The Oxford Comma Strikes Again

Comments

• 1 Like

  Zachary_P Member

  March 2017 659 karma

  I saw this! When in doubt about the meaning in a list, be specific, consider the implied meaning, and then always use the Oxford comma... See what I did there?
• 1 Like

  nessa.k13.0 Inactive ⭐

  March 2017 4141 karma

  Haha absolutely @Zachary_P . It's insane to me that the lack of punctuation cost a company so much. Hooray for the drivers!
• 2 Likes

  JustDoIt Alum Member ⭐

  March 2017 3112 karma

  Literally was drafting a document to legal document the other day and was like...shouldn't there be another comma before the and? He was like...nahhhh.

  May have to show him this tomorrow
• nessa.k13.0 Inactive ⭐

  March 2017 4141 karma

  @JustDoIt I definitely would show it to him! It could end up being a costly mistake or at the very least it's an interesting story.
• J.Y. Ping Administrator Instructor

  March 2017 edited March 2017 14206 karma

  I just heard this yesterday on Planet Money and was going to post about it.

  The statute says that if you are involved in "the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of perishable foods", then you do NOT qualify for overtime.

  The question is whether truck drivers qualify for overtime. It's ambiguous.

  http://www.npr.org/2017/03/23/521274657/the-10-million-lawsuit-that-hinges-on-an-oxford-comma
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  March 2017 23929 karma

  @"J.Y. Ping" said:
  I just heard this yesterday on Planet Money and was going to post about it.

  The statute says that if you are involved in "the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of perishable foods", then you do NOT qualify for overtime.

  The question is whether truck drivers qualify for overtime. It's ambiguous.

  http://www.npr.org/2017/03/23/521274657/the-10-million-lawsuit-that-hinges-on-an-oxford-comma

  Always was a fan of the ol' oxford comma! Thank god
• 1 Like

  nessa.k13.0 Inactive ⭐

  March 2017 edited March 2017 4141 karma

  @"J.Y. Ping" said:

  The statute says that if you are involved in "the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of perishable foods", then you do NOT qualify for overtime.

  The question is whether truck drivers qualify for overtime. It's ambiguous.

  I'm intrigued that the appellate court ruled in a way that places clarity over the state of Maine's specific grammatic instruction on the use of the Oxford comma. I'm sure this is because I have yet to be legally educated, so it's fascinating to me that ambiguity trumps specific instruction from the state's legislative style guide, regarding the courts ruling in the drivers' favor. It also makes me curious about other cases where a lack of clarity supersedes a by-the-books-procedure in rulings. Regardless, I've learned just how important clarity is in legal writing.
• 1 Like

  xtrfalcon Alum Member

  March 2017 148 karma

  Saw this the other day.... flashbacks to a video where JY explains how something came back as "malpractice."