Editing Serial comma (section)

==Individual disputes==

===Maine labor dispute===
In the U.S. state of [[Maine]], the lack of a serial comma became the deciding factor in a $13 million lawsuit filed in 2014 that was eventually settled for $5 million in 2017. The U.S. appeals judge [[David J. Barron]] wrote, "For want of a comma, we have this case."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/03/15/a-b-or-c-vs-a-b-or-c-the-serial-comma-and-the-law/ |first=Eugene |last=Volokh |title={{-'}}A, B or C' vs. 'A, B, or C' – the serial comma and the law |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=March 15, 2017 |access-date=March 19, 2017 |archive-date=March 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316044144/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/03/15/a-b-or-c-vs-a-b-or-c-the-serial-comma-and-the-law/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2017/03/15/oxford-comma-maine-labor-dispute/ |first=Kyle Scott |last=Clauss |title=Oxford Comma Decides Court Case in Maine Labor Dispute |magazine=Boston Magazine |date=March 15, 2017 |access-date=March 15, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315183516/http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2017/03/15/oxford-comma-maine-labor-dispute/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Daniel |last=Victor |title=Lack of Oxford Comma Could Cost Maine Company Millions in Overtime Dispute |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 16, 2017 |access-date=March 17, 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/us/oxford-comma-lawsuit.html?_r=2 |archive-date=August 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810092605/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/us/oxford-comma-lawsuit.html?_r=2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In ''O'Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca1/16-1901/16-1901-2017-03-13.pdf |title=''O'Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy'' |access-date=September 19, 2017 |archive-date=September 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920044120/http://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca1/16-1901/16-1901-2017-03-13.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> a federal court of appeals was required to interpret a [[statute]] under which the "canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution" of certain goods were activities exempted from the general requirement of overtime pay. The question was whether this list included the distribution of the goods, or only the packing of the goods ''for'' distribution. The lack of a comma suggested one meaning, while the omission of the conjunction ''or'' before "packing" and the fact that the ''Maine Legislative Drafting Manual'' advised against use of the serial comma suggested another. It said "Although authorities on punctuation may differ, when drafting Maine law or rules, don't use a comma between the penultimate and the last item of a series."<ref>{{cite web |title=Maine Legislative Drafting Manual 113 (Legislative Council, Maine State Legislature 2009) |url=http://maine.gov/legis/ros/manual/Draftman2009.pdf |access-date=March 4, 2018 |archive-date=November 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119111802/http://maine.gov/legis/ros/manual/Draftman2009.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to the absence of a comma, the fact that the word chosen was "distribution" rather than "distributing" was also a consideration,<ref name=NewYorkerNorris>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-few-words-about-that-ten-million-dollar-serial-comma |title=A Few Words About That Ten-Million-Dollar Serial Comma |first=Mary |last=Norris |date=March 17, 2017 |access-date=March 3, 2018 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |archive-date=March 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304113154/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-few-words-about-that-ten-million-dollar-serial-comma |url-status=live }}</ref> as was the question of whether it would be reasonable to consider the list to be an [[Asyndeton|asyndetic]] list. Truck drivers demanded overtime pay; the defense conceded that the expression was ambiguous but said it should be interpreted as exempting distribution activity from overtime pay.<ref name=NewYorkerNorris/> The [[United States District Court for the District of Maine|district court]] agreed with the defense and held that "distribution" was an exempt activity. On appeal, however, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit|First Circuit]] decided that the sentence was ambiguous and "because, under Maine law, ambiguities in the state's wage and hour laws must be construed liberally in order to accomplish their remedial purpose", adopted the drivers' narrower reading of the exemption and ruled that those who distributed the goods were entitled to overtime pay. Oakhurst Dairy settled the case by paying $5 million to the drivers,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Victor|first1=Daniel|title=Oxford Comma Dispute Is Settled as Maine Drivers Get $5 Million|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/oxford-comma-maine.html|access-date=February 9, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=February 9, 2018|archive-date=February 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209210524/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/oxford-comma-maine.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the phrase in the law in question was later changed to use serial semicolons and "distributing"{{snd}} resulting in "canning; processing; preserving; freezing; drying; marketing; storing; packing for shipment; or distributing".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec664.html |title=Title 26: Labor and Industry, Chapter 7: Employment Practices, Subchapter 3: Minimum wages, §664. Minimum wage; overtime rate |publisher=Maine Legislature official website |date=March 3, 2018 |access-date=March 3, 2018 |archive-date=March 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315001634/http://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec664.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The opinion in the case said that 43 of the 50 U.S. states had mandated the use of a serial comma and that both chambers of the [[U.S. Congress|federal congress]] had warned against omitting it, in the words of the U.S. House Legislative Counsel's Manual on Drafting Style, "to prevent any misreading that the last item is part of the preceding one"; only seven states "either do not require or expressly prohibited the use of the serial comma".<ref name=Petelin>{{citation |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-21/the-case-of-the-$13-million-comma/8372956 |title=The case of the $13 million comma and why grammarians are rejoicing |first=Roslyn |last=Petelin |date=March 21, 2017 |access-date=March 3, 2018 |publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |location=Australia |archive-date=February 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215215854/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-21/the-case-of-the-$13-million-comma/8372956 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=USHouse/>

===British 50p Brexit coin===
In 2020, a [[Brexit 50p coin|commemorative 50p coin]] was brought into circulation in the United Kingdom to mark "[[Brexit]] day", January 31, 2020, minted with the phrase "Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations". English novelist [[Philip Pullman]] and others criticized the omission of the serial comma, while others said it was an [[American English|Americanism]] and not required in this instance.<ref name="Brexit50p">{{cite news|last=Furness|first=Hannah|date=January 27, 2020|title=Author calls for Brexit coin 'boycott' over lack of Oxford comma|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/27/author-calls-brexit-coin-boycott-lack-oxford-comma/|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127194852/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/27/author-calls-brexit-coin-boycott-lack-oxford-comma/|archive-date=January 27, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/27/brexit-50p-coin-boycott-philip-pullman-oxford-comma|title=Philip Pullman calls for boycott of Brexit 50p coin over 'missing' Oxford comma|date=January 27, 2020|website=The Guardian|access-date=November 12, 2021|archive-date=August 31, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831010250/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/27/brexit-50p-coin-boycott-philip-pullman-oxford-comma|url-status=live}}</ref>