A US federal court ruled in favor of dairy truck drivers seeking overtime pay, and it turned out that a missing comma - a controversial "Oxford Comma" - could cost a company US$10 Million.

A group of about 75 dairy delivery drivers went to court saying that the Oakhurst Dairy of Portland, Maine owed them back pay.  The drivers alleged that they worked about 50 to 60 hours per week with no overtime compensation. 

Maine law says companies don't have to pay overtime compensation to workers whose jobs include "canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment and distribution of" certain perishable foods.  Oakhurst claimed that the phrase "packing for shipment or distribution" covered workers who were packing goods for shipment, as well as truckees involved in "distribution".

But you might have noticed the lack of a comma after the word "shipment".  The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said that lack of comma created a lack of clarity, and it is not certain if "distribution" is a standalone exempt activity or the word merely describes a type of exempt packing.  If "distribution" were considered an exempt activity, the drivers would lose their overtime claims because delivering dairy would qualify as "distribution".

"For want of a comma, we have this case," Judge David Barron wrote in the opening line of his decision as he reversed a lower court ruling in favor of the dairy.  The case will probably be appealed, and there will be more grammar experts put on the witness stand.

The Oxford Comma, also known as a Serial Comma, is properly placed right after the next-to-last item in a list of three or more things, before the words "and" or "or".  Some people say it's not really necessary.  They wouldn't split hairs over a sentence such as, "I'm going to the store to purchase coffee, cat food, and Vegemite." 

But then there's the sentence, "We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin."  Remove that Oxford Comma and two of the 20th Century's largest figures will be removing their clothes in your living room.  Proponents point to other funny examples of how the Oxford Comma could have prevented some unintentionally hilarious sentences.