drivers. It’s estimated the decision will cost Oakhurst Dairy about $10 million. (MS/New York Times) ...The Drafting Manual is ambiguous, ill-advised, and wrong.