Oakhurst Dairy’s $5M Settlement Driven by Grammar Rules

Oakhurst Dairy agreed to pay $5 million to settle with 127 drivers who said the company didn’t properly compensate them for overtime work.

The settlement perhaps turned on a comma, or lack thereof. Back in March 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a trial court’s decision to dismiss the driver’s case. Maine law exempts overtime requirements for employees engaged in “the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: produce, meat and fish producers, and perishable foods.” The absence of a comma after “shipment” means “distribution” refers back to “packing” ...